In late April 1945, a group of soldiers from the Second Cavalry marched into Czechoslovakia on "Operation Cowboy". The objective of this operation was to free POWs and the famed Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Riding School being held by German troops. The Second Cav. was recently re-stationed in Germany (Cameron's regiment) and the Czech people haven't forgotten about "Operation Cowboy". For the 64th anniversary, people in three Czech towns held ceremonies celebrating the event for the return of the Second Cav.
My favorite part of the day was driving through the beautiful Czech countryside in a WWII jeep. We were supposed to ride in a bus (boring), but Cameron managed to get us a ride someone's jeep! Pictures don't really do the scenery justice, it was so beautiful and such a perfect day.
To give you an idea of how many re-enactors there were, the picture below shows the road curving along the left, with jeeps as far as you can see. As much as Americans tend to have a bad rap, it was really cool to see how many people dress as American soldiers and participate in these events.
There were at least a hundred WWII jeeps and owners dressed in American uniforms that turned out to participate in the parade through towns, and citizens were outside their homes watching and waving.
This is the jeep we rode in, not exactly luxurious, but sturdy!
I think this photo says it all... you really have to love America to wear an American flag t-shirt!
2 comments:
The jeep you were in was from the Military Car Club Pilsen. I helped them with the 2d Cavalry research back in 2005 to get these ceremonies started and helped to get the MCCP hooked up with the 2d Cavalry. I got to meet several of the MCCP members in Vilseck 2008 when they came over for the ceremonies to welcome the 2d Cavalry back from Iraq, and again in 2011 when they came over to welcome the 2d Cavalry back from Afghanistan.
My grandfather Lester Shepard was one of the "cowboys" of the 2nd cav that participated in Operation Cowboy. I have some great pics of the horses and the people that were caring for the horses. Grandpa was always proud of having helped to save the horses.
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