Hetzers gonna Hetz and so did I!

Today was my annual pilgrimage to the local Air Show.  I have to admit I was somewhat reluctant to go since I was feeling it was getting a little old because it doesn't seem to change much from year to year. Checking the program online,  I saw a F-22 Raptor would be attending.  I knew I didn't want to miss that and I headed out the door to the show.  I was in for a nice surprise, though.

I hopped off the Tram from the parking lot and walked straight towards the reenactment camp, my favorite part of the show, when I immediately spotted a Hetzer.  Not only was it a Hetzer, but there was a short line to actually climb inside it.

BA-64 Soviet Reenactor Pictures

I can't believe another year has gone by and that it was time for the local Planes of Fame airshow again.  How time does really fly by, especially at an air show.  I've found over the years that my focus has been less on the planes and more on the reenactors at the event.  I spent quite a bit of time talking to Jerry in the LRDG camp, covering mostly the Humphrey Bogart movie, Sahara, and its remake among other things.  A great guy.

I did a double take, though, when I saw in the corner of my eye something I would never expect to see, a BA-64!  Awesome.

Civil War Reenactment

I've been looking forward to seeing this Civil War reenactment for quite some time now.  Sponsored by the  Southern California Civil War Association (SCCWA), the event was also supported by Scout Troop 202 , the city of Chino, and the surrounding communities of which I'm proud to be a part of.  So luckily for me, the event was just five minutes away.  As an added bonus my son drove out from Los Angeles to attend, his new stomping grounds.  The weather was perfect for this type of event and we timed it just perfect when a couple of P-38s took off over us as we passed Chino Airport on the way to the park.  The Planes of Fame had an event I skipped to see the reenactment.

The battle was a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg but I'm not sure how accurately the battle was depicted. Not that it really mattered that much to me.  I was pleasantly surprised by the scale of the battle and the event.  There was also quite a few children involved and you could tell this was a family hobby for many of the participants.  Very cool.

The event included mounted cavalry, infantry and artillery.  One of the highlights was the cannons being hooked up (I'm sure there is an official term for this) to the horses and then pulled on to the battlefield.  The authenticity of it all enhanced by the soldiers in charge barking orders.  There was also a war correspondent with what seemed to be a branch hanging out of his bag and I'm wondering what the branch is. I didn't get a chance to talk to him and ask.

We had a great time and I'm finding the reenactments are something I have been enjoying very much when I get the chance to see them.  Hopefully, there will be a bunch of WWII reenactors like last year in the local Air Show in early May.  I have quite a few picture of these on my blog and hope to add more.

On a side note, I seem to be having an internal, OCD struggle with re-enactment versus reenactment.  It appears both are correct and it is common to see a hyphen between two vowels?

Here are some pictures I took in no particular order:

More Reenactment Pictures

I passed the exam of another certification for work so I'm back in FOW mode again.  So happy.  It has been a while.  I spent some time gluing my Russians this last week, mostly 'god of war' artillery.  I'm so far away from being ready for the Eastern Front but I'll keep plugging away.  My son and I plan on playing this Friday, so hopefully a North Africa battle report soon.  I'll generate the lists and then setup the table on Thursday so we can get right to it after dinner, Friday evening.  Can't wait.

In the mean time, here are some more WWII re-enactment pictures (soviet stuff, too!) from the Planes of Fame Airshow, in no particular order:

Long Range Desert Group Re-enactment

My grandson, a couple of friends and I headed out to the Planes of Fame Airshow last weekend.  We had a great time.  While walking around I was somewhat surprised to find some WWII reeanctors along with their equipment.  I was really excited to see a Long Range Desert Group represented, belonging to the Long Range Desert Group Preservation Society.  They were a cool bunch of guys, and very willing to answer questions about a subject they are obviously passionate about.  North Africa is my favorite WWII theater and I get to go out in the desert in my own Jeep, so I had a special interest in their display.  Packing enough to camp for four people for a couple of days in a Jeep is a challenge, so I can appreciate what the LRDG were able to do on long range missions.

    Wouldn't be complete without a brew up area:

And on desert themed Flames of War note, a great article was posted on the FOW site about pimping out your Battlefield in a Box desert terrain tonight.  Mike always does a good job on those articles.  Burning Empires is calling me but it's going to have to wait.