Photo By Sgt. William Hill | Brandon Mauch, a World War II re-enactor from Louisville, Ky., portrays a German...... read more read more
EDINBURGH, Ind. — The sounds of rifles being fired drowns out the non-commissioned officers yelling orders as the smell of diesel fuel and sulfur fills the air. While the sounds and smells would be familiar to soldiers on today’s front lines, the scene playing out on the training area at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center was straight out of the past.
These “soldiers,” their roles re-enacted by people from across the country donned vintage uniforms and utilized retired weapons and military tactical vehicles to re-enact a battle fought 67 years ago, during Living History Reenacting Association Spring National Event, April 14.
More than 260 re-enactors participated in World War II scenarios. Approximately 100 re-enactors portray German infantrymen and set up fortified positions while the rest portrayed Allied forces and marched through the wooded areas of Camp Atterbury, in the pouring rain to simulate the Invasion of Normandy.
David Weakley, the re-enactment commander for the 82nd Airborne Division said one of the scenarios was Operation Boston, where, June 6, 1944, Allied forces fought to liberate the commune St. Mère Église, in Normandy, France, from occupying German forces.
“The Germans have taken St. Mère Église and we have three Sherman Tanks, along with the 82nd and 101st Airborne infantrymen, to retake the village,” said Weakley.
In the early morning of June 6, 1944, paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division descended on the town of St. Mère Église, occupied by German forces, during Operation Boston. This was one of the first towns to be liberated in the invasion and key to the success of the mission.
Chad Geiger, from Indianapolis, an infantryman re-enactor said he participates in re-enactment scenarios to relive significant moments in time.
“It is a way to time travel, an escape from reality,” Geiger said. “It is a way to have fun in a different time period that I have always been interested in, and sometimes, the biggest single event in human history is worth reliving.”
Marty Vanderwall, a World War II infantryman re-enactor said it is a way for him and his son to spend quality time together while doing something they both enjoy.
“I [re-enact] with my son, it is a great father son thing,” Vanderwall said. “We both love weapons even if we are just shooting blanks, and I am a big military history buff and I wanted to get him started too.”
He said re-enacting is a way to keep the memory alive of what the soldiers had to endure during the World War II.
“I was not old enough to be in [WWII] and there are not enough of us keeping alive the memory of the soldiers who did this kind of stuff and I want to pass it on to him,” he said.
In 1942, the 83rd Infantry Division trained at Camp Atterbury in preparation to deploy to Europe. On June 6, 1944, soldiers from the 83rd landed in Normandy on Omaha Beach as part of the D-day invasion of Normandy. The 83rd liberated 75,000 allied prisoners from prisoner of war camps while they advanced farther in Europe.
He said being at Camp Atterbury was a great experience not only because of the training area that was made available to them but because many of soldiers who fought in WWII trained on Camp Atterbury.
“It is nice to come to an actual base,” he said. “The guys who did this for real where here at one point also and we are walking the same ground they did.”
As the last shots bellow through the air, and the last German re-enactors fall one-by-one, the Allied forces are victorious again 67 years later, but after the shooting stops all these “soldiers” get to return home from the battlefield.
| Date Taken: | 04.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.17.2012 09:19 |
| Story ID: | 86861 |
| Location: | EDINBURGH, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 339 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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