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The roles played in reenacting


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audacia cum prudentia

Some pretty good questions there Ben, I've wondered myself about the details of a reenactment.

 

I like cooking (although not great at it), so I'd happily sit around in an M1 helmet stirring a pot of beans for the grunts doing all the legwork!

 

Come on a second armored trip, you can do just that for 200 guys for ten days in the field

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audacia cum prudentia

Tom, I truly doubt there'll be an influx of 2nd AD tankers in the hobby after 'Fury' comes out for one primary reason:

They won't have the tank.

Just like there have never been an influx of AAF re-enactors from any movie or series.

You can be E/506 on foot because you have already jumped from the plane. Any impression that ties itself to a large, expensive object that mere mortals can't afford will never be a very popular one.

 

Ah, but we DO have the tanks, and M8s and half tracks !

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I've never understood why a lot of WW2 tactical events are closed to the public, whereas most civil war events are public.

 

I started CW reenacting when I was about 14 years old and was even hired as an extra in a few movie productions...one such production ended up with 7 Acadeny Awards (I digress). In the few years I was active I probably took part in 15 or so major batttle reenatments and countless other events. I began transitioning to WWII reenacting at the age of 17. I was very active with my various units within the WWII HRS for about 15 years but sadly haven't been in the past 7 years or so. Again, I've participated in countless evens and tactical battles. I feel I have extensive experience in both types of reenacting.

 

To answer your question most CW battles are in open terrain (as many actual battles were), easily accessable to the general public. A great deal of WWII reenactments take place generally in wooded areas both on private lands and on military or government land...which is not generally accessable to the non-participating public. In all of my WWII reenacting the only "public" battles I participated in were the 1994 D-Day landing reenactment in Chicago (jumped off the landinfg craft into Lake Michigan into water over my helmet...fun!) and a local one here in Nebraska. I feel that "public" WWII battles are quite cheesy...Allies always win..Germans always loose..that sort of thing. It's very scripted and non really "tactical" at all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I feel that "public" WWII battles are quite cheesy...Allies always win..Germans always loose..that sort of thing. It's very scripted and non really "tactical" at all.

 

Not just WWII. I used to do Rev War with the NWTA, in Illinois before I joined the Army then Moved away. We used to have 4 battles a weekend, 2 the British would win and two the Continentals (Americans) would win. One of my friends, who is now gone to the Great Beyond, was a tactical genius, and actually won one of the battles we (the Crown Forces) were supposed to lose. There were some unhappy people on the Continental side that day.

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Lee is right and I sure hope that once Fury comes out we don't see a huge influx of 2nd Armored guys. I've been with 2nd Armored in Europe since 1999 and I know many guys who were interested in 2nd Armored since before that. A friend who was an extra in the movie had a shirt made up that says on the back "2nd Armored for life not just for Fury" and I couldn't have said it better myself

Tom Bowers

 

This. I've been wearing a 2nd AD WWII tanker jacket for over 15 years to honor my one grandfather who fought on this side with the 2nd AD in WWII. Now I'll venture a guess that everyone will think I'm wearing it for Fury. Heck if I wear a jacket to honor the other Grandfather they'll think I'm a neo-Nazi...LOL

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My favorite thing is to see jeeps advancing with machine gun(s) ablaze right along side Sherman or other, seen it with WC and some armored cars. Armored cars, WCs and jeeps have no place in an advancing line against a defensive enemy. Too fat and easy a target for a rifleman. Jeeps, WCs and lighly armored vehicles should be scouting, aka, making contact with the enemy, then getting the hell to the rear and or moving troops and equipment from the rear to a little behind the front lines. NEVER ON AN ADVANCING LINE, MUCH LESS AN ARMORED ADVANCE. Turned me off of reenacting, that and seeing both german and allied troops hiding behind small trees when either a 1919A4 or MG42 is bearing down on them. 2 foot tree won't protect you. Anyway, I digress...

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  • 1 month later...

My experience is solely in the area of historical displays; I've never done a battle reenactment. It's never interested me and I have been unable to appreciate how it honors veterans, as some say it does. However, I feel "to each his own".

I do historical displays (in uniform) because I have had a life long interest in military history and have been collecting for more than 40 years. I enjoy sharing the gear with veterans and the general public, it serves an educational purpose (quite often for me) and usually means a lot to the vets and their families. They get to see and touch the things that dad/grandpaw/great-grandpaw (or mom, etc.) wore or used and, as others have said, the veteran will often speak about their experiences to their family. Additionally, if I did not share my collection publicly it would languish in footlockers and crates, on saddle stands and clothes hangers, unseen, unused, and unappreciated.

At historical displays, the group I belong to (the same one Lee/Willysmb44 belongs to) has little if any formal structure, but we work diligently to keep our impressions, gear, tents, and camps accurate. No modern coolers, aluminum pop cans, etc. We work to usher new members into the activity, offering suggestions and sources to improve their impressions (particularly, eye wear, hair styles, and wrist watches) and generally trying to police ourselves in a friendly manner.

At these events most of us make a deliberate effort to engage the public when they come to our displays, converse with them (if only to say "Good Morning, how are you?"), and answer any questions they may pose. We wear period uniforms, use period items (EE-8 telephones, typewriters, M37 field ranges, cots, chairs, tables, vehicles, etc), and try to eat period foods ("B" rations, generally). I've always been impressed that this group makes little use of "adult beverages" after public hours; in that regard it's a pretty sedate bunch.

I have done "living history"; an "immersion" style in which, as US soldiers of the 1870s during a public event, we lived, ate, slept, and performed the daily duties of a trooper. If a soldier in 1876 did not have an item, neither did we. No coolers, no air mattresses, no cold beer. From the moment the event began we followed the army schedule (I was the trumpeter) from First Call to Taps. We stood guard duty, ate beans & hardtack, made "coosh", performed Stable duty, fell out for mounted and dismounted drill, posted guard during the night, and followed orders. Dust, rain, wind, poor food, little sleep, and the seemingly constant loss of at least two braces buttons (the buttons on my trousers to which attach my non-elastic suspenders) per event were part of the experience.

When dealing with our fellow "soldiers" we kept in our "character", but dropped it when dealing with the public. We used the vernacular of the times and did the things that on- and off-duty late 19th soldiers did (well, not ALL of the things). Having a historically accurate military schedule to follow offered us many opportunities to talk to the public and explain our uniforms, gear, and activities. And having horses around didn't hurt. :-)

That group and its activities offered me an incredible experience; an opportunity to live, for short periods of time (usually at historically accurate locations, including preserved military posts), the garrison or campaign (not combat) life of an 1870s trooper. It was a great balance of first person "immersion" and public interaction. I really miss that.

I try to bring that same balance to other eras, but without the structure (and the unfettered, good-natured willingness of other historians) it's rarely possible to have any meaningful "immersion".

But I love a good campout, especially with period gear and something period to cook, be it with wood fire or field range, and the public interaction is always enjoyable and often very educational for me.

 

So if what I do in some manner with some people honors the contribution of US military veterans, then I think that's a plus.

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