1994: 50th Anniversary of D-Day Montrose Beach Chicago, IL
I had been doing Civil War re-enacting about four years at the time. A fellow reenactor invited me to attend the Chicago event with him and his unit which was based out of the St. Louis area. Even at that time, strict political correctness guidelines were to be observed. There was no SS troops allowed, no display of the swastika, and of course IL is a machinegun "non-friendly" state. So, there were no machineguns (the automatic sounds heard in the video are from gas guns). It was estimated that between 500,000-750,000 spectators were present. The special effects were great. It was like a huge movie set. There were designated seats for 2,500 veterans who were actually at D-Day. That had to be increased to accommodate over 5,000 (I got to talk with several interesting veterans and was thanked by dozens for "keeping history alive"). I was hooked to say the least. Below is a picture taken the evening before the event. I am the second guy from the right (a lot of water has ran over the dam since then. I was about to turn 31. That is the same age my granddaddy was when he landed at Normandy 06 Juni 1944).
A friend, former Army, is a re-enactor as a female Soviet sniper. She even drives a Ural motorcycle with sidecar. She occasionally publishes photos of her hobby; seems to have a lot of fun.
In past years I've attended "Eastern Front" events where there were two young ladies who portrayed Soviet snipers. Both were hotties. I think they were from one of Carolinas, but I could be wrong.
Wow, I never knew that this reenactment took place, I would have been there to watch. I was at the Nike Missile Site located in Montrose harbor from 1969 till 1971.
A friend, former Army, is a re-enactor as a female Soviet sniper. She even drives a Ural motorcycle with sidecar. She occasionally publishes photos of her hobby; seems to have a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteIn past years I've attended "Eastern Front" events where there were two young ladies who portrayed Soviet snipers. Both were hotties. I think they were from one of Carolinas, but I could be wrong.
DeleteWow, I never knew that this reenactment took place, I would have been there to watch. I was at the Nike Missile Site located in Montrose harbor from 1969 till 1971.
ReplyDelete