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Post by milspec on Sept 21, 2009 10:26:04 GMT -5
Greetings Joseph,
Kamusta na rin! I hope that you are doing well. I'm doing fine just a little busy at work and with the kids. What have you been up to lately? Are you still doing your dancing and reenacting. I haven't seen you in any of the California events pictures lately. We missed you guys at the Louisa Reenactment. Victor wasn't able to make it. Don and I were sure that you and Philip would have loved to be there. It was mostly fun. Parang nasa sine kami - kaya lang kami yung mga gumaganap. (Its like we were in the movies but it was us who were acting). You could have either been a Philippine Scout or a Japanese soldier. I believe you have an accurate impression of either one. One thing Don and I agreed about is that we have to be in better shape next time. I'm glad you liked the pictures. The best part is we don't have to photoshop the jungle in. There was a lot of waiting in between action but when the action was on it was intense - much better than "Call of Duty" the video game. This time it was almost real.
That M1 was heavy and getting heavier and heavier as the day went on. One thing I can tell you is that when the enemy is in you sites there was no hesitation to pull the trigger and empty the clip. In restrospect I'm a bit ashamed of it - I should have asked him to surrender first. I wonder how it was during those times.
Ingat
milspec
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Post by milspec on Oct 12, 2009 21:36:51 GMT -5
Greetings Gentlemen, On our way back to our assembly point, we were informed that a nearby village was being occupied by an unknown number of enemy combatants. We got off the road and moved cautiously into the jungle.   I was behind Don when we emerged from the jungle. Contact was made with the enemy. We took cover behind trees and logs and returned fire.   We saw two Japanese soldiers. One was firing from a bunker on the other side of the village and the other was in a nipa hut right in front of us. Don was able to get get behind the nipa hut and neutralize the lone defender.  The others got the other Japanese. Once the village was secured we were ordered to go after the rest of the Japanese who escaped into the jungle. We caught up with them at what looked like another bunker with surrounding trenches. A couple of us made our way to the right of the bunker. We were met by a Japanese soldier dug in the trench. I crawled my way closer to about 15-20 yards from him. When he ran out of bullets and was in the process of reloading I rushed him and squeezed off a couple of rounds. The trench was secured. We were now in a position to approach the bunker from the right flank. We made our way as quick as we could. I checked my my rifle and saw that I had only two rounds left in my integral magazine. I unloaded the two rounds and thumbed in a fresh clip. I also picked up a spent flare and hurled in front of the bunker. I was hoping that the noise might trick the defender into thinking that we were attacking from the front. We were ready in the back. It worked! The Japanese soldier was exiting through the back when he was met by a hail of gunfire.  He slumped at the thresh-hold. We didn't have time check him out. We were ordered to immediately withdraw and reassemble at the village. From the village we headed back to our assembly point. Thus came the end our first tactical reenactment. We finally met our Japanese reenactors.  Dale, Patrick, and I wasn't able to get the third gentleman's name It started to rain and we retreated to the ammo shed. There we had hamburgers and beer.   It had been a tiring and demanding 22 hours but it was a lot of fun. We met a lot of great guys and we hope to be able to do it again. We will try to be more physically fit next time. Milspec |
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Post by legionnaire on Oct 15, 2009 10:26:30 GMT -5
You guys are great and truly having fun! I miss all of that wish I was there. Thank you for keeping the spirit of the US Army's Philippine Scouts alive. Early war period has it's unique nostalia of the greatests generation. Here in SIN_gapore they don't even know what that word is? That's how dead this hobby here is.  At least in the mother country the Philippines is growing quite quick. Thanks for keeping us posted on all your events back in the east! Philip |
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Post by VeeVee on Nov 5, 2009 12:30:18 GMT -5
Hi Milspec,
Did all of you drink from your canteens? How did you clean it well enough to drink from it?
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Post by milspec on Nov 5, 2009 19:17:46 GMT -5
Greetings Victor,
Jay and I drank from our canteens. However, we did finish the two bottles of bottled water we had in our gasmask bags first before we drank from our canteens. I first inspected the inside of the canteen with a pen light to assess the amount of corrosion inside. Fortunately, the canteens looked pretty good. No white powder residue or discolorations was visible. I then checked them for leaks. The canteens were leaking from the lip. Apparently the cork seals were crumbling. I replaced them with cork bought from the craft store. I then scrubbed the canteen lip inside and out with steel wool until it was shiny. For the inside of the canteen, I scrubbed it with a baby bottle brush, hot water and dishwashing liquid. I think I scrubbed the canteen about 4 times. Each time I rinsed it with very hot water. I filled the canteens with water and left it the fridge overnight. Water tasted fine. No mettalic or aluminum taste. I made sure to empty the canteen and let it dry after the event prior to storage. I also had to reinforce the canteen cover belt hangers. The original stitching looked like it would not survive rigors of tactical reenacting.
Milspec
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Post by milspec on Nov 5, 2009 19:37:24 GMT -5
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Post by milspec on Nov 19, 2009 19:49:07 GMT -5
Greetings Gentlemen, Getting ready for the Louisa Tactical was quite a challenge since they had strict authenticity guidelines. Meaning to say we had to look as close as possible to the 1940's Philippine Scouts. However, we had a tight budget and acquiring all original gear would have been very prohibitive. We had to do a little substituting with reproductions. There's a lot out there and we had to pick the ones which looked the closest or modify what was available to fit our needs.  The Repro M1923 Cartridgebelt we got from a gunshow was the closest we could get which looked like the early Khaki color but it was a bit too bleached in appearance.  So, we dunked it in a pail of tea to subdue the color.  After it dried, it looked liked a nice golden khaki color. Here it is compared to some original cartridge belts.  Cartridge belt rig - Repro Belt, Repro Canteen Cover, Repro First Aid Pouch, Original Canteen.  milspec |
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Post by milspec on Nov 30, 2009 12:26:17 GMT -5
Greetings Gentlemen, As part of our cost cutting effort, we had to make our own patches since the patches from Saunder's were a bit pricey at the time and if ordered the patches would not arrive in time. We eventually plan to upgrade to real patches in the future. We just bought some felt from the craft store photocopied a patch and cut out the pattern then stitched them together to come up with something acceptable. They look pretty OK on the pictures.  milspec |
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Post by legionnaire on Nov 30, 2009 17:13:23 GMT -5
The early originals I've seen were made basically in the same way. except for the photocopy guide. Crudely made Felt cut outs then stitched together. So your final result gives is more "original" repro result.
Philip
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Post by milspec on Nov 30, 2009 17:24:11 GMT -5
Greetings Philip, So, do you mean that our patches are good enough to keep  . I've already washed them and the colors don't run. Maybe I'll make more for some of our prospective recruits. Each patch cost less than .50 cents in terms of materials. Thanks for the input Philip. milspec |
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Post by mack1991 on Dec 6, 2010 18:08:51 GMT -5
wher did you get the kidney gas mask and bag
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. I've already washed them and the colors don't run. Maybe I'll make more for some of our prospective recruits. Each patch cost less than .50 cents in terms of materials. Thanks for the input Philip.