WW2 Reenactment – Linden, TN 2017

Hey gang!

I’m reading the date . . . and I’m weeping.  I can’t believe I’m two years late in posting this.

The blog police that live in my head jumped out to beat me up but they’ve left me off with nothing but a bit of shame and a warning.

*issues a sigh full of self-recrimination*

The bad news isn’t over yet, either.  I made this vlog a while ago before I got some fancier editing program and before I learned how to make my vlogs look a little more . . . slick.  So, it’s kind of . . . amateurish looking?  #fail

Oh well, let’s just try try to PRETEND that everything is hunky-dory and on time.  What do you say?

At least I made my Memorial Day weekend deadline, right?

Try to enjoy, now. 😉

First the vlogs –

The first one is all the video photage.  There were actually two battles during the day, the first one was a reenactment of the Nazi’s taking the town –

And hanging the Nazi flag over the town hall.

And the second battle featured THE AMERICANS TAKING THE TOWN BACK.

How do you like THEM apples, you Nazi impersonators?

^ I could literally just sit here and watch that gif of him ripping that flag over and over ^

Anyway, it’s a hodge-podge in this video, along with a few shots of a FLY-BY and a Veteran’s parade!

^ Literally my face the whole time I watched these guys fight. ^

The next and last vlog is a montage of all the many pictures we snapped through-out the day.

A RANDOM SELECTION OF MEMORIES

Souvenirs!  The paper on the left is a imitation propaganda leaflet that was dropped after the fly-by.  The bullet shells I picked up after the battle and I believe one of them is German and one of them is American.  And, of course, my ticket.  🙂

I don’t think I’ve ever been so hot in my life, and I’ve been to some hot places.  It was miserable.  I was so overheated, I was too sick to eat anything all day.  I felt horrible for the reenactors – especially the guys playing the soldiers – some of whom we found lying inside the buildings, almost passed out and needing help.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a parasol or sun-screen, and I had a completely ineffectual hat that I chose for fashion over practicality.  #NeverAgain

I’d also recommend comfortable walking shoes.

I got to met one of my dear Internet friends, Elsie!  Elsie is so sweet and such fun, and it was a chance in a million that we would ever get to meet in person, but it happened!  Elsie was the first online friend I got to meet in real life and it was so surreal to hug her and talk with her in person.  After meeting a dizzying number of her friends and family (who were all very kind to me and awesome), she and I got to hang out for a while and rode a German truck together and visited some shops before she had to leave.  Elsie was one of the reenactors and played one of the civilians in the battle.  *beams with pride*

Calling all WW2 geeks!  I got to ride in a WW2 era jeep!  Hellooooo, Rat Patrol.

EVA @coffeclassicsandcraziness – Ya feeling me on this one?

I had never realized how unstable a jeep feels when you are riding in it – there’s not much to it.

My driver careened down streets and up inclines like a Tully wannabe, leaning over the door to yell at people sitting on the curb to get their legs out of the street while I clung to my seat and my skirt and hoped I wouldn’t be sent flying into the crowd.  I’d also advise not wearing a skirt while riding in a jeep.  Getting in and out of a jeep at my height is treacherous enough.  Getting in and out in a dress is even more tricky.  In the end, I managed it, but I wouldn’t advise it.

There was a thrilling battle reenactment with guns blazing, bullets flying, and men in uniform running all over the place!  You’re hitting all my Alli buttons.  

And, there were TANKS.

Yes, I know you saw that in the vlog, but I can’t help mentioning it again BECAUSE IT WAS SO COOL!

Taps were played and a moment of silence was observed for fallen soldiers.  As we stood there, the honor guard at attention, the Stars and Stripes flapping in the silence, I started to cry.

The veteran’s parade.  This is what heroes and and heroism looks like, and it was amazing.

The evening culminated in dinner with live music –

 – and a swing dance.

Lit with tinkle-lights and the fuzzy glint of street lights, it was magical to watch the dance floor, still crowded with costumed actors.  I got out on the dance floor with my dad and while my own attempts were not pretty, it was fun.  Watching my parents killing it out on the floor was also something I’ll never forget.  The evening culminated in a fireworks display, a last minute hug and photo shoot with Elsie and then we drove off into the dark.

I also experienced one of the greatest honors of my life on this day.

I danced with a United States Marine.

While trying to move through the crowd, I paused on a sidewalk around a knot of people, waiting to get by.  A live band was playing boogie woogie music near by and two teenagers were showing off their moves.  An elderly gentleman with a cap and shirt designating him as Marine veteran of WW2 was standing beside me and asked if I wanted to dance.

Me – surprised.  “You mean me dance with you?”

Marine:  (one of those dying breed of red-blooded, ultra masculine men that wouldn’t back down even if they wanted to said:  “YEAH!”

Me:  “Why . . . SURE!”

While I am an enthusiastic dancer, I didn’t really know what I was doing – the Marine was very nice about me bumping into him and gave me some orders (marine-style) on how to fix my mistakes.  He didn’t ask me again, though, so either I wore him out or he figured he’d ask somebody who knew what they were doing, or one dance was all he wanted.

Let me tell you, dancing with a United States Marine as the sun shone down on me and the flag flew over head while a band beat out rhythms that will forever be golden – that was a memory i will never forget.

We immediately hugged and as I hugged him I said:  “Thank you, sir.  This was the highlight of my day.”

Like a simpleton I forget to ask his name and get his autograph, even when I spotted him a second time in the crowd and we grinned and hugged again.  But I’ll always remember him, and I’ll always be grateful to him.  If he had asked me to stand on my head, I think I would have attempted it.  This man was a hero willing to die for me, a stranger who hadn’t even been born yet.

What could more clearly show the love of Christ than the sacrifice of a soldier?  I was able to dance in the street under an American flag because of people like this.

I’ll never be able to fully express what I feel for all those who have served.

All I can say is that I love you, and I shall be forever grateful.

And that’s all, folks!

By the way, did you notice that I used only gifs from WW2 movies and TV shows in this post?  It took some effort, but I did it.

Have you ever been to the Remembering WW2 event in Linden, TN?  Are you so hyped after reading this woefully late post and watching the vlogs that you’re determined to go this year?  Have you ever been to a WW2 reenactment elsewhere?  Tell me everything!

In loving memory of my grandfather Private First Class, U.S. Army Air Corps, WW2 Veteran.  

Never Forget.