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What Not To Look Like in a WWII Reenactor Unit.


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Maybe you should instigate a kind of "farbs gallery" thread, Kevin? :) (is that what you call them in the States?) There are always plenty to be seen at every militaria event here in the UK and I'm sure likewise in the US too?

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Seriously, I saw someone at an airshow over the weekend who looked almost exactly like the 'Bad' photo...

aips made a good point, though, in that many GIs never had shoulder patches or the helmet liner leather strap in place. Period photos show both missing from many GIs in the field, yet every re-enactor has to have both...

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Anyone recall the made-for-TV movie "The Execution of Private Slovik?". Circa 1980, with Martin Sheen as Slovik.

 

It was a CANADIAN production. .In 1981, I had the pleasure of meeting a WWII Can Para vet who owned the chateau outside Montreal where much of it was filmed. He told me that when the film crews showed up, ALL the helpers were "college hippie scum", recruited to work cheap. Then he saw the on-screen extras who would portray American GIs....they were like The Bad specimen shown earlier.

 

He was aghast. He called two buddies to come over. With them in tow, he confronted the producer & co, to tell them: "1. I will not allow ANY narcotics, use or possession, on my property.; 2. I will not allow those scumbags to portray American GIs on my property. Comply with these requirements or shut and down and go elsewhere." When they started raging at him, he said "Oh, allow me to introduce my old friends, both military veterans, Judge Smith and Chief Inspector RCMP Jones." (Both retired militia field grade officers, like the vet himself.)

 

The producers suspended work for a couple hours while they conferred with their lawyers. A couple Mountie vehicles arrived to block the road from his property, with drug-sniffing dogs and a police photographer started taking pix of hippie scum.

 

Result: The next day, half the scum were GON, some fired, som shunning The Hassle, Man.. Of the 20-odd "GIs" about 10 were replaced with clean-cut college kids (militia and OTC cadet types) and the others got haircuts in-place and the vet sorted through their gear to improve its accuracy. A retired militia Sgt Maj, who had served in Korea, dropped by to drill the troops

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