Quote Originally Posted by Dall_Piobaire View Post
I remember how hard NPS woked at the Yorktown Bicentennial. They managed to keep it as real as possible and as safe as possible, in fact I heard very little of any serious injuries during the whole time.

It was also a matter of being respectful of those who lost their lives in these actions, there was a lot of grumbling through the units about not being able to recreate actions, though it seems if I remember correctly we did opposing lines.

The recreation of the surrender was very nearly a tear jerker.

It hs to be said that it is very costly to be even close to completely accurate, and I would hazard a guess that there are few, had they the funds, would go all out.

I am glad there are people who at least try, they take the time and effort to reach out. Who knows what budding historian might be influenced. Kids, it seems, these days have little or no sense of our histories, and the sacrifices made, and living historians and reenactors value the ability to put what they can out there.

Renn-faires, lol, well, though enjoyable are nothing but a marketing scheme. I literally had a craftsman quote me more than six hundred bucks for a sgain dubh, not even as nice as some I have seen here.

I was always under the mpression that the SCA'ers though it in for their own enjoyment, are fanatical about accuracy.

I had the best time as a reenactor, made filmstrips, TV, even a beer commercial, believe it or not, but I could never afford to do that these days. So, apart from nitpicking, I give a lot of credit to those who put in the personal time, effort, and expense to keep things going.


Scott
Scott,

Thank you for your message. We frequently would be asked why NPS did not allow mock combat scenarios on national battlefields, and respect to the fallen was the number one reason, as well as safety issues and damage to the archeological record.

I have an excellent article by an academic historian named Edward T. Linenthal entitled "Committing History in Public" that deals with the challenges faced by NPS and others who manage historic sites in balancing the memorial aspect of said places, while at the same time striving for historic authenticity and academic objectivity.

T.