|
Below, you will find last year's description for the event held on June 6th, 2009. Details for this June 12th, 2010 event will be found here in the future.
Traxler’s Military Living History Day
began in 2008 as a tribute to soldiers of all nations that have fought in wars from the 19th Century to the present day. This years event, on June 6th, 2009, is the second such event at the Traxler Hunting Preserve, located in Le Center, Minnesota.
This June 6th presents a perfect opportunity to pay tribute to an event of great historical significance. D-Day, the Allied invasion of Hitler’s Fortress Europe in Normandy France, took place on June 6th, 1944. The theme this year is Salute to D-Day, June 6th, 1944.
At last years event - 2008,
we featured military Reenactors from the United States that included units representing the
• 101st Airborne,
• the 30th Infantry,
• & the 2nd Infantry Divisions.
On the German side, reenactors represented an assortment of German military units of WWII, both the Waffen SS elite divisions, and Regular German Army.
There were
• 1SS LAH - Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler,
• 2SS Das Reich – Der Fuhrer,
• 12SS Hitler Jugend,
• 2nd Fallschirmjager Division,
• Gross Deutschland 1. Kompanie,
• and the Gross Deutschland Combat Train.
This June 6th, 2009, Living History Reenactors will represent the Civil War,
World War 1, World War II, and Vietnam conflicts - all at Traxler's Hunting Preserve.
We are also adding a World War 1 component to the compliment of military Reenactor impressions featured. Although WW 1 Reenactors are relatively few and far between in the Midwest area, we hope to have a presence of both WW1 German Army and United States Army Reenactors at the event this year. This event is a really great chance to get up close and personal with individual Reenactors that portray various military impressions of different nations.
Most of the Reenactors are from Minnesota, but many others from Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Illinois, will also be participating.
Two reenactment units, representing Union Army forces during the Civil War, will offer Live firing demonstrations of Civil War era cannons, mortars and heavy artillery. The New Ulm battery will do Cannon live firing demonstrations. The 1st Litchfield will demonstrate live firing of period Heavy Artillery and Mortars.
There will also be an expanded involvement of the
Minnesota Military Vehicle Preservation Association.
We're looking forward to their members bringing a good variety of military vehicles of various time periods. There will be military vehicles of the WWII period, which includes Jeeps, Halftracks, Motorcycles, Troop Trucks, Tanks, and other armored vehicles. Some of the Reenactors do military vehicle collecting as part of their hobby of Reenacting. They love to show their vehicles at events of this nature, as well as at public air shows each summer.
There also will be the involvement of vintage United States Military Aircraft, during the public battle segment of the event. Last year, we had five T6 Texan aircraft stage an air attack on combined German forces defending against an Allied forces advance. This segment was choreographed to a pyrotechnic display to add to the realism of the staged battle.
This year, we are also adding a Vietnam timeframe public battle that is representative of a rescue effort of a downed US Army helicopter personnel, who were shot down behind enemy lines. The military unit that represents this time period at this years event also has a group of individuals that portray Viet Cong military impressions to add to the reality of the demonstration.
We even have German and American WW II Veterans, who are special guests that are very much a part of the event. They are Bud Ollum of the famed 82nd Airborne Division and Yogi Pusch of the German Wehrmacht. We featured these guests at last years event and both have again been invited to the 2009 event, along with some other WWII war veterans.
World War II continues to fascinate and hold the interest of many people that are drawn into the hobby of reenacting. There is quite a variety of Reenactors of several nations that fought during the 1939 to 1945 WW II time frame period.
One of the stimuli for this steady interest and new involvement in the hobby of Reenacting is the release of great WW II movies, such as ‘Das Boot’, ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ‘Band of Brothers’ and others. Almost every year brings the release of new motion pictures that deal with stories of soldiers and sailors of that period. This year, it is ‘Val Kyrie’, starring Tom Cruise, who portrays a German war hero who is a pivotal player in the nearly successful assassination attempt of Adolph Hitler in the summer of 1944.
Make sure that you take time to come to the
2009 Traxler's Military Living History Day, June 6th, 2009 and experience the sights, sounds and smell of military conflicts of all time periods that the event covers. Being there and seeing this is like watching a movie right in front of your own eyes, only it is live and you are there to witness it. It is a phenomenal experience.
|
|
