Reenactors share their passion for history

Visitors had the chance to watch the past come alive last weekend.

The Kings Mountain Historical Museum held a World War II timeline camp Saturday with reenactors and living history displays.

Olive green tents were set up on the grassy area behind the museum, and soldiers from the 508th Headquarters Co. — an airborne operation — milled around in uniform, talking to visitors, explaining the U.S. military involvement in the European Theater of Operations and showing them various artifacts and weapons from the war.

Annie and Brandon Bolin, who live in Grover, attended the event.

Brandon said he is a World War II enthusiast and when they saw the event promoted on the museum's Facebook page, they decided to go.

“I like how they were in character,” he said. “It makes history come alive.”

He said he especially enjoyed seeing one of the men’s footlockers which contained some of his grandfather’s things.

“There were a lot of kids down there too. That’s awesome,” Bolin said.

Under the shade of a large canopy, a man in uniform was ready to complete the enlistment process

Pvt. Paul Segarra filled out the enlistment form, just like they would have been filled out in the World War II era, pecking at the keys of a 1942 typewriter, his Brooklyn accent punctuated by the keystrokes. A thick volume - The Officers Guide - sat at his elbow.

“We’ll make or break you,” he tells one boy after they fill out the form, and it is signed by the lieutenant.

He has him raise his right hand and swear an oath.

“Congratulations,” he said. “You’re in the Army.”

Segarra instructs the boy to do at least 10 pushups a day.

“I just want to engage the kids,” he said. “I’m a people person, I like to talk a lot. They love it. I go to their level.”

He wants to draw them into the experience and impress upon them the more somber aspects of war. He always pauses after he asks them where they are from.

“That’s so we can list next of kin, if you don’t come back from war,” he said.

Segarra works for American Airlines control tower with Rick Smith, and he noticed a military screensaver on Smith’s computer and asked him about it.

Smith told him about the reenactment group, of which he is the unit commanding officer.

“Dude, that’s right up my alley,” Segarra said. He was hooked.

This is his third event he’s participated in.

“We do it for the love of this. No one is paying us,” he said.

The unit does public events and tactical events, which are basically mock battles complete with weapons that fire blanks.

He said all the items on display are authentic, time period items. Some of them they find on eBay, others on websites devoted to the hobby.

“There’s a lot of networking that goes on,” Segarra said

There are reenactors who focus specifically on the Civil War, WWII or the Vietnam War.

One soldier, manning a table with different firearms that were used during the war, showed a little girl how to sight down the barrel of a Springfield rifle.

He explained the name of each gun.

Families with children listened as reenactors told stories of the men who served during the war.

Steven Tillett was out with his young son.

“He loves military history,” Tillett said.

He said they recently moved to Shelby and saw the event on Facebook.

The father and son especially enjoyed hearing the story of one of the soldier’s grandfathers and how he was awarded medals.

“These guys are really knowledgeable,” Tillett said.

Rick Smith, who has been involved in World War II reenactments for 17 years, has personal motivation for his passion.

Dressed in uniform, paratrooper boots polished to a high sheen like they would be during service, he showed off a shadowbox to the visitors coming through. The box contained his grandfather’s Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Harry Smith was awarded the Purple Heart when he was shot pulling his buddy out of a tank, and the Bronze Star for going back to pull bodies out of the rubble.

Inside his footlocker was a first aid kit, mess officers manual, utensils for eating, rations, Listerine toothpaste, a tin of Prince Albert tobacco, Lucky Strike cigarettes, furlough cards and dog tags.

Smith said he is the unit chief officer of the 508th PIR Headquarters company living history group.

“Were all representatives of the airborne company,” he said. “We jump out of airplanes behind enemy lines.”

Smith said his grandfather, Harry R. Smith, never talked about his war experiences, and Smith didn’t know how to approach the topic. He only learned details of his grandfather’s bravery through researching and finding documents and reports. Smith knew he had been awarded medals, but didn’t know why he had been awarded them.

He said his grandfather was going to throw out all his things from his military days, but his grandmother hid some of them in order to preserve them.

He remembers when he first started participating in reenactments, and his grandmother was sewing a patch on his military hat and he saw his grandfather smile when he saw the patch.

“I do it for my grandfather,” Smith said of his hobby. “This is my calling.”

He said he had planned to join the Marine Corps, but high blood pressure interfered.

“This is my way of giving back,” he said.

His maternal grandfather also served in WWII in the Navy in the South Pacific, and Smith still has his American flag.

He said he has been participating in reenactments for nearly two decades, first in upstate New York, where he’s from, and now all over North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

“There's a lot of us,” he said.

A table showed photos of soldiers, an old radio, uniforms, helmets and other items.

Author Steven R. Zaley was also at the event, selling his WWII book.

“They Are Only Gone If They Are Forgotten” is available on his website, 82airbornebook.com.

Zaley said the book details the lives of average men from childhood to growing up during the Great Depression and focuses on his father’s life in Miami and then in the service. It captures the stories of paratroopers in the war. He said the book was the result of 20 years of work and a lifetime of listening to his father’s stories.

“A lot of families had no idea what they did,” he said.

Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Kings Mountain Historical Museum brings WWII to life