Lucky Strike and Jazz

Through organizing exhibitions and re-enacting battles, the members of the association present the equipment of several military units of the age. For instance, they can present the uniforms of paratroopers from the famous 101st Airborne Division, the soldiers of the “Big Red One" (1st Infantry Division), and even the “Leathernecks" of the 1st Marine Regiment which fought in the Pacific. During military programs such as the Kecskemét International Air Shows and Military Displays, they spend the nights in original tents or exact replicas of them, and in daytime they either re-enact battles or show the visitors what life was like in an American camp near the front line.

Lying in the carefully designed trenches beside Garand rifles, M1 Carbines, Thompson submachine guns and Browning machine guns there are items of period and original equipment and accessories like packs of military-issue Lucky Strike cigarettes or the boxes of K-rations, once so much loathed by soldiers (they could recall how terrible these battlefield rations tasted).

Jazz and swing music is playing from a radio set of the age in the background while the team members are practicing the assembly and disassembly of weapons or foot drills, just like in their training camps, which are organized several times every year.

These training events, however, would lose their meaning in the absence of real trials. Following a yearslong tradition, the members of the association visit Szigliget every year, where they lay wreaths with military honors by the Hungarian and American memorials, spreading the message that those killed in action must be remembered regardless of their nationality. For some years now, representatives of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Budapest Embassy of the United States of America have also attended these wreath-laying ceremonies, underlining the importance of joint commemoration.

While tracing the story of the American memorial in Szigliget, the members of the association met Lt. Joseph “Jerry" Conlon, the only living survivor of a B-24 bomber which crashed on the edge of the town near Lake Balaton, and the co-pilot’s widow, who expressed their sincere gratitude for keeping the one-time comrades’ and family members’ memory alive.

The year 2014 saw what was certainly one of the most important events in the life of the team.
On the 70th anniversary, the re-enactors had opportunity to pay tribute to the dead heroes of the units represented by the association at the sites of the 1944 Normandy landings.

Photos by the author