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Post by VeeVee on Feb 17, 2007 0:22:00 GMT -5
Thanks to armyjunk for the referral. I found this website of Coast Artillery reenactors and living history park rangers of Fort Mott, NJ. They also have disappearing guns like at Fort MacArthur/Corregidor. www.armygroundforces.org
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Post by coastdef on May 2, 2007 20:43:50 GMT -5
Hi, I'm a new member to the board; I just found this forum. I saw this post and thought I should offer to provide some more information. I'm one of the founding members of the Army Ground Forces Association; we've been around for about 8 years now. We are an all volunteer group that is scattered across the US. We do almost exclusively coast artillery living history events at a variety of locations. Right now our primary focus is Fort Hancock, New Jersey (Sandy Hook Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area), where we are working on a project to restore a battery of M1900 six-inch guns in cooperation with the park service. We have been working toward recreating the plotting room, and have also gotten the breech of one gun fully functional, and the elevation and traverse working so we can demonstrate loading drills. We also have events at Fort Mott, which has a great original fire control tower, several original buildings, and a range of gun batteries (but no guns, unfortunately). In the past (and hopefully the future) we've had events at Fort Pickens (Gulf Islands National Seashore) in Florida, using Battery Cooper, a 6-inch disappearing gun battery, still armed, as the focus for events. We haven't had an event there in about 3 years since hurricanes destroyed the road that leads to the fort. As you would expect, many of our members are very interested in the history of Corregidor and the Harbor Defenses of Manila Bay. If anyone is interested in visiting with us about coast artillery living history, let me know! Regards, Andy Bennett www.armygroundforces.org
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Post by VeeVee on May 2, 2007 21:34:43 GMT -5
Hi Andy, welcome to the forum! Do you know Andy Grant? I've emailed with him a few months ago. He mentioned that your group is thinking of attending Reading this year. That would be great. No coastal artillery batteries to man over there though. One of these days I'll try to swing by Fort Mott and check you guys out. Can you tell us more about your Fort Hanc-o-ck event this month? Is it ongoing throughout May? Or is it a specific weekend? There are many threads in the Photos section with Corregidor , Fort Hughes, Fort Drum pictures. The Fort Drum pictures taken by one of the forum members (Carlos) cannot be seen in any book. He went exploring inside the Concrete Battleship. pinoyhistory.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=photos&action=display&thread=1170518100Again, welcome. This site has accumulated quite a bit of photos and interesting historical topics. Please look around. Victor
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Post by coastdef on May 3, 2007 19:52:34 GMT -5
Andy Grant at Fort Mott is a member of our board of directors. He is still planning on being at Reading; probably will set up a portable fire control station (azimuth instrument, communications, etc) as a display, among other things.
I'll check with our guys, I think we're just having a work weekend this month at Fort Hanc-o-ck. We try and do at least two formal "open house" events there a year where we bring out 15-30 members, and work weekends basically every month where we focus on restoration of the battery, but also do some interpretation for the public. I'll let you know what is planned and which weekend. Since I live in Oklahoma, I only make it out there once a year.
Thanks for the link to the Fort Drum pictures, I'll check that out!
Regards,
Andy
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Post by VeeVee on May 4, 2007 5:45:20 GMT -5
I'll look for them in Reading and take their pictures I hope it doesn't rain!
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Post by coastdef on May 6, 2007 20:58:57 GMT -5
Update on May 19-20 at Fort Hanc-o-ck, NJ. We will be in uniform and open to the public both days at Battery Gunnison (New Peck). We are usually up and going by 10:00 am and shut down around 5:00 pm. It will be a relatively small group (probably 5-10 members); everyone has a lot going on right now.
Sandy Hook (where Fort Hancock is located) is a great area; a nearly complete turn of the century army post with numerous gun batteries of Fort Hanc-o-ck for the military fans, and great beaches/wildlife/etc for those "less interested" in the military; the spouse/family can often find something to do while your getting your military fix!
Regards,
Andy
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Post by johnbryan on Feb 26, 2009 22:40:02 GMT -5
There are also a number of WWII re-enactment groups active in California and Washington State doing the same sort of thing on the coastal artillery forts that defended Puget Sound, San Francisco and Las Angeles.
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