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Post by rbx6jm7man on Apr 13, 2006 17:52:05 GMT -5
I hope I don't open a can of worms here, but I was wondering why you can find every type of reenacting unit except units in which minorities were involved. I mean I'd like to see a Philippine Scout unit or a Chinese Red Army unit as far reenacting goes. I have nothing against color, ethnicity, etc. but there seems to be a lot of missing "chapters," if you will.
Having said that, I've come accross a lot of WWII sites, books, you name it, that give long winded schpeels about the European theaters but relatively nothing on the Pacific theater. As I am the descendant of two guerilla fighters from Luzon, I am very disappointed to see that people like the Battling Bastards of Battaan are not recognized.
I am not trying to diminish any persons/groups' contribution or loyalty to his unit, country, etc. I have always wondered why there seems to be an unequal balance of information.
One of the reasons I believe this is important is that today, my generation does not understand social expectations and attitudes that influence current events. Such as the Chinese and Korean outrage over Japanese text books. We all can understand why Israelis would scream over a revision in a German history text book, but hardly anyone knows the source of the problem between the Chinese/Koreans and the Japanese. We all pity those who fell victim to Mengele but are ignorant to the countless thousands that were subjected to biological weapons tests in Manchuria.
These are but a few issues that have deeply troubled me. I wish to know your feelings on such issues as I believe that the WWII airsoft community shoulders some responsibility in informing others of the history of ALL participants of the greatest generation that ever lived.
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Post by Capt. Zak on Apr 13, 2006 19:50:35 GMT -5
I would love to do some CBI (China-Burma-India) games/events. My Grandfather fought there and I have put together an impression honoring him. Here he is in Egypt (circa 1943). This is my favorite WWII picture of all time. jeffzak.tripod.com/psaf.html
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Post by rbx6jm7man on Apr 13, 2006 22:27:03 GMT -5
That's the type of stuff I'm talking about! This kind of stuff never makes it to the public eye. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by Guinness on Apr 13, 2006 22:33:16 GMT -5
Well, rbx6j...m... I'm just gonna call ya Rex-
Well Rex, most 'theories' on your question seem to point to the fact that up to and for many years after WWII, the United States was still largely 'European' meaning the broad demographic and make up of American society to that point traced their heritage back usually only one or two generations to some country in Europe.
Which means, for many of us 'baby boomers' and perhaps even the generation after (kids born in the 70's) most of us simply identify more with the ETO than the other theaters of battle......because we are just ex euro-trash white-bread's anyway ;D
That is certainly not meant to diminish the contributions of those of Japanese-American heritage like our own Go for Broke and those of Filipino heritage like yourself and others that are members here. Its just that the majority of us are euro-mutts. Obviously the overall demographic of the US has changed considerably since WWII, and probably more in the past 20 years. In other words, its changing because the racial makeup of the United States is so clearly and obviously changing.
As for the question about the Chinese/Korean/Japanese relationship- Well I am certainly no expert, but my understanding is that the majority of the friction stems from the way these countries were treated by the Japanese before and during the war years. There are books on the subject, but my understanding is that the Japanese really wanted badly to take over China and that whole area in the 30's (because they identified that they live on an island with limited resources) and when they captured an area they would often force the women into 'white-slavery', calling them "comfort girls" and they did the same thing to Koreans. Well, apparently they never did a real good job of admitting to and apologizing for these things after the war. So even now, 60 years later, those issues are important to those countries because there are still many that were alive then and remember what happened.
Ok, thats all I know on those subjects ;D
-G
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160thsoar
Private
UH-60 Blackhawk Hoo-ra
Posts: 134
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Post by 160thsoar on Apr 14, 2006 22:29:53 GMT -5
well what ever my haritage i am an american and that is what i will always be.
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Post by Sascha Gusdorf on Apr 16, 2006 21:24:30 GMT -5
well what ever my haritage i am an american and that is what i will always be. ...that's totally cool; it's great that you feel that strong about your country. Just keep in mind though; somebody needs to be the enemy. If everyone had your view on the subject, we'd just be "camping out", and not having an "event".
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Post by spitfire740 on Apr 16, 2006 22:02:25 GMT -5
lol a model UN
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Post by mauser98k on Apr 16, 2006 22:10:46 GMT -5
Well it would be kind of hard for me to portray an african american unit, wont it?
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Post by Go4Broke on Apr 17, 2006 13:15:34 GMT -5
Thanks Guiness ;D , and awesome picture Zak! I'm piecing together a radioman FO impression after my Great Uncle. Here's him in Germany in '45. He's on the left. BTW the plane he's standing in front of is an ME 262 they found on the side of the autobahn *zoom *zoom. Hopefully I can start putting together an impression after my other Great Uncle who was an interpreter in the Pacific too soon.
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160thsoar
Private
UH-60 Blackhawk Hoo-ra
Posts: 134
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Post by 160thsoar on Apr 17, 2006 15:16:41 GMT -5
I get what your saying Sascha
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Post by Capt. Zak on Apr 17, 2006 18:03:36 GMT -5
Thanks Guiness ;D , and awesome picture Zak! I'm piecing together a radioman FO impression after my Great Uncle. Here's him in Germany in '45. He's on the left. BTW the plane he's standing in front of is an ME 262 they found on the side of the autobahn *zoom *zoom. Hopefully I can start putting together an impression after my other Great Uncle who was an interpreter in the Pacific too soon. Thanks Go4 broke. That picture of your Great Uncle is great as well! Very nice shot and I am sure you are very proud of him.
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Post by rbx6jm7man on Apr 17, 2006 19:12:41 GMT -5
I wish i had a picture of my grand uncle. he was one of the thousands who went missing in Bataan. all my family knows is that he was with the resistance.
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Ungar
Private
Blut und Ehre
Posts: 227
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Post by Ungar on Apr 22, 2006 21:55:38 GMT -5
I would love to put a Hungarian Impression together, but its impossible to find anywhere.
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Post by polak on Apr 22, 2006 22:08:31 GMT -5
Heh, yeah. You see, I have something like that. You have four core groups in reenacting:
American British Russian German
If you aren't any of those, then you are probably a member to an extremely exclusive group that does very little other than show off obscurity and get oohsand ahs, or "What the hell?" This is by no means negative. I came to one event as a Polish guerrilla and got nothing but flak. Thought I was some Bosnian.
Anywho, I feel your trouble. I tried to look for some Japanese reenactors, but nobody wants to be 'em.
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Post by bataanscout on Apr 22, 2006 23:16:53 GMT -5
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Post by Capt. Zak on Apr 23, 2006 9:44:35 GMT -5
You guys look GREAT! Excellent impressions!
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Post by Guinness on Apr 23, 2006 12:00:00 GMT -5
absolutely! Impressive guys! ;D -G ...lose the watch
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Post by bataanscout on Apr 23, 2006 12:28:18 GMT -5
I know... Everything looked great until I noticed the watch... photoshop time!
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silencer
Private 1st Class
Spartan by blood
Posts: 407
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Post by silencer on Apr 23, 2006 13:46:50 GMT -5
Awesome impression. But, there were only 2 guys in the first few and 3 on the last one, where did the extra guy come from?
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Post by bataanscout on Apr 23, 2006 15:18:10 GMT -5
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Apr 23, 2006 23:40:39 GMT -5
Great job!
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Post by 101st all the way! on Apr 24, 2006 21:47:15 GMT -5
My gramps was in the navy on the U.S.S. Pennslyvania and my uncle was a marine sharp shooter and scout for his company or squad or something like that. Anyway one time he was ahead of his unit with another scout a buddy of his when a jap sniper shot my uncle's buddy right between the eyes. My uncle shot the sniper and then pulled his dead freind out of the fire. Then when he was on the canal he was going back to get his capt. and a jap gernade went off by him and a chunk of shrapnal caught him in the neck. He was sent back to the states for a while after that. He never really liked talking about his marine days.
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Post by rbx6jm7man on Apr 25, 2006 18:39:44 GMT -5
bataanscout: where do you get your gear? I can't find the interwar pan helmets nor the other prewar gear.
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Post by bataanscout on Apr 26, 2006 8:29:36 GMT -5
The only thing that's really "pre-war" or early PTO in a PS impression are the following:
- m1917a1 helmet - M1910 haversack - 16" m1905 bayonet with wood panel handles - leather-tipped, canvas scabbard for the bayonet
I gave up trying to win a 1917a1 helmet on ebay and shelled out the cash and bought a fully restored one from Prairie Flower. There are a lot of British or Canadian helmets out there. They're okay from afar but Flaggrantly Wrong up close.
I got the m1910 haversack from ebay.
I got a repro m1905 bayonet from IMA (not totally milspec, it won't fit my marushin garand; I had to dremel some to make it lock into the scabbard)
I got the canvas scabbard from WPG.
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TommyGunner
Staff Sgt.
Hackjob Mauro
1st Marine Division, 1942
Posts: 2,265
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Post by TommyGunner on May 2, 2006 12:39:07 GMT -5
I am currently trying to represent the type of Marine that took part in the Raiders in 1942, the PTO has enthralled me so much, mainly because of the extrema human drama that came from the fighting, the lack of food, supplies, ammo, aircraft vehicles, and if the had any of that it was usually out of date but by what ever means those early Marines, and airmen fighting in the Pacific got the job done and a fine one at that.
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Post by 101st all the way! on May 2, 2006 15:01:45 GMT -5
go to at the front and look for a marine utility shirt or something like that and then get pants to mach it. You'll either need to find a springfield 03 or find you a gun to convert to a riesing sub machine gun for a weapon. or a colt 1911 will work with a marine holster.
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Post by charleyfoxtrot on May 3, 2006 18:29:30 GMT -5
This is TOTALLY off subject, but how do you start a new thread? I have never used a message board before and I can't find anything that says how to do it. Thanx
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Post by bataanscout on May 3, 2006 21:56:55 GMT -5
There is a "New Thread" link/button on the upper right of a section. Say you're in the General section looking at all the thread topics, you'll see it on the upper right.
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Post by charleyfoxtrot on May 4, 2006 19:29:03 GMT -5
I don't seem to be able to find it. It has this at the top, but I don't see anuthing about a New/thread. Topics Posts Last Post Am I looking in the right spot or is it somewhere else?
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