The Vietnam War will be raging on in southern Taiwan this weekend — except that no shots will be fired, and all the combatants are friends. The uniforms and equipment, however, will be as historically accurate as can be.
Taiwan Reenactment Group (台灣重演團體) is putting on a summer re-staging of 1965 to 1975 Vietnam War scenes tomorrow and Sunday in Tainan’s Nanxi Township (楠西鄉).
There will be two major reenactment locations: Nanhua Reservoir Military History Park (南化水庫軍史公園) at 12:30pm tomorrow, where American cannons and tanks from the Vietnam War era are on display. On Sunday, the group heads to a cluster of thatched cottages in Zuozhen District (左鎮區). And if there is time, they will also visit a rice field.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Reenactment Group / Chen Yi-yuan
The group does have extra uniforms to lend out, but people are encouraged to bring their own.
According to organizer Cody Chang (張義芳), the focus is less on the battle itself (since using the weapons is illegal in Taiwan) but more about the background setting, uniforms and equipment. Simulated combat photos will be taken of the group, along with videos that are often turned into mini-movies and posted online.
Authenticity is key in reenactments, and this group appears to be no slouch.
“It’s not enough to just kind of resemble the uniforms,” Chang says. “We pay attention even to how many buttons are on a jacket. When you have a rifle, there’s no way that you’ll be using a machine gun strap, because that couldn’t have happened back then.”
Chang says usually interest in this type of event grows out of a fascination toward a certain event or period in history, especially the military aspect.
“Or, you might unexpectedly come to own an army helmet,” he adds. “You might put it at home, and feel that you’re missing some clothes to go with it. Then you acquire some boots, and suddenly you have the whole set. You go online and find people with similar interests, and decide to meet up and take reenactment photos in an abandoned building that resembles the specific battlefield, and it grows from there.”
Chang says it’s a very meaningful and joyous thing to be able to act out scenes from your favorite battles and have pictures of you doing it.
If you are busy this weekend or cannot travel to Tainan, don’t worry. The group puts on reenactments about once a month. Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TWREACT for more information.
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