Some Brief Thoughts on Re-enacting...

Having a pretty busy weekend, so just a short post today...

Tips on Re-enacting-

1. Be respectful to the uniform that you wear and always conduct yourself appropriately.  
2. Be historically accurate and knowledgeable.
3. Practice good grooming (i.e. correct haircut) and dress (i.e. shined boots, clean uniform).
4. Remember to tell the human story behind your historical impression.
5. Connect your historical impression to a unit with local ties (i.e. in Hawaii we have the 25th Infantry Division of the US Army at Schofield Barracks).
6. Maintain a professional, military bearing while in uniform.

Lastly, and this is just a personal opinion of mine; try to avoid focusing exclusively on the "elite" forces, such as airborne, Rangers, Special Forces/Green Berets, Marine Force Recon, Delta Force, and Navy SEAL's.  While these units are certainly most deserving of recognition and do indeed execute some of the most dangerous missions, I cannot help but feel that people lavish a little too much attention on them at times; and in my mind this leads to the attitude that "only special forces matter" and "only special forces can make a difference".  Always remember that it is the rank-and-file troops and support personnel who shoulder the larger burden of carrying out operations and without them, the military simply could not function; the special forces included!  In short, give the "everyman" soldiers their due as well.