Pros / Cons, and opinions on Re-enactors

[lmritger]

Now THAT is money, baby. This is exactly the sort of thing which makes reenacting so much fun- being able to provide a living, breathing glimpse into the past. And Mudge, I don't know whether to say I'm impressed or gobsmacked at how much you have invested in your collection... !!!

Lynn

[tom d. friedman]

Now THAT is money, baby. This is exactly the sort of thing which makes reenacting so much fun- being able to provide a living, breathing glimpse into the past. And Mudge, I don't know whether to say I'm impressed or gobsmacked at how much you have invested in your collection... !!!

Lynn

ditto for me to mudge!!! what the heck do you have!!!

[Django]

That's a great shot Frank, but I think I would Photoshop out the MiG kills and backdate the USAF national insignia, since I'm assuming the flight gear was not the same in Korea as it was in WWII.

The key is it is re-enACTING. Do those that think it's silly ever go to see a play or a movie? Watch TV? History is far more interesting to people who only have a casual interest when they can see it in a tangible form. Seeing someone in period clothing next to an aircraft really allows one to begin to "connect the dots", IMO.

When I did it, it was a combination of playing "dress up" and sharing the history. I did it because I love (obsessed according to the wife) WWII aviation history. I was new to reenacting, so I didn't know a whole lot about the correct gear for early war, late war, etc. My friends took care of that for me. The photos we took though will always be special to me. Will I do it again? I'd like to, but who knows. If I do, it will probably be more for ground crew type photos while painting nose art.

Overall though, I think it really ads to an airshow environment, but as has been stated, you have to do it right. With that said, I would not expect anyone who is interested in doing it to drop $3000 right from the start, and you have to start somewhere. Luckily for me, I have friends who have amassed pretty good collections. When we did Thunder Over Michigan in '05, when we assembled at the Movie Belle, the photographers were literally running across the tarmac to take some pics.

Is going to a hangar dance in uniform playing dress up, reenacting, or both? Swing dancing is fun. Swing dancing in Class A's in front of a bomber is really fun. Anymore though when we go, I just dress in '40s civies, because I don't want to shave to wear the uniform. And as has been stated, it's important to respect the uniform.

Here's a couple pics. I'm sure there are all kinds of errors, but I had to borrow it all as everything I own is Class A related.









Disregard the late war B-17 in the background...

[whistlingdeath77]

Thats warbird kid in the glasses. He's a great guy who loves the corsair and he was just starting out with reeacting so he used what flight suit was avaliable to him. Yeah, i was sitting in the korean corsair, but it still made for a great shot. I was just gratefull to be IN the corsair! I have more shots if you guys would like to see them, but please don't think that i'm flaunting myself here. It's just the shots that were given to me as a present. The REAL pilots are in their 80's and 90's now and i could never be half the man they are.

[whistlingdeath77]

Nice shots Frank!
Who's that guy in the red, non-authentic, out of period gear, ruining that second shot!
Jerry

that handsome man is the reason i'm into the corsair so much!

[Warbird Kid]

Just out of curiosity, why is this guy wearing USAAF flight suit while sitting in a USN/USMC aircraft?!

Because thats what Jerry gave me to wear for the show! A little unauthentic but to the casual observer unnoticeable. Cant get away with anything here!

[whistlingdeath77]

[TonyM]

When the Great Lakes Wing of the CAF actually operated aircraft, we had a working relationship with a group of re-enactors called the Commemorative Airborne Jump Team. They dressed as D-Day Airborne Troops. They looked the part; they used authentic era equipment or very good repros. They really look good and they would static line jump out of our C-47. All young guys in their early 20s; not one fat guy. These guys jumped out of our D-Day C-47 airplane many times for airborne unit reunions. The team was led by a guy named Corey Mace. Maybe Greg Moreland or Trey Carroll or Cory can post some photos. We all were featured in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Warbird Digest. The photo on page 13 looks like it was taken in England in late spring 1944.

When we operated the Ju-52, the German re-enactors would come out once in a while. They were harmless airborne Wehrmacht types. I posed with them, so I better forget about running for office. They refused to pose with me with my hands up while I was wearing my not WWII authentic Khaki CAF flying suit. There was even a Soviet soldier with them so we were not without allies. And one day a Luftwaffe pilot showed up; he was young and fit and looked like a Luftwaffe pilot. Don't know enough about their uniforms to comment about their accuracy, but they looked good too. Only one fat guy, but hey, Sgt. Schultz was a fat guy too. They all stayed by our Ju-52 airplane for two days, taking photos and just hanging out in front of the plane; they all behaved well. We even let them pose like they were jumping out of the airplane door. They wanted to join our wing but they lived too far away to make it practical.

Both of the groups of re-enactors, allied and axis, hanging around the aircraft enhanced the static display. Watching or helping CAJT jump out of our aircraft was a good time.

Oh, yeah, the ancient WWII pilots re-enactors or the fat Civil war guys just don't make it.

TonyM.

[JDK]

Interesting post, Tony, thanks.

They were harmless airborne Wehrmacht types. I posed with them, so I better forget about running for office.

Heh. Just a couple of comments - the Fallschirmjäger were part of the Luftwaffe, Goering not surrendering control of anything in the air, so the German 'airborne' was part of the 'air force' not 'army' (as were the flack units).

As to "harmless airborne":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Kondomari
The legitimacy of anti guerrilla operations are a tricky arena, of course.

The whole question of what's 'acceptable' for 'recreation', and where and when is a thorny one. I'm not going to say I know what's right or wrong here, but the information being shared is interesting; particularly the bits that tell us more about the poster than they may intend, (self included!).

Just a few thoughts, not conclusions.

[cco23i]

He needs a shave too.

Scott

[TonyM]

Interesting post, Tony, thanks.

They were harmless airborne Wehrmacht types. I posed with them, so I better forget about running for office.

Heh. Just a couple of comments - the Fallschirmjäger were part of the Luftwaffe, Goering not surrendering control of anything in the air, so the German 'airborne' was part of the 'air force' not 'army' (as were the flack units).

As to "harmless airborne":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Kondomari
The legitimacy of anti guerrilla operations are a tricky arena, of course.

The whole question of what's 'acceptable' for 'recreation', and where and when is a thorny one. I'm not going to say I know what's right or wrong here, but the information being shared is interesting; particularly the bits that tell us more about the poster than they may intend, (self included!).

Just a few thoughts, not conclusions.

Thanks JDK,
I know airborne guys are elite units and can get it done.
I meant "harmless" as less offensive than the SS guys, who we never encountered. Thanks for the link.
And I am not against Old Guys, since I am one myself. They just don't look good when they are trying to look like 21 year old service members.

TonyM.

[cco23i]

THAT'S why we do ground crew, PLUS I are one forreal!!


Scott

[Robbie Roberts]

THAT'S why we do ground crew, PLUS I are one forreal!!


Scott

Aye, Yup! I'been involved with reenacting for about (mumble-mumble) 26 years at this point, doing everything from collecting USAAF, to joining a local but large reenactment group, starting my own group and running it for a few years, hopping over to another impression entirely & ending up running that group for several years, getting out, getting back in to do RAF, then over to USAAF, and am looking to another USA impression at this point... I have come full circle, and starting around again. I am not too far out of shape, but it dawned on me the reason larger size uniforms are hard to come by is not that they weren't made, but the majority of them were USED during the war! And I did 3 years as a 31R MSE operator, 3 as a 19D Cavalry Scout, and 6 as a 2A571 KC-10 Crew Chief... I've seen reenacting from the early 80's- WHEN IT WAS FUN, and not overly rule oriented... Where authenticity was important, but so was enjoying what you are doing. Some of the groups, organizations are now so dipped up doing all these highly orchestrated events, that I rarely go to the field any more. I am probably going back, but will be taking my WC-51, so will pretty much restrict myself to the role of driver... At least I got SOMETHING. I had a Willys MB when I started, now I have something a little bigger...

Scott

[CDF]

I think my hypocrisy meter just exploded after reading some of these posts.

I agree 100%, referencing the Kondomari Masacre without its context to the Battle for Crete and the role of the populace during the fighting is simplistic at best

[JDK]

I think my hypocrisy meter just exploded after reading some of these posts.

I agree 100%, referencing the Kondomari Masacre without its context to the Battle for Crete and the role of the populace during the fighting is simplistic at best

Not sure if we are on the same page. To be precise, the reference I gave included that context. More could be said, but I didn't think it appropriate, in this thread IMHO, except to flag drawing easy conclusions is definitely 'simplistic'. YMMV.

Regards,