Re-enacting
What Is Re-enacting?

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What is re-enacting, and what motivates people to become re-enactors? The answers are as varied as Americans. People all over the world spend their valuable free time on weekends ”stepping back in time” to recreate in the past.

WWII re-enacting has grown over the past 10-15 years, especially in the United States and Western Europe. In the U.S., its beginnings are a bit vague, but WWII re-enactments started turning up in the 70’s and 80’s. Re-enacting grew exponentially after films such as “Saving Private Ryan,” “Scheindler’s List,” the HBO series “Band of Brothers,” and books such as The Greatest Generation reminded Americans of what these young people accomplished during the war years.

If you ask re-enactors at Victory Days why they do what they do, you will probably get a lot of different answers. Some of the more common reasons tend to be honoring those who served and lived through the struggles and uncertainty of those times, honoring a family member who served during the war, or educating the general public through living history. It is also a hobby that the whole family can join, and it can just be plain fun!
So how do you become a WWII re-enactor? Choose your area: from civilian “home front” re-enactment to the portrayal of soldiers, sailors, and airmen who served during the war. Men, women, and children can be re-enactors.

While enjoying yourself at Victory Days, please feel free to talk to the many living historians; they will be happy to tell you about their part in WWII. If you become interested in participating in living history events, contact Jan Sheets at jsheeets@ivytech.edu. Please join us and witness the "living history" at Victory Days!

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