WW I movies & movie favourites

[Rob Hart]

Not much public awareness of WWI in the USA either. November 11th is a federal holiday, but I doubt if most Americans know the significance of the date. The government changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to a more generic, Veterans Day, and designated it the day to honor the US veterans of all conflicts. I recall WWI veterans marching in parades and selling paper poppies when I was child, but they are all gone now.

[GHE]

Hello Warren !

Thank you for your e-mail !

I learned about  Reenacting from Goodwood /UK -Festivals and Bovington Tank Museum from youtube and some movie extras on DVD.
There is a lot going on in the US/UK and Australia/NZ -region !
Over here in Germany I did not encounter Reenacting often; there are some Mediaeval Open Airs on castles or in towns
and the equipment ranges from carnival-like to real enacting items.
The only real scientific reenactor I saw to date was the historian Professor Marcus Junkelmann who did Roman Reenacting
on scientific base. It was him and some fellows marching over the Alps in original hardware in the late 80's I think and I once saw
his small detachment in the 90's at a fest at a roman castle nearby. I remember throwing a pilum at a wooden plate and
demonstration shots with Roman artillery (see www.junckelmann).
On several Army Museum occasions there are some small groups from the Napoleonic era.

I was surprised to hear that far away Finnland attracts attention in New Zealand !

Up to now I do not really know how much there is planned at the Army Museum; some months ago there was a french delegation with lectures what will be restored in France - there are several monuments (Bavarion Lion, christian altars built by the troops) out in the field that need care. I assume they will do a lot for the anniversary- likewise in the UK .
Up to now I'm not  much involved with the BAM society activities* but go to the official meetings and lectures and there are always some very interesting people around / to meet .

* one main duty of the society is to get money for buying artifacts for the state-run museum; even museums are often short on money...

It will be very rewarding to study German language and both our languages have a lot in common - of course having the same
ancient roots. Furthermore it makes it a lot easier to study things- I myself enjoy reading English texts a lot - it is the way the
ideas and feelings are transported from another country .

Feel free to send me the e-mail; maybe I can help to answer questions or to find out on European 1914 anniversary activities.

PS: my age is 48

viele Grüße , Gunther

[GHE]

Hello Rob !

In Germany military is not shown so openly.
Of course the DDR did military parades and they taught the people different, but in Western Germany one did not estimate it or was shy about military.
The understandable and obvious reason is the exaggerated behaviour of the aggresive-esoteric Nazi-time that is still a burden on the German soul.

Germany has the Volkstrauertag to mourne the victims of both wars and of dictatorship - but, of course without parades.
To younger generations  this day does not mean much since there is no tradition in remembering history (anymore ?).
Furthermore it is not easy after a while to understand the significance of historic events - especially when having been born
afterwards.
My saying always is: the times prior to my birth do have the same time dimension since they are not part of my life and brain/
feelings (like in Big-Bang theory: time starts shortly afterwards...).
Only research and the will to dive into history opens up a long gone world.

WW I is of course totally different and a war without ideological atrocities but is completely shadowed by the maelstrom of WW 2.
 But to those who want to understand what happened and how it shaped the things to come or who still knew real people having lived through those times the knowledge of WW I is paramount.

It is interesting and moving, one learns a lot more than only knowledge about equipment since it was a part of millions of human lives.

viele Grüße, Gunther

[Rob Hart]

Gunther,

I was stationed in Vaihingen during my enlistment in the US Army 1974-76. I greatly enjoyed the time I spent in your country and hope to return for a visit someday.

Rob

[GHE]

Hello Rob !

Vaihingen - in the Pforzheim /Stuttgart region, some 190 miles away from my village is well known from radio traffic news.
Nice to hear that you enjoyed service time in Germany !
It gave time to get to know a country .

During the 70's/ 80's we were used to see US Forces regularly  and in autumn there were those Reforger maneuvers.
Now US Forces are rarely seen.
As a boy I always was keen to see a huge  Patton M48 or a Sheridan tank drive by or an M113 and sometimes we went over to examine the tanks
 in  maneuver-position as far as the soldiers allowed us to do...

I myself always had and have nice and pleasant contact to people from your country and do have some friends/relatives in the US.

viele Grüße, Gunther