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Annoying re-enactors interacting with the public...


willysmb44
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there are plenty of paintball and airsoft teams out there that don't wear military uniforms, just jeans and hiking boots

 

I went to a 'pickup paintball' place once, where you just go, pay the rental/admission/paint fees, then jump in an arena of your choice. when both sides get however many members, they go a round. incidentally, that's also where the father/son teams go, and you're blasting 8 year olds with paint...I know it's all a game, but with the training/experiences I have, it's still weird

 

A kid with an AK is one thing, not big on the ones with paint

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Airsofters calling Reenactors "wannabees" oh that is rich...

 

Sort of like calling the kettle black says the pot....

 

Had it happen, again, that Iraqi school of charm came into play... After handing this "soldier" (note the sarcastic use of quotes) My thompson (yes a real, heavy one) and my mag bag and my loaded L.B.E. (sorry modern term) And steel pot, his attitude change when I told him you got to live in this for at least the weekend... And yeah, that is only a 30 rd mag, not a 500 round mag...

 

No kid, no batteries here...

 

Yet they (I can blame video games probably) think that you can carry 3 primary weapons and have at least 300 rounds for each and swing around a BAR like it is nothing.. Wow... make you wonder how they would fair in actual service with a full combat load and living in the gear for a few weeks before a shower at least... I am glad I only play this on the weekends now... Until the next war at least...

 

I think these might be the same kids (usually not old enough to own a real gun yet) who come up to your ww2 display and ask where your kalishnicoff or m-4 is... History seems to be lost on these people...

 

 

And now for the lighter side:

 

the "trailer queen" owners These people restore or usually buy a restored (more common) a military vehicle. Bring it to an event on a trailer, Unload it, move the trailer and the thing dose not move the rest of the event..... His impression, well....... You are waiting for him to put the rest of his "uniform" on.. It usually consists of bdu pants or some "off" type of fatigue top. If were lucky a wool shirt.... And this guy will sit in his folding nylon camp chair the whole event. Jealously watching and shooing people away from his prized "combat" vehicle.. Only leaving to go to the food area or the bathroom. He will not let his vehicle get dirty or let reenactors get close to it (you might scratch my truck with that stuff you have on) Yet has no problem letting random kids fire the propane fired .50cal at random times (usually when I am in the porta john!!)....

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I blame video games...

 

we had a group of Marines who played Call of Duty last year. Some 12 year old was ranked a 'Gunny', and the Marines were just in it for fun, running around knifing each other. Kid started whining 'I'm a Gunny, you're a Cpl, you have to do what I say!'. Needless to say, the Marines weren't having that and the game got belligerently hilarious

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Some of these airsoft kids aren't even old enough for high school yet. I got into airsoft a few years back, and quickly realized it was not for me. Too many children (and to me, they almost were all children) trying to tell me I was wrong about my own service because the internet, videogaes and cable TV said otherwise. The worst was the kid who once tried to lecture me for 20 minutes on the foundation of Stryker Brigades. I told him several times I was in the very first one of those types of units and was involved in the formation of the concept itself. Little creep wouldn't listen. Go look at some airsoft forums and you'll see what I'm talking about. People say that many re-enactors are "wanna-be's" but airsofters REALLY are so when they mostly want to focus on the newest stuff.

 

 

You get the same sometimes from the modeler crowd. I once had one lecture me over the interior color of CH47 cockpits. At that point I had been flying them for over 20 years so what did I know as compared to what he read in a model magazine.

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Cobrahistorian
You get the same sometimes from the modeler crowd. I once had one lecture me over the interior color of CH47 cockpits. At that point I had been flying them for over 20 years so what did I know as compared to what he read in a model magazine.

 

I'll second that! I had some guy try to tell me that I didn' weather my Longbow enough when I entered it in a local contest. I'd built a 48th scale model of 05-5451, the first AH-64D I'd flown, which was fairly fresh from the production line in August 2007. I turned to him and said "have you seen this particular aircraft up close? I've flown it. If you can tell me where it's weathered other than the few spots here, I'd certainly like to know." He walked away pretty quickly.

 

Jon

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That's like the ones that come up and say the jet models aren't dirty enough. Like they worked on them or something. :rolleyes:

 

Scott

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OK this kind of fits here. I'm not sure what to call these guys, Maybe "The Tryer On'ers" but back in the days when I used to do a lot of traditional shows these guys would ask to "try on" uniforms that I had displayed that were part of named groups, on torso forms etc. Used to drive me crazy. I would have stuff for sale that was targeted for reenactors, but this stuff wasn't. The funnest thing I ever had happen was a guy asked to try on some HBT pants, and started to "drop trow" right in the isle! I told him it was OK to take them to the rest room... he bought them ( thankfully).

 

The others are "The True Believers" the guys who wear there Nazi "impressions" to Shows etc where there are no actual reenactors scheduled to be there. One of the few times I talked my wife into coming to a show where I was set up, a bunch of these bean heads showed up. It took me YEARS to get her to come to another because she thought everyone who went to shows were "freaks" to use her term!

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Here is another catagory that I am not sure how to label. I think of them as the HOOWAH reenactors. There are two types, the first turns out with every piece of equipment ever issued to an infantryman and then some. They try to convince you that the Infantry would wear complete packs, gas masks, spare barrels, shelter halves and every other bit of equipment when on the assault.

 

The second variation annoys me more; these are the the ones who turn out with full pack and look great until you get closer. You'll notice that their packs are stuffed with foam padding, wadded up newspaper in the haversack, cigarette packs in the ammo pouches (all of them!), if they could get away with just wearing a helmet liner, they would. If they are wearing overshoes, step on their toes and you'll find that they are wearing sneakers in them. Then they talk trash to the public about the challanges of carrying all of this gear in the field.

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These are absolutely hilarious, Thank you guys

 

I guess I'll at least give some sort of contribution

 

The "Pimpmobiler"

The guy who shows up with a vehicle (usually a jeep, no offense to local jeep jockeys) that are completely decked out with two or three different machine guns, netting, bags, a bazooka, random equipment (some post war), and various explosive devices, all while the mount is impeccably clean (and occasionally, with jeeps, obviously post war).

 

The Director

The guy that actually tries to tell you that your holding you're rifle wrong, among other things (this actually happened, he called me a farb, it was quite humorous)

 

The Movie Critic

The guy who goes on and on about how all war movies are SO inaccurate

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These are absolutely hilarious, Thank you guys

 

I guess I'll at least give some sort of contribution

 

The "Pimpmobiler"

The guy who shows up with a vehicle (usually a jeep, no offense to local jeep jockeys) that are completely decked out with two or three different machine guns, netting, bags, a bazooka, random equipment (some post war), and various explosive devices, all while the mount is impeccably clean (and occasionally, with jeeps, obviously post war).

 

The Director

The guy that actually tries to tell you that your holding you're rifle wrong, among other things (this actually happened, he called me a farb, it was quite humorous)

 

The Movie Critic

The guy who goes on and on about how all war movies are SO inaccurate

 

 

Well, if your carrying your rifle in the "high carry" you ARE wrong. Study the photos from WW2 to get the equipment and carry styles down.

 

Scott

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I like the Trailer Queen one. I’ve been accused of this as I trailer my 1944 MB (hence, my login name) to shows. This is mostly because of the lack of back roads, distances to events I go to, and I don’t want to commit suicide my driving a vehicle that will go 45 at the most on a highway. But my Jeep is hardly a “show quality” vehicle, it looks field-used and I have no problems driving it at events. But my group mostly does display events so often it doesn’t get driven at all (except onto and off of the trailer), the same as all the other vehicles at the same events.

OK this kind of fits here. I'm not sure what to call these guys, Maybe "The Tryer On'ers" but back in the days when I used to do a lot of traditional shows these guys would ask to "try on" uniforms that I had displayed that were part of named groups, on torso forms etc. Used to drive me crazy. I would have stuff for sale that was targeted for reenactors, but this stuff wasn't.
Thankfully I have only ever encountered one of these in recent years. I have an original M-41 jacket worn by a war correspondent, with original patches still in place. You all can imagine how rare that is. It’s also extremely small, probably as small as a 34. So at a show last year, a woman DEMANDED to try it on, although I had it on a torso mannequin with detachable arms. It’s a royal pain to get shirts/jackets onto and off of this thing. I explained that as well as how rare and fragile it is, but she simply wouldn’t accept ‘no’ as a viable answer. That was, of course, until I came around the table, got really close and said very firmly, “YOU WILL NOT BE TRYING THIS ON. I’m sorry, but you cannot try it on, wear it or even touch it.” Naturally, in her mind I was the jerk. I felt a little better when other spectators who’d seen her tantrum came up and said she was a nut.
I had some guy try to tell me that I didn' weather my Longbow enough when I entered it in a local contest. I'd built a 48th scale model of 05-5451, the first AH-64D I'd flown, which was fairly fresh from the production line in August 2007. I turned to him and said "have you seen this particular aircraft up close? I've flown it. If you can tell me where it's weathered other than the few spots here, I'd certainly like to know." He walked away pretty quickly.
I can always tell when someone builds a model (or paints a picture) and has actually used the thing being represented. With model building, people model vehicles and aircraft the way they're used if they have used them in real life. Many model builders will argue paint schemes with one another yet have no idea they put the flaps on upside down on an airplane or have lose items sitting on a tank in action.

This reminds me of a model contest I saw a few years ago. One of the models being judged was a by an active duty Stryker TC, had modeled his old M-1A1 complete with lawn chairs and igloo coolers in 1/35 scale (hand-made but they looked great). You could tell all the people who'd served with mech units (myself included), they were the ones pointing at it, saying, "Now there's one built by someone who has been around them!" I had made the comment and turns out the builder was standing right behind me, clearly happy someone had noticed his hard work. I never found out how he placed, and I hope he did very well as his work was very good.

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Either we have met the same people, or this is an epidemic!!

 

We need to have an intervention with these people, Where are my frags??

 

C-4 maybe??

 

 

Willysmb44, I feel your pain. I own a Dodge 3/4 ton... 55mph, downhill, with a tail wind, and a jato unit.......

 

I have to use a 3500 series truck and a backhoe trailer for that @#% monster...

 

 

 

But what would disqualify it from "trailer queen" status is:

 

1: do you get it dirty?

 

2: have you gotten it scratched and not had a coronary or similar breakdown?

 

3: Have more people than you ever ridden in the jeep?

 

4: For actual non- display events, dose it move more than 60 feet and go off the hard ball road?

 

If you meet these requirements (or if any vehicle owner meets them) he has been promoted from "car show" status! To potentially "useful"!

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Here's another annoying re-enactor, the "England is everything guy", he posts things like this:

 

"England:

(they sailed from*) From the port at Swansea"

 

And things like ... "the Rangers trained in England"... "US troops in England" ...

 

And list their group from England, so no one else from the UK can join, ye know, from Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland :think:

 

 

 

* my italics....

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The others are "The True Believers" the guys who wear there Nazi "impressions" to Shows etc where there are no actual reenactors scheduled to be there. One of the few times I talked my wife into coming to a show where I was set up, a bunch of these bean heads showed up. It took me YEARS to get her to come to another because she thought everyone who went to shows were "freaks" to use her term!

 

 

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on which side of the fence you are on, a number of military shows offer free admittance to reeenactors in uniform.

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Here's another annoying re-enactor, the "England is everything guy", he posts things like this:

"England:

(they sailed from*) From the port at Swansea"

And things like ... "the Rangers trained in England"... "US troops in England" ...

And list their group from England, so no one else from the UK can join, ye know, from Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland :think:

* my italics....

I think us here in the colonies might not be able to relate to this, and I’m not really clear on the nature of what is irritating about this (except the “England only” for new members, which is very odd to me). But I have encountered something similar, re-enactors who go out of their way to remind the public that all these D-Day units trained under the British (which really isn’t correct in all cases) and that this training made the US Army in the ETO better than it would have been without it. That is, at best, a questionable statement as many US soldiers never trained under UK instruction or leadership at all. One guy I knew of made such a big deal about it at several events, his unit kicked him out, telling him to join the British unit in the same organization. Which is exactly what he did. :think:

I thought of a few more:

The “My unit won WW2 alone” type: I won’t comment on which impressions are most often worn by this type of person, but he will contend that his Division/Regiment/Fireteam won WW2 all by themselves with minimal assistance from the rest of the Allied Powers. That’s expected from a vet, but for a re-enactor it’s especially annoying as often they don’t represent the majority of fighting men in the US military in WW2; The Common Infantryman.

The “I was there” guy: His enthusiasm level and energy are as unmatched as his imagination. He’ll talk with vets as if both were at the same battles, and will talk about re-enactments in the first person as if he’d really been in the battles in WW2. If your group is doing an immersion “first person perspective” public event, he’s perfect for that. Otherwise, he sounds like an utter tool and will confuse people into wondering aloud how a 30-year-old man could have been alive in 1944…

The Librarian: While research books are worth their weight in gold, this troll lives and dies by their word. Most people know that books often contain errors. Don’t you DARE tell this person that. “The Windrow and Hawkins book shows it like this, and that, by God, is that!” he’ll say.

The Salesman: The display event is NOT a militaria sale, but don’t tell this person that. He brings almost as much stuff to try to pawn off on others as he does gear for the display itself. Often, he’ll just hand over something and say, “Just pay me when you can” and walk away, never actually hearing the other person agreeing to the deal at all.

The “Reinventing the Wheel” type: This person would forge his own M-1 rifle if he could. A master craftsman in his mind, he cannot stomach the idea of using something someone else made. He’ll spend months, thousands of dollars in R&D and untold anguish making a common repro item, in spite of the fact that dozens of companies make the very same thing much better than any one person ever could. It might be highway robbery to spend $40 on a pre-made K ration box, but he’ll spend a large portion of his life and untold amounts of money making his own, “because it’s cheaper that way.” In his mind, his bubble jet printer will make anything just as good as an original and keeps wondering why people so often ask if he’s updated his eyewear prescription lately. He’s the only person who when he says he’s looking to build his own Sherman tank, you take him seriously.

The “PT Barnum” promoter type: He’s never put together a real re-enactment in his life, but he revels in telling others how poorly run their events are, and constantly tells people about how incredible his long-planned “48-hour immersion” event will be. No nay-sayers will penetrate his self-absorbed sense of accomplishment for an event which has never gotten past the “wouldn’t it be neat if…” stage. When you ask when this mythical event will take place, the answer is always either, “Next Spring,” or “Whenever the local groups decide to cooperate with me.”

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I think us here in the colonies might not be able to relate to this, and I’m not really clear on the nature of what is irritating about this (except the “England only” for new members, which is very odd to me). But I have encountered something similar, re-enactors who go out of their way to remind the public that all these D-Day units trained under the British (which really isn’t correct in all cases) and that this training made the US Army in the ETO better than it would have been without it. That is, at best, a questionable statement as many US soldiers never trained under UK instruction or leadership at all. One guy I knew of made such a big deal about it at several events, his unit kicked him out, telling him to join the British unit in the same organization. Which is exactly what he did. :think:

 

 

Willy, and my other continental cousin's...

 

Swansea is in Wales, not England... And England is part of the United Kingdom, or Britain, as well as Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.... It's like saying "I flew to Texas" when ye flew to Washington, but ye think all Americans are from Texas and wear Stetsons, and of course, the US is called Texas*... Ye see, English people** have this annoying habit of calling our queen, the "queen of England" which she is not, and our passports, driving licenses and Army as "English", which they are not, their all "British"... There is no English prime minister, there is no US ambassador to England, there is no English Queen etc ad nausem...

 

Yer second part, probably stems from the fact the 2nd Rangers trained in Achnacarry under the British Commandos, ye know, which is in Scotland, not England... But this ignorance is also fostered by the fact the 2nd Rangers single handedly won the war, of course helped a wee bit by the US Airborne :rolleyes: :w00t:

 

*I remember walking up the gangway in Glasgow airport, heading to Canada and behind me was two Canadians, one saying to the other, "English airports are so much different from ours"... Glasgow airport is in Scotland, not England (for those who still don't know)...

 

**North American's also have that particular bad habit aswell... :crying:

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General Apathy

post-344-1296208367.jpg

 

 

Hi Lee, thanks for the subject, if I can just drop my grenade in with this one, flags,

military vehicles adorned with flags especially doing mock battles for public events, when was this ever seen in any theatre of battle. :crying:

 

Rant off

 

lewis

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post-344-1296208367.jpg

Hi Lee, thanks for the subject, if I can just drop my grenade in with this one, flags,

military vehicles adorned with flags especially doing mock battles for public events, when was this ever seen in any theatre of battle. :crying:

 

Rant off

 

lewis

 

 

Heheheheh... Aye, along wi the ones who love their "wwwhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaahhhooowwwwwwwwww" sirens... and goatee beards :thumbdown:

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I tried paintball a time of two...after I came into the Corps. problem was too many kids...you felt a bit bad maneuvering in on some ten year olds and gaining fire superiority...was just a slaughter

 

air softers...got a buddy who does it..puts real money into it, too. I don't have the patience to argue with some 15 year old punk whose seen too many video games and war movies...it's hard enough dealing with PFCs who want to talk a big game, and they're IN the service

 

 

I have fun with some of the local paint ball crew by inviting some to participate in our USPSA matches. A number of them freak out when I hand them a real pistol and tell them to hit the targets while being timed.

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The Cold War Warrior: This poor soul served between wars. And he’s never gotten over the fact that he “missed” his chance. He’ll try to shoehorn his boring “laundry service aboard the destroyer I served on in the mid 80s” stories into any time he can. He might know a lot about WW2 and his collection is nice, but you get the feeling he only shows up to talk about his unrelated life..

 

You know this is a really sad comment. I think you show poor taste in your wording. I would never say this about ANY Vet's service. I served 20 years (1981-2001) and I personally lost 20+ friends in my career. I don't think these individuals "missed" their chance, and I am sure their family's feel the same as I do. You struck a nerve, and I am not happy. :thumbdown:

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Very true hink, we who were in did see and do a lot and as you stated lost friends and brothers and sisters during our time in. God bless our fallen.

 

Scott

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Stinky cheesers / over actors- if you can think of a movie cliche this group will do it in front of the public. Their approach is less history and more dramatics. They are just about gaurenteed to have members filling stereotypical roles that don't reflect their personal back ground. For example they'll have a wealthy wasp kid from the midwest burbs trying to portray an impoverished first generation Italian kid from Brooklyn complete with a horrible accent. There is a fine line between historical vignettes and ridiculous/disrespectful antics. Stinky Cheesers "demonstrations" are so far on the other side of the line you're left wondering where the elephant and the clowns got to.

 

The flying circus- these guys quote Monty Python endlessly at every opportunity. While funny at first, it does get old and can really weird out the public. After public hours it's all fine well and good but we've all heard the guy yell "I'm not dead yet!" in front of the public at least 10 times by now :D

 

-Bitsy

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Stinky cheesers / over actors- if you can think of a movie cliche this group will do it in front of the public. Their approach is less history and more dramatics. They are just about gaurenteed to have members filling stereotypical roles that don't reflect their personal back ground. For example they'll have a wealthy wasp kid from the midwest burbs trying to portray an impoverished first generation Italian kid from Brooklyn complete with a horrible accent. There is a fine line between historical vignettes and ridiculous/disrespectful antics. Stinky Cheesers "demonstrations" are so far on the other side of the line you're left wondering where the elephant and the clowns got to.

 

The flying circus- these guys quote Monty Python endlessly at every opportunity. While funny at first, it does get old and can really weird out the public. After public hours it's all fine well and good but we've all heard the guy yell "I'm not dead yet!" in front of the public at least 10 times by now :D

 

-Bitsy

 

 

I have seen this done for YEARS and there is a time and place to do things like this. After the public leaves and it's just us that's fine BUT someone always forgets and blows it.

 

Scott

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Sgt_Rock_EasyCo
You know this is a really sad comment. I think you show poor taste in your wording. I would never say this about ANY Vet's service. I served 20 years (1981-2001) and I personally lost 20+ friends in my career. I don't think these individuals "missed" their chance, and I am sure their family's feel the same as I do. You struck a nerve, and I am not happy. :thumbdown:

 

I was going to say something but I almost felt that this comment might have been directed at me. There are enough guys that gave their life in training and combat during the cold war. Firefights on the DMZ in Korea, Grenada, Panama, Terrorist and Anti Terrorist action, anti communist actions in Central America and many other hot spots. Although some were not prevalent and many were short in duration, the casualties were sure enough real.

 

Rock

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Very true hink, we who were in did see and do a lot and as you stated lost friends and brothers and sisters during our time in. God bless our fallen.

Guys, I was talking about the ones who never had anythin happen and had a boring servive experience with no issues at all. Every group I've ever been in has had one of these guys, someone who served on a ship that never had anything happen or in some REMF outfit and likes to regail people with stories about... nothing at all.

I served, I lost people, and had a couple of really awful things happen to me and around me on active duty, during a time of peace (right befre 9/11) so I know what I'm talking about. I wasn't even thinking of folks like that an I'm confused why anyone else would as my point was very specific that the type I was talking abou had nothing to tell stories about yet did so anyway. I think almost anyone has run into people like that at these events. I get your points, but your points aren't the people I was refering to.

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