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I began re-enacting before I was 15. I did so because my future First Sergeant in the PA National Guard was a retired USMC COL who needed bodies to do an honor guard for a deceased friend. In a day I was issued a set of khaki's and a 1903 Springfield Rifle, taught how to march, do right shoulder arms, port arms, inspection arms, and be part of a firing party. It went well, even though a few blanks misfired during the ceremony. But I had that covered as I was instructed to just act like I was firing and continue with the rest of the group. That was the first time after Boy Scouts that I wore a uniform. It appealed to me. I did one more re-enactment for a public demonstration and then didn't pick up the hobby for another 6 years. At that time, I did about 2 years of US Civil War re-enacting when I got the chance between real Army duties. In 2004, I started my current unit, the 14th Liaison Squadron, and have been doing a few other units which had relations with the 14th during WWII.
Having actually served, I am quite embarassed by some of the things that go on in re-enacting organizations. Specifically, safety issues, personal appearance issues (I particularly love the 350 lb 101st Airborne re-enactors), authenticity efforts, and the lack of training that goes on in most units. There are a great deal of people who never served a day in their lives in actual service, and it shows. There are many other legitimate criticisms of re-enactors, and those who participate in the hobby should listen to them carefully.
But you can't dispute that a half-track driving by with a full squad of infantry in the back with air guard on the .50 doesn't evoke a sense of history that reading about the same thing truly lacks. A friend's Sherman tank broke down at Fort Indiantown Gap during a re-enactment. The crew and nearby infantrymen used a log found on the range to break track and repair the tank in the field, just like was described to one of the crewmembers of the tank by a WWII 4th Armor Veteran. The photos of the event (which I missed) were very educational to me, and the info was passed on to a few other tank owners who never heard of doing it the way the crew got it done. When I attended Thunder over Michigan in 2008, the four P-47's doing strafing passes over the bean field and 500 re-enactors probably were doing
the passes in a setting that hadn't been seen in 64 years. I got chills watching and remembering my Uncle telling me about watching them flying supporting his unit in WWII.
I agree that being a 43 year old man portraying a 24-25 year old pilot in an L-5 has its limitations. I'm not in constant fear of my life. I'm more sure of my future than the people I'm portraying were. But when I display the airplane, it's not just some sterile piece of equipment on the ramp. My intent is to demonstrate that the machine was operated by that young man, at war, in some danger at most times, and to bring them back to life a bit since most of them are gone. Wearing a uniform, some equipment, and doing some explanation about the airplane/vehicle and its job is critical to preserving the history that these aircraft, vehicles, and artifacts represent.
To get back to it, there is technology here which needs to be preserved- and I don't mean aluminum, electric or hydraulic- I mean Human Technology. There was a culture, social mores, training philosophy, adaptations to equipment, and a whole slew of things which necessitate a human interpretation in order to properly preserve the history of the time. This is not something that can be academically reproduced. Re-enactors fill that void, for better or worse, good or bad, accurately or inaccurately.
I'll relate one anecdote here that should clarify my opinion. A friend's son was on his way to joining the USMC. He was actively playing WWII combat video games of some sort. He told me, "You have to play it, it's just like being there." I knew he was going to change his opinion after he went to boot camp and went downrange first time. But if you want a whole generation to learn about WWII from video games, movies, TV or other media, then getting rid of re-enactors would be a good thing. Somehow, fat 101st Airborne reenactors aside, I think that would be a bad thing.
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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!
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