We meet the boss. . .

He asked us questions. We got a lot wrong, but we got some of it right. We've all read the books,
now we will travel to all the Band of Brothers places with the late Stephen Ambrose's right hand man.
(Don't you dare lose your name tag, we were told.) 

This is no laid-back European vacation tour. It's definitely a study trip, we confirmed today.

We received a two-hour lecture from renown World War II historian and author Ron Drez this afternoon in an Atlanta hotel meeting room, and one thing became clear: this guy knows his stuff and we're going to learn a lot about World War II.

With colorful satellite maps of Hurricane Hermine flashing on hotel lobby tvs, it was an ironic setting for today's topic: The weather in June of 1944 in one of the most unpredictable areas in the world, the Normandy Coast. The predictions had to be spot on, there could be no second chance once the Allies were committed. They somehow got it right, but it could have been a disaster. There was no Plan B.

The boss laid it all out for us, then screened an old Weather Channel feature on D-Day taken from their series "When Weather Changed History." He was one of the history experts appearing in the movie. Afterwards we went through a list of what he calls "stupid stuff."

Patty and Jeff of Prior Lake, who just happen to
be in the same group. What are the odds of a
neighbor signing up for this? Nice folks.
Minnesotans, natch, Pat Minelli's neighbors.
They've never heard of the Iron Ranger tho.

There's a lot of misinformation that surrounds D-Day lore and Ron's heard it all. We had a rollicking good time debunking myths that get told and retold and eventually stand as fact.

Over the years, Drez has interviewed almost 3000 veterans, heard their eyewitness accounts, and made personal friends of many of them. He is well-qualified to recreate our WW2 Travel Back in Time. To set the mood, he played 40s music from his collection. Here's a favorite that didn't make the Hit Parade: "I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank." Crooner Bing Crosby sang that one.

The combat-decorated company commander has rules and protocols. Be on time, there will be carefully planned wall-to-wall events, don't screw it up. Don't lose your passport. We'll watch chapters from "Band of Brothers" on the bus, carefully timed to fit the day's activities. His son is along as a fixer, possibly enforcer.

This will be no vacation, but it is going to be loads of fun.

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Over cocktails tonight we covered more ground, among other things, our favorite war movies, the most inaccurate, the most true to life --- and the reasons why it is possible for Spielberg and Hanks to produce a compelling movie about the European Theatre of Operations… but not the Pacific.

Tomorrow, on to the 101st Airborne boot camp in Taccoa, Georgia, and on up the training mountain called Currahee. Hope the recent rains haven't made it impassable for the comfortable tour bus. Wouldn't want to run it like Easy Company did daily.