The - F/2/5

Five ways to ease Reenacting Frustration
By Chuck "Transport" Casada

Frustrated? Sure I bet you are at times. Here is some good-natured advice on how to cope with trying to achieve that perfect portrayal of a WW 2 era US Marine.

1.) Don't take yourself too seriously. People will offer you advice and tell you when you are wrong. If you take offense every time this happens, you will spend a lot of time stewing in your own juices. Reenactors are known for their love for and the interest in history, not necessarily their tact. However, reenactors almost always mean well when they point out a mistake. Don't let your ego get in the way of learning from what they have to offer.

2.) Always listen to the more senior members of your unit. They have gone through what you are going through now, and have already spent countless hours gathering information on their own impressions. If you listen to their counsel and advice, you won't have to completely duplicate the research that they have already done.

3.) This may go with out saying, but you should read everything you can possibly get your hands on. Try especially to ready first hand accounts written by the average Marine in the line. Books on grand strategy and the memoirs of the generals are also helpful in giving you the big picture. Just remember, though, your portraying a front line Marine not Carlson or Puller.

4.) Learn from your mistakes. If you find out something you said or did is historically incorrect, don't get defensive. Just make sure you don't make the same mistake again. Everybody is wrong occasionally (often, more than occasionally). The key is just not to keep making the same mistakes over and over.

5.) Finally, never think that you know it all. I like to think of reenacting as a process rather than an end result. Unless you were actually a Marine in WW2, you cannot possibly know absolutely everything about the men you are trying to portray. And no matter what anybody else may tell you, they don't know everything either.

So now we come back to the original premise of this article. Frustration is just part of the game of reenacting. But it is, at the very least, a sign that you are trying. The ultimate key is that you should never let the frustration get in the way, or discourage you from continually searching for new information to make your reenacting experience better.

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