IWM huh Stacie?? Now I'm jealous We went to the Patton museum back in 2000 on the way back from a tactical we went to in Indiana. It is really neat although not as big as Aberdeen ....here is a link to Aberdeen http://www.ordmusfound.org. The battle of the Bulge is always a good opportunity to check out Aberdeen as if you are gonna go from TX to Pennsylvania , what's a few more hours to divert towards checking out the museum(of course we went kitted out in Waffen SS gear which elicited some curious looks). I just wish Aberdeen didn't allow the elements to affect the tanks. I will see if I can find the pics....I would love to take a pic in WW2 British kit inside the Churchill room 8)....you have a much more interesting line of work than I do!

Heath

Patton museum? Now IM jealous! And also I have always wanted to go to the Civil War battlegrounds and see all that.

I just volunteer at the Hornet so don't be too jealous.

Thanks for the link. Here is a dumb question. Where is Aberdeen? Also, have you seen the Brittish t.v. series called Danger UXB? Its about a group of bomb defusers. Its sort of hard to get ahold of the tapes here but if you can, it is super good.

http://www.generalpatton.org

There is a link to the Patton museum. I highly recommend it if you get a chance , as the curator(back in 99) is a really nice guy. We went in SS kit after our reenactment , and he showed us everything he had as well as letting us check out what they had in the back which wasn't on display(Stug III rescued from the bottom of a bog in Russia). The Aberdeen proving grounds are in Maryland close to DC. Haven't seen the Danger UXB show....I will look for it(I have some good sources). I work within shouting distance of Camp Mabry in Austin TX. They have a few neat things on display including a hetzer(WW2 German self propelled AT gun) which the 2nd SS here in TX use at our TMHS events. I actually live 30 miles away from Austin in the pine trees near Bastrop TX ....the VFW in Bastrop has an F4 sitting in front of their small outpost ......I will try to take a picture of it , as it is the epitome of contradiction for a small country town VFW to have that big bird in front of it! I grew up in Shreveport/Bossier city area of NW La.....home of the 2nd largest SAC base in the country. Minden La.(close by) was the home of a famous civil war battle and there are still tons of spent balls from the battle that one can garner with a metal detector(childhood foray)

Nice to hear from you in CA ,

Heath

I checked out that website. Thanks! Now I am jealous of all you have done.

My secret geek dream is to own a metal detector!

YVW Stacie ,

California has some cool stuff too(I have seen some of the toys my former unit has). I never had a metal detector....my friend who got me into Civil war then WW2 reenacting does.


Heath[/img]

What cool things do we have here? I know we have my ship and the Midway.

Last week on a show called Bay Area Back Roads they talked about a man that owns a garbage company has 150 WWII military vehicles. I have to look up their website and see where he is.

Has your friend with the metal detector found anything good?

He gave up collecting spent balls from the battle of Mansfield(as far as I know...I haven't heard from him in awhile) , and has assembled a collection of WW2 German stuff.....he has a couple of 98K sniper rifles , and Stg44(fully auto) , a couple of all matching MP-40's(fully auto)...a Russian sniper rifle , tons of spent shells 88Flak , 75 PAK .....geez Stacie , the guy probably has a couple of hundred grand just in WW2 German stuff.....His name is Jay , and he is the one who started me in the WW2 collecting and then re-enacting bit back in 1997. Really , his collection though is dwarfed by another guy I met through him who has about 500K in WW2 machine guns alone!! A Kubelwagon , and a few other things which one could get for peanuts back in the 70's and 80's. I found some pics from the Indiana event that I went to back in 2000 , but couldn't figure out how to post them on the site(or my avatar). This is a link to my old unit in the California Historical Group....http://www.12hj.com/welcome.html

These guys have been really cool to me too.....http://www.1stairborne.com/
and have helped convert my SS impression into British...the guy I conversed with , Jeff Biehler , is a really nice chap , and knows his stuff!!
Here is another link...to the TMHS...

[url]http://members.aol.com/txmhs/mainf.htmlhttp://<br /> <br /> We even have ... <br /> Heath

Holy S*&^!!! Thats one might fancy website! I belong to CHS, the California Historical Society

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHSWWIILHM/

and also:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorCal82ndABN/

(Not exactly a member yet but invited to the forum and then when they do something they will let me know if I can participate).

I know I am going to Naperdak Hall in San Jose this Sunday to a military show as a WAC but other then that - our group just went through a huge split. There was a big internal struggle as to the direction of the group like doing battle reenactments vs. doing living history events at the Hornet and other places. Thats as far as I can figure it. The majority of the group left because they want to do the battle stuff not the sit around at dances and event stuff.

I have only done the sit around at events stuff and waiting to get into a battle scenario. Obviously as a woman my choices are limited to maybe the French citizen saying "they went thataway!."

I did not leave the group but now I have to see what is planned. I have a feeling its more dances and events but thats o.k. with me. We do a lot of the stuff on the Hornet so its fun in that way. I was also invited to the group that left and the above group so I will keep you posted.

I think the part of the group that left and the remaining members are all going to show up at Naperdak so I expect a battle that is not being reenacted!!!

So are you hooked up with a group doing 82nd airborne Stacie??? That is cool , I just used to laugh at the guys who did 101st airborne cause when I did 12.SS they were notorious for not taking their hits !!

From the end of your post , I am getting that you seem abit disappointed at not getting to battle....I don't blame you one bit.....If the unit you are with cannot get their act straight to where you get some 'trigger time' then I think you should consider forming your own unit and do free French...lemme see if I can find the link to the unit here in TX....http://www.flash.net/~pkendall/DBLE.htm There I think that is it!! If they cannot find a way for you to get involved in the battle(and you wish to) , then I would contact the Free French unit in TX and ask what guidelines you should use for putting together a good impression(even though you are not in their state they will help you...I still get alot of help from the 1st Airbourne div of the CHG , even though I don't live in CA or belong to their unit). At that point you should either form your own group for Free French , or go solo and do your own thing.....Doing a French impression will also give you great latitude with regards to equipment as I believe they had whatever they could get their hands on , so you could use German , English , or GI stuff and weapons.

As far as doing GI , I thought about it but , not to be a snob or anything but there are waaaay too many 300 Lb GI re-enactors running around and I am not about to join such a unit.....I care too much about authenticity...I feel guilty cause I look too fit.... for the average person back then was quite skinny , and I am athletic and muscular.... perhaps I should fast for a month and quit lifting weights before reenacting!!

Have a great weekend Stacie...always nice to chat with you

One of the guys at Norcal has about 77 fully outfitted mannequins at his house. He was about 35 women and howeve many men. He is German, Russian, American, English, African you name it units fully fitted with their weapons. He has WACS, WAVS, from WWII and Vietnam, also Marine women, nurses, etc. He has over $100,000 worth of original uniforms. All this to say that they are all TINY TINY TINY!!!

(I'm proud to say that I fit the typical female outfit of the day).

As to your raising the issue of not feeling I am playing a role. I am not quite sure on that yet. I was just invited in to the Norcal unit and am waiting to see what is going to commence. The CHS just mutinied so I am waiting to see what we do now. For now I am happy to do the little social events on the ship and elsewhere because for being new, it helps me each time we go out. I learn a little about my uniform and a little history.

I am in absolutely no way capable of starting my own group. What I don't know could fit in an aircraft carrier. What I do know could fit in a match box. There are two guys in the Norcal unit who have taken me under their wing and I am confident they will find a place for me.

I am also volunteering on the Hornet and with Toys for Tots along with being in a mineral and gem society so I am so busy I don't have too much time anyway.

Being in these units reminds me of when I was a reserve deputy. They throw you into the job and you have to pretend you know what you are doing and you learn by overhearing people. That is how it is with this. I have to just keep going and hope I pick up bits and pieces.