From: Michael S <michaelwstewart@...>
Subject: [WWIIBritishReenacting] another story about horrible treatment for a Vietnam War veteran ...
To: WWIIBritishReenacting@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012, 12:34 PM

 

I pulled this story off the Vietnam War Forum. It was written by the forum moderator, who witnessed it.-------Most people who know me know that I've never bought into the standard reenacting explanation that "we do this to honor the vets." (I've never chastised anyone for saying that; I just don't agree with it.) When asked, I've always told others that I do it for a host of reasons (which I give) but also out of respect for an era that had a significant impact on our history - whether it's CW, Spanish-American, the World Wars or VN. I mention this because this past weekend, I saw one of the most shocking displays of behavior I've yet witnessed in this hobby. I'd have loved to hear what motivations these guys use for what they do because "respect" and "honor" were nowhere in sight.I went to an area timeline event that I go to every year. While touring a GP medium tent housing both a sizable WWII and VN display, a gentleman turned to one of the VN 101 AB reenactors and asked him if he really was airborne."Uh . . . no." Silence.The gent responded that he had been airborne - 101st, in fact – and served in Vietnam."Uh . . . okay." Silence.The vet added that he enjoyed his time with the 101st. "Joining the airborne saved my life," he said. The reenactor looked uncomfortably bored."Um . . . sure." You could literally hear this "reenactor" roll his eyes. He couldnt' wait for the man to move on.The vet realized he wasn't going to get any discussion from this clown, so he turned to another member of this "reenacting" group:"Are you really airborne?""Uh . . . no." Bored silence.With that, I just had to get out of there. The reenactor seated by the tent entrance shot me a bored glance and went back to staring off into space.Here was a man with a story to tell - and from the looks of things, quite anxious to tell it to them, too - and these so-called "reenactors" weren't interested enough to give him the time of day. And to be so blatant about it . . . what were they thinking?I went back the following day and it seemed to be more of the same: If you were in the organization, you seemed to get the most attention; if you were a spectator, piss off. For the record, this was an event that actively promotes itself as "honoring the vets," so you'd think that was part of the fundamental purpose of registering for the affair. And to be honest, I did not sit with them the entire time on both days - they could have treated every other vet with kid-gloves - but that doesn't diminish the fact that they disregarded this one in particular. I don't know if the vet ever got someone to talk to him; there were at least four of these clowns, and all of them seemed more concerned about talking with each other than acknowledging the mob of people who had filed into their tent. The only time they seemed willing to talk to someone other than one of their friends was if a woman or child came up and asked a question, and even then it was a bit of a joke. Chests were thrust out, guts were sucked in and you could see that "Ha! I'm an expert" look come over their faces. While I was there, they just seemed bored and almost resentful that they were "stuck" there. The kicker: They had the gall to ask for donations from the public to help maintain their collection. Unbeleiveable.----------------