Battle of Bataan reenactment event

[VeeVee]

Got this initial info from Av8tor...

----------
A Battle for Bataan 1942 Event or Defense
of the Abucay-Mauban Line will be held in
Gretna, Virginia in August of 2009! Authenticity
standards are being created for both the U.S.
and Filipino Troops and also the Imperial Japanese
Army. Come be part of this unique reenactment experience,
the first of it's kind on the East Coast!
more details to follow...

Scenario: Defense of the Abucay-Mauban Line, April 1942
Where: Gretna, Virginia USA
Date: August 21,22,23, 2009
Fee: TBD
Authenticty Guidelines: Are being researched and created
currently but the "majority" (not all) of U.S. Troops will
portray the 31st U.S. Infantry Regiment and the Japanese
will portray the 48th Imperial Division. Please contact us
for more details!

Allied Contact/Details/ Questions:
Carter Bertone- chargebayonets@ cox.net

Imperial Japanese Contact/Details/ Questions:
Patrick Hubble- mortician88@ hotmail.com

[av8tor]

Hello to All,

I got this yesterday from IJA re-enactor Patrick Hubble. Those who wants to participate please inform me so we can make our plans.

Don


Hello Don,
I cut and pasted the authenticity guidelines below from one of the
event organizers. I spoke with one of them and they are really
excited about prospects of the Philipine Scouts being part of the event!
Anyways the dedication for doing things right is indicated below....I'll
get you the organizers e-mails so you can contact them directly...
sincerely, Patrick Hubble


Unit Organization: The overall Commander for the event will be
myself, John Abshire. I will be playing the role of a Company
Commander of a company in the 31st Infantry Regiment. Carter bertone
will be the 1st Platoon Leader and other leadership roles will be
annouced as the event matures and we get some soild numbers. The
Company HQ will be made up mostly of the event staff, and the
"Company" is really non-existant so to speak of. Carter Bertone will
be in Charge of the US Army section but will be getting his "orders"
from the Company HQ, this is to enhance the experience for everyone
and the Company HQ will not be involved with most of the fighting.
Orders will be send Via Field phones, and runners or personal meetings
with the CO and the PL. If we actually have the numbers to do an
entire company, then adjustments will be made. The reason I am
explaining all of this is to prevent any confusion. There wll be alot
of surprises at this event, anyone below the company level (with few
exceptions) will NOT be privy to some things, such as enemy strength,
friendly units in the area, and civillians.




IMPRESSION STANDARDS: US Army 31st Infantry regiment (Bertone did all
the work on this just giving credit where its due)
This is not a guideline, this is the impression. So make sure you pay
attention to the standards and you follow them to the letter. We have
turned people away for not following the standards so please dont make
that mistake.



Equipment Standards
Defense of the Abucay Line
Bataan 1942
31st Infantry Regiment




Head Gear:
M-1917A1 Helmet (Kelly Helmet)
- Acceptable substitutes is the M1917 helmet with Leather WWI lining
Campaign Hats, Pith Helmets, and Khaki O/S caps without piping are
also acceptable substitutes and may be worn on a case by case basis.
ID Tags

Uniform:
Khaki Cotton Service Shirt (Enlisted or Officer variants) with
Philippine Scout Patch and appropriate rank insignia
Khaki Service Trousers
M1938 – Dismounted leggings
Type II Service Shoes
- Roughout service shoes or WWI service boots are acceptable substitutes)
White Cotton T-Shirt
Variations are authorized.
- Privates / Junior NCOs are authorized to wear the blue denim fatigue
uniform or mix the two uniforms (Denim / Khaki)
ID Tags with proper chain (Not the beaded variety)

Equipment:
1 x M 1928 or 1917 / 18 Cartridge Belt
1 x M1910 Canteen w/ cover
1 x M1923/ 1910 First Aid pouch
1 x M1923 / M1910 Haversack with Meat Can pouch
1 x M1910 – T Handle Shovel or M1910 Pick Maddox
1 x Wool Blanket
1x M1928 / 1910 Meat Can w/ utensils
1 x M1938 Dismounted Raincoat or WWI Issue Rain Coat

Officers and Soldiers Manning Crew Served Weapons
M-1936 / Pistol Belt
M1936 Combat Suspenders (Officers Only)
M1936 Musette Bag (Officers Only)

Weapons:
M-1 Garand w/ 16" Bayonet (Bayonet scabbard must be the canvas covered
M1910 variant) the preferred bayonet is the Wood handled 1905 variant
but the plastic handled 1942 variant is acceptable.
(The M-1 Garand is the standard acceptable weapon for the Infantry
Soldier; the 31st IN REGT was issued this weapon in Fall 1941.
Soldiers carrying this weapon will only be allowed to carry 5 en-bloc
8rd Clips for the Garand. Remaining ammunition will be carried in 5rd
stripper clips. Soldiers will be restricted to carrying a total of 150
rds of rifle ammunition)

M1911 Service Pistol (Officers / Weapons Crews) w/ appropriate holster
M1917 Service Pistol (Officers / Weapons Crews) w/ appropriate holster

M1918 BAR (With a maximum of 260 rds – 13-20 round magazines)
M1917 Machine Gun
M1919 Light MG
M1928 Thompson SMG (These will be allowed on a case by case basis and
must have the appropriate 11" barrel and vertical handgrip)
M1903 Service Rifle (These will be allowed on a case by case basis and
will only be carried by those portraying HQ or support soldiers)

Rations: Soldiers will not be allowed to bring food into the field all
food will be issued on site by the event organizers. Comfort items
such as cigarettes, chewing tobacco, etc should also be carried
sparingly.


Web Gear must be the early war khaki color. Later variants of dark
green are later production and are not authorized

[legionnaire]

US Army 31st Infantry regiment origins:

New update:

The 31st Infantry was assigned to the Philippine Division from October 22, 1921 to June 26, 1931.


Philip

[av8tor]

I got an e-mail fom the organizer of the Battle of Bataan re-enactment in Gretna, Virginia inviting our group. It looks like our group has a good reputation with them.


Donald,

I am the host of the Bataan event that is taking place
in August of 2009 in Virgina. I would love you guys to come and
portray both IJA and Phillpine Scouts, I figure this event will be
right up your alley considerng we are doing a fall of the philippines event. I actually used to live in Angelise City near Clark AFB when I Was a kid so this event is close to home for me, hearing the stories as a kid about the battle there. We are strict on authenicity, but from what I have seen from you guys, that will not be a problem at all. You guys are a top notch unit and I would love to have yoursuppport in this event. We are looking to have this event as an anual event if we get enough support so it can be something you guys can look forward to every year.


Roles:

For Scouts, you would be just that...scouts. I would have you guys placed and you guys would be the eyes and ears for my company, you will be able to do what the scouts did in the Philippines by keeping us fat white morons from getting lost. It would add a lot to the event, and you guys will have a blast.

For IJA, you guys will be attached to Patrick Hubbels unit and fight
with him. There will be a seperate registration for the Japanese and Americans/Scouts so both sides will not know each others numbers.


If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to email or give me a phone call 910-690-4457.

I really hope you guys can make it to our top notch event or top notch units.


John Abshire

[VeeVee]

I hope he meant us to play the role of "scouts" because he doesn't anticipate a big PS group to attend -- so that he's planning to attach the PS to existing units and act out in a scouting function. Otherwise he seems to be totally ignorant that the Scouts are that in name only but are actually separate full-fledged infantry, cavalry, artillery units and were actually the heavy hitters in Bataan -- and not just "scouts" to keep the Americans from getting lost.

When authenticity is stressed, it always seems to just refer to uniform and gear but sometimes knowledge of the actual history supposedly being honored is lost and incidental.

Remember the CHG organizer who emphatically explained at the PS reunion that he needed the Scouts with the Springfield 1903's for the Alamitos reenactment? He sure sounded like he knew his history, right in front of the actual PS vets too.

Anyway, sorry. It sure sounds like a lot of fun. I hope many can make it.

[av8tor]

Hello to All,

So far we have 4 guys in Virginia that are going to the re-enactment in Gretna.

The organizer sent me this scenario for the event.



Donald,

It was good to talk to you and you sound as excited as I am
to have you guys come.


How the event will play out:


Friday-Registration, at around midnight we will march into the field
as a unit, some units will already be in place but our outfit (31st
with Scouts) will move out around midnight on friday. We will move
onto the line and dig defensive posistions for the night, have a few
patrols out and about, and of course security will be up, expect to
get little if any sleep that night. Without giving anything away,
there will be some night action, some excitement, and suspense. The
way we do events is different than most tacticals, we act in charcter
the whole time, we act like soldiers, we dig,eat, sleep, fight like
soldiers.

Saturday- We will be falling back to another defensive posistion,
digging in, and from there send out more patrols, orders maychange at
a moments notice, but for the most part we will continue fighting a
delaying action.

At around 1700 on Saturday evening we will call and end to the
fighting, we will then have everyone meet up for a big dinner and have
a couple of beers and relax and get a good nights sleep. The action
will last from whenever you arrive on friday until 1700 on saturday,
so that means very little sleep, a lot of diging, and little to no
food.

Everyone will be required to bring their own water, but we will set it
up in such a way that when we send for water it wont look goofy having
people have water jugs or anything, so dont worry if you dont have
peroid water cans.

This event is not a win/lose style thing, it is scripted a lot like a
movie, only its an improvisational movie that can change at any moment
and the guys will have to react. We intend to re-create what it was
like for 1 night on the Abucay line in 1942 (sans of course the fear
of actually being killed)

Registration must be mailed to me no later than 10August2009, here is
my address,

John Abshire
220 E. Illinois Ave #19
Southern Pines, NC 28387

Send a check made out to John Abshire in the ammount of $25, this will
cover the costs of wire, flares, food, and dinner saturday night, and
we usualy try and buy some beer for the guys to relax with on saturday
night.

www.hardscrabblefarm.com/ww2/first_person_sheet.htm Fill out a
first person worksheet found at the before mentioned link. This will
help you get in character and set the mood for yourself. Please send
me a copy of this when you send in your $25 check, this is your
registration, all other info will be taken care of when you arrive on
site and report to the company clerk.

Also with your 1st person worksheet, include your impression list,
with you gear, uniforms, weapons ect...and include a photo. You can
save yourself a lot of time and headache and email me the impression
list and photo if you like [e-mail]

The reason we require you to send in your impresion list and photo, is
to prevent any people from just showing up and not having the correct
uniforms and equipment, we are very strict on this and from the looks
of how your unit is, you understand how hard it is to work on your
impression and get the correct things. It is not fair to let people
share the same "battle space" as us if they are not willing to do
research, and put time and effort into their impressions. We ask for
the picture and gear list to protect the integrity of the event and
those who participate!

I look foward to having your unit join us, I will be putting out an
email soon with directions to the site, we have 2 locations we are
thinking of using, we just need to pick one...

As soon as you get a chance, I need an accurate count, and roster from
you that will tell me how many you expect to have, and their names. So
I can hand it over to the company clerk and they can fill out the
nessicary paperwork, so when people arrive on site we can check them
off the list.



With Respect,

John Abshire

[VeeVee]

SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF FUN! You guys talk in Tagalog a lot and give those 31st infantry some good immersive background chatter.

I hope they do this every year and maybe when my situation changes I can participate. Heck I already don't have enough sleep right now as it is because of sick kids or sick me.

[VeeVee]

Call them "Joe" a lot too

[rickthelibrarian]

Dang! Wish Iived about 3,000 mles closer!

[VeeVee]

I think I'm about a few hundred miles away but I still can't attend this event.