Pros / Cons, and opinions on Re-enactors

[Fouga23]

I love those Corsair shots!

[Warbird Kid]

He needs a shave too.

Just trying to be accurate!

[cco23i]

Looks good BUT remember portray the "norm" not the exception.

Scott

[michaelharadon]

First shot I remember seeing of a Second War pilot with a chin pu$$y.

[cco23i]

The thing that gets mnay is they see ONE pic and portray that one photo and the person in the photo was the exception and not the norm.

Scott

[CDF]

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,

Well to be fair my first choice was supercilious but I toned it back to simplistic.

TonyM's comment was clearly & obviously directed at the re-enactors at the show he physically saw, not the Fallschrimjager or the Drittes Reich in totality. You replied by saying:

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

If you had exchanged harmless Fallschrimjager for Harmless RAAF and brought predjudices to the table and generalized them all as war criminals you would have taken issue no doubt ?.

Using your stance would therefore characterize all of the Americal Division (stateside as well) as war Criminals because of Lt Calleys actions. Breathtaking in its simplicity. All Fallschrimjager should be generalized by the actions of those that committed the massacre on Crete in 1941.

Even those that were tried post-war for warcrimes (Student), Killed in Action (Oblt Trebes), or died before trial (Goring).

As for 'being on the same page" I haven't bought a copy of Aeroplane Monthly for years

[JDK]

Dear CDF,

My. Tony took the remark the way I'd intended it. I'm sorry you feel so strongly about it. I thought it relevant; you don't - you are welcome, your view is valid.

However, for the record, I wasn't suggesting that it applied to all Fallschrimjager, or the group Tony mentioned, or that the reverse was 'true', I don't know where you got that from, that wasn't my intent.

And for the third time, I'd be wary of drawing any simple conclusions about that massacre; however it remains a fact that the massacre occurred.

Suggest we just agree to leave the matter.

Regards,

[cco23i]

In my opinion if you "regulate" which units are represented then many things about the war will be forgotten OR ignored. If you don't show the paratroops on Crete then no one (in the general public) will know about them and what went on. There is both good and bad with ALL units, it all depends on what happened during their time in theater. Hell, no one really knew what the ground crews did on flight lines until us and the APS started portraying them! And remember how the U.S. 9th Air Force recieved their nickname of “Eisenhower’s Luftwaffe" after they would strafe Allied units and vehicles. So all sorts of items need to be told.

Scott

[Jerry O'Neill]

The thing that gets mnay is they see ONE pic and portray that one photo and the person in the photo was the exception and not the norm.

Scott

I thought he looked very much like a combat pilot in the Pacific.
There are more than one or two beards on Marine pilots back in WWII.
Many photos prove that out. There are so many in-theater modifications to uniforms, flight gear and facial hair. I've even seen a photo of Tex Hill flying a B-25 with a white t-shirt on. Not standard, but probably cool.
My rule of thumb is that if you have a photo or several of a particular odd-outfit, I don't have a problem with someone wearing it as long as it fits the aircraft and peroid of time.

I get more worried when a crew doing a photo shot for a book is photographed and published with half the crew wearing A-14 Demand Oxygen masks and the other half wearing A-8B Constant Flow Masks with the ballon bag. Once an aircraft was changed over to a demand O2 system, the older A-8's were not compatible.

Jerry

[cco23i]

As you said it depends on the theater portrayed. Pacific had more "stubble" and facial hair verses the European theater where the crews mostly were stationed on established air bases and had access to shaving areas. PLUS you have to look at how relaxed the commander was and tollerant of the troops not keeping clean shaven.

Scott

[whistlingdeath77]

He needs a shave too.

Just trying to be accurate!

Chris, i thought you looked great in all the photo's and the beard was just fine. You proved that not every single corsair pilot shaved every day before going into combat. I know that forward marine units had a tough enough time getting through the war let alone being clean shaven every day. I have more awesome photo's of you if you'd like to see them?

[cco23i]

As you said it depends on the theater portrayed. Pacific had more "stubble" and facial hair verses the European theater where the crews mostly were stationed on established air bases and had access to shaving areas. PLUS you have to look at how relaxed the commander was and tollerant of the troops not keeping clean shaven.

Scott

As I said, it depends on the commander and other reasons.

Scott

[whistlingdeath77]

I love those Corsair shots!

thanks for the compliments!

[CDF]

Dear CDF,

My. Tony took the remark the way I'd intended it. I'm sorry you feel so strongly about it. I thought it relevant; you don't - you are welcome, your view is valid.

However, for the record, I wasn't suggesting that it applied to all Fallschrimjager, or the group Tony mentioned, or that the reverse was 'true', I don't know where you got that from, that wasn't my intent.

And for the third time, I'd be wary of drawing any simple conclusions about that massacre; however it remains a fact that the massacre occurred.

Suggest we just agree to leave the matter.

Regards,

Agreed, as appropriate for your standing as a Moderator here you had the final say on the matter. BTW Happy Invasion Day to you.

The thing that gets mnay is they see ONE pic and portray that one photo and the person in the photo was the exception and not the norm. Scott

Good point, whilst I can admire the obvious committment of the Corsair re-enactors to portray the pilots of that era, (and I note that the photos have been posted before & since that event with much pride by those people as well), I'm still undecided as to its success.

[cco23i]

The good thing is only 1 has any facial hair and the rest are clean shaven. As I said, it depended on the unit or section commander. Looks good guys! BUT, you still need a ground crewman!

Scott