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Post by 15thengineer on Jun 13, 2008 14:48:00 GMT -5
Agreed,
I am not trying to, nor have I implied in anyway, that anyone who is not in the Infantry is less of a soldier.
Heck! I probably could not cut it as a KP Pvt. let alone someone who when through half of what alot of those men did.
Sorry for this post getting off on the wrong foot....
Please....send me some book titles if you have them!
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Post by 15thengineer on Jun 13, 2008 14:14:02 GMT -5
I agree with you 100%!!! I am all about honoring the non standard fighting man (the Combat Engineer, the Quartermaster Dept., the Air Corpman) who had to fight ..... I love doing Combat Engineer!!! IT is one of my primary impressions!!! Why, cause no one knows what the Hell an Engineer is or does.......they have no concept that there are 5-10 men behind the front line infantry man who support him, and have to fight the enemy as well at time!! My problem is.....I just could not find alot of information on the subject....so if you have suggested reading please point me in the right direction.....I would love to learn more. One of the reasons I decided to post here and read what others had posted...to get more info on the subject. So if you are not to busy hating me cause I picked the 31st to portray this weekend .....please post a list of reading and authors that will allow me to learn more about the roll of the other units during this action. Thank you....
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Post by 15thengineer on Jun 13, 2008 10:37:19 GMT -5
I intend to!! (Do what makes me happy...that is...)
I have been reenacting since 1990, Civil War, French and Indian War, WWII ....with multipule impressions in each....
I am no stranger to ...do what makes you happy...cause in the end that is what counts!
Like I said, I picked the 31st cause it was a US unit (so it would have non Philippinos in it...) and it was Inf. which I have the gear for already.....
I still want to try to be as correct as I can....so if there were not any US Engineering units in the Philippines in 41-42...then I can't portray one can I....so the 31st is the best choice right now.
I am slowly working on a 1942 Hawaiian(sp) garrison impression too of a costal artillery/AA Sgt. from the 326th Searchlight Battalion, which is the unit and rank my Grandfather was.....I have a ton! of pictures he took while in Hawaii in 42-45....
But for now....31st is what i am set up to portray.
This weekend is an event actually, not a parade as you mentioned VeeVee. The event is trying to do a WWII timeline, of all impressions and theaters of the war...so me and 3-4 others are going as philippine garrison in 41-42. There will be others doing French 1940s, belguim, Polish 1939, Japanese, Italian, ect...
We are even planning to have a Bataan Battle senerio with the Japanese reenactors on Saturday. I will be sure to take my camera...
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Post by 15thengineer on Jun 13, 2008 8:59:11 GMT -5
Thanks all for the welcome and info on the 31st.....
Let me say a few things about why I decided to pick the 31st....
First of all, as was said above, there is not alot of knowledge that is readily available about this period of the war. As you can see from my picture, I am a 6ft 4in Polish Kid from the steel mills of NW Indiana......
According to the info I could find, the only US units stationed in the philippines were the 31st Inf, 192nd TB, and 200th CA. I can not reenact one of the numerous PS or PI units as I am not of the correct ethnic desent or even close to it.
So I have to do one of the US units, I do not have any correct period tanker gear....and was unsure of the roll of the 200th in the defense of the islands....Since I have alot of infantry gear (due to my doing the 9th Inf. Div. as my primary impression) I just went with the only US inf. unit on the islands.....the 31st....
If there were other units containing non philippinos please let me know!!! I would love to do an Engineering unit....as this is my primary focus! and I have alot of engineering gear!
Otherwise, I will stick with the 31st....
I also realize I have an 03A3....but its all I got.... so for now I just explain that it is a late war variant of the rifle I should have...I also have a M1-garand, which I did not know was used in the 41-42 seige until I saw this forum! So I will carry that now as well.
Finally, the black arm bands were for one of our groups members who was a WWII vet (he was a vet and he joined our reenactment group...) who passed away that week before the parade...
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Post by 15thengineer on Jun 12, 2008 8:53:26 GMT -5
Hello all, I am new to the forum (just joined today) though I have browsed the site for a week or too now as a lurker... I am part of a WWII reenactment group out of the midwest (NW Indiana, near Chicago), that portrays the 9th Inf. Division. This is my primary impression, however I have had now for several years an early war garrison impression as well. Here is some of my kit at a local parade Anyway, I am very glad to have found this site as it is a wealth of info on the impression!! Alot of which I did not know before. I am currently planning to do my philippine garrison portrayal at an event this weekend in ILL. If anyone here has any more info on the 31st Inf. Regt. and their service, basic kit, ect that would be most helpful (as this is what I am trying to portray). I am also wondering about the use of plain white canvas as rain fly's in the pre war pacific , was this done? Or were the normal dark OD fly's used instead? I saw one picture of a reenactment unit with a white canvas fly so thats why I am asking.... Anyway, glad to be here and thanks for all the knowledge you guys have imparted thus far. Tom W.
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