World War II weekend Reading,pa 2016 - pto

[hattie]

Hi, 
I'm a part of the 53rd Quartermaster Salvage and Supply Unit who had an encampment at the World War II weekend 2016 at Reading, PA. Tho I could not attend this year, Sgt. Tulley, Cpl Feeney, and Pvt Cooper were set up in the PTO. Our Unit has the Quonset hut/Tiki hut/ radio tent. Sgt. Tulley is a hoot!  He was responsible for all of the pyro special effects for Saturdays Japanese invasion.  

Does anyone have photos of our encampment they can post? Video? Even video of the special fx for the invasion?  Our videos didn't work out very well. Thanks!!
Pvt. Holiday

[ammorun]

As I responded n another thread to you-- I hope you find videos and pictures. This year's weekend event overall was a dud with a few rare exceptions, one being your unit. It's truly one of the new exciting highlights of this military event. Do you attend others? Your characters are ingenious and everyone loves the ever-scavenging Sgt. Tully. I remember your group from last year and the awesome Japanese Zero strafing show. Your soldiers must be trained stunt men from what I saw. I saw your profile in the MAAM Warbird magazine but it doesn't do your historical portrayal justice. I loved your 'Cogs of the War Machine' caption too, you gave a real gritty portrayal. Excellent display. Perhaps even better than 2015. Your commander Tulley and whoever is responsible for the creation of that 53rd Quartermaster Quonset salvage unit and it's explosions should be commended. I can't even imagine the time and detail you have in all that. You're the only ones with anything that looks like the Pacific with those 30ft palm trees overhead and all the jungle sounds coming from rock speakers! I salute you all!

[hattie]

Hi again!

Believe it or not last year at MAAM was our very first WWII reenactment event.

The 53rd QM Salvage and Supply Unit will be involved and assist with the New Oxford battle in PA, and attend the Eisenhower WWII weekend in September. 

And thanks for saying the group was accurate.  Some other units this year were calling Tulley and the 53rd Farby. Sgt. Tulley took their quips for only so long. You don't want to cross Tulley!!! lol  He put them in their place!

[battlebaby2]

I to enjoy your photo here looks great. Our unit the 99th ID from NW PA has not attended Reading in 10 years. If you are looking for some other events in PA we have two that we host. The Ruhr Pocket 1945 Train and Convoy Battle in Titusvile ,Pa with the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad. I am still need GI's air crews to be prisoners on the train July 15-16 . 2016 this our 3rs Year.

Our 8th Annual Bridge at Remagen is August 5-6, 2016 with our newest Remagen Bridge Tactcial System. Check out our website www.remagenbridge.com Great to see units thinking out of the box.

Pat Tarasovitch, Erie ,Pa

[hattie]

Thanks for the info. We'll check out your website.

[ammorun]

Don't pay attention to what some older units say. I've spoken to a few people since your post and the 53rd made quite an impact. The Seabees loved him, PTO and Japanese units did too. Most important the audience loved it. 

There's always a huge amount of jealousy among the older set who want to just sit around like museum artifacts and show off their antiques, drink, and do little else. They forgot what living history means. The idea behind most events is to move the people in some emotional or exciting fashion and get them to embrace our WWII history. Your unit does that to extreme detail. The organizers often forget that aspect and have huge egos that get in the way of giving the visitors what they really want. That's why so many of us, battlebaby2 included, stopped going to MAAM weekend. It's folks like your Sgt. Tulley that make all the difference, trust me. I'm a history major and I've yet to ever see a set design, storyline and characters as detailed. I loved the radio/radar tower room calls too, and btw how did you get a radio to work that great? Is anything for sale lol

You may have done him a bit of injustice, though. I spoke to the 28th Commander and Tully's far more than just a revolutionary re-enactor and actually has some three decades+ of professional experience in performing behind him in theater, living history, props, show design, special fx, and in film. And you neglected to mention being an Imagineer for Disney. I'd say that's quite an impressive resume. However I understand coming in with a low-key nature. It's admirable. 

It's already known that the film company looking at them was an Amblin Production company for another series ala The Pacific based around the QM and using his character. You're all being quite humble about his abilities, another rarity especially given he's willing to share it all. 

You all clearly know WWII history and that era as well as we do. We're happy to have you amongst us. Ignore the old ladies that grumble.

There's other fantastic groups and events such as battlebaby2 suggested that could use his Imagineering and that have wonderful organizers who are not like the MAAM leaders. 

I'm not sure how the train event or the bridge could fit Tulley in as the 53rd Unit is PTO, yes? But I'm sure they will contact you. Places like http://www.remagenbridge.com are fantastic as is the battle at Oxford.

[ammorun]

BTW in regard the term FARB;

Farb is a passe insulting term that began with civil war re-enactors meaning "far be it from authentic". Ignore it. If you think it, out a large portion of everyone's WWII gear is not original at all and are actually replicas. Our sandbags are filled with sawdust. We make tent stakes from Home Depot. We use a port-o-john. There are those that count stitches and laces of course. But they're missing the picture.

Farb doesn't apply at all in this case as Tulley & company know history, teach it, and recreate it in detail posting the original WWII photographs alongside what they design. The stunt work is professional. You're using the correct lingo, devices, songs, and battle calls. You have quite a collection of authentic radios and gear which tops it off. Kudos! You're the only people who ever thought to avoid a tent and design a set within a set. The camp structure appears to be inside the burnt-out, bullet-ridden walls of another building. Your grimy barrels squirt oil from bullet holes. The camp is smoldering from an air attack. You salvage all you can from wrecked vehicles in battle. That's just ingenious and a slice of actual history that should never be lost.

The bombed and blasted stone walls look and feel real right down to the moss imo. Now if that makes the old timers gripe then let them go out and find an authentic 3000lb bullet-laden stone wall from the Pacific and bring it to an event themselves.

[hattie]

Thanks, Ammorun! I was with Tulley today and he was telling me there were more posts up. He was very excited about them. Wish i could get him to respond, but he's pretty busy on a museum project. You are so supportive. All of the details you noticed about the set design are things we live for. Layer upon layer. We've been working literally non-stop the last three months rebuilding the entire set-up, scouring over PTO photos, and designing a strafing show for MAAM that they scrapped at the very last minute, leaving a lot of people very unhappy. As you pointed out- very unprofessional and management egos there.



The weather was going to be questionable and the crowds were far less this year, and he knew from last year's show it would be a race to finish getting all of the structures up as the ground is not level, and the winds made putting up the huge Quonset hut paneling difficult. Set decorating is the area that helps him to relax and flex the creative muscle.



We love living history, being in character and in the moment of 1944, and helping visitors who come to events slide into realms other than the 21st century. It's from the heart. And when we can make people laugh or gasp, or feel and experience a side of history they have never known, it fuels us to think even deeper and reach for more.



Number one reason for our involvement in WWII reenacting is to honor those who served in the war. I'd like to believe the majority of reenactors do it for the same reasons. Tulley's father was in the ETO but sadly did not live long enough to see the MAAM weekends come to pass.



Tulley IS the 53rd Quartermaster Salvage and Supply. He created it all. Feeney, Cooper and I assisted greatly, but what you saw...was from the mind of one man with a passion for WWII and the 1940s.

[TarawaJon]

OK, this is killing me, where are the pictures of the endeavor? I gotta see some of this!

TJ

[Doctor]

I looked through my files, this might be the camp in question.

[khjphoto]

Check my video. Don't recall if you guys are in it or not. I shot a bunch!

vimeo.com/222272989