Living Historians Interpreting the 101st Division (Airborne) in WWII
Sandwiching WWII and the Civil War into a single day, a contingent of Stevenson public historians visited Gettysburg on September 19, 2015. Opportunities to speak with WWII veterans are becoming increasing rare, and, therefore, when given the opportunity to do just that, Stevenson PHIST majors, history minors, and faculty journied up to Gettysburg. Leaving at 8:00 AM and returning at 4:30 PM, we split our day into two parts: WWII in the morning and the Civil War in the afternoon.
(above): Part of the WWII Living History Encampment
We spent about three hours at Eisenhower Farm National Historic Site– located adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park– listening to guest speakers who were WWII veterans, historians speaking about their individual WWII research, and touring a large encampment that was populated with authentic vehicles, equipment, weapons, and food. Explained to us by hundreds of WWII living history interpreters, the encampment came to life in an odd Star Wars Cantina kind of way.
Living historians representing military units who in real life would never have been seen encamped together were nestled cheek by jowel at the Eisenhower farm. Polish cavalrymen talking with Japanese soldiers, Russians drinking with the French Resistance, and US airborne troopers mixing with the German Wehrmacht are examples of what we observed. Having said that, it was a rare opportunity to examine their authentic gear and hear what their personal research had uncovered. Once again, our PHIST majors were honored to speak with WWII paratrooper Guy Whidden. A veteran of the 101st Division (Airborne), Guy’s experiences during the war were legendary.
(above): A WWII-era Dodge Power Wagon in great condition.
(above): Our happy little crew grab some lunch in the shade on our way to the Gettysburg battlefield.
Later in the afternoon we all headed over to the Gettysburg battlefield for a guided tour led by Professor McGraw. With his musket, bayonet, cartridge box, haversack, and kepi, he taught us all what it would have been like to get ready to engage the enemy on the battlefield. In spite of the uncomfortable heat that afternoon, we all dutifully followed our commander as he took us over hill and dale explaining the first day of the battle. Around 3:30 we hopped into our cars and bid both Gettysburg and Professor McGraw a fond farewell. He was last seen communing with the spirits of long departed Civil War soldiers on the once bloody ground along the fish hook of Cemetery Ridge.