City of Crestview issued the following annoucement on Dec. 20.
The heroic and audacious April 18, 1942, Doolittle Raid on Tokyo forms the centerpiece of — and inspiration for — “Hail Our Heroes,” a three-day World War II re-enactment weekend set for April 22-24, 2022, in Crestview’s flagship Twin Hills Park.
“After the success of our D-Day 75th anniversary observance in 2019 and our World War II Victory 75thAnniversary Celebration last year, we’re getting as spunky as Col. Doolittle and his Raiders and going big,” Mayor JB Whitten said. “The educational value of this will be amazing. It’s our biggest World War II event yet.”
“Hail Our Heroes” is one of the city’s new Cultural Services Division’s first events. Since early this spring, its organizers have been brainstorming a lively and enriching program of activities that will appeal to families, kids, teens, veterans, World War II buffs, history enthusiasts and everyone in between.
“We have a fascinating array of reenactors interested in coming,” event adviser and National World War II Museum certified Living History Corps member Dako Morfey said. “Visitors will have an opportunity to see equipment and vehicles from both sides of the war and meet the reenactors and learn about their weapons and equipment.”
These groups will establish bivouacs (encampments) around the Twin Hills Park east pond, where they will live just as World War II soldiers lived in the field.
Mr. Morfey, a military and history events coordinator who advised Mayor Whitten on the city’s 9/11 20th-anniversary events, hosted a Luftwaffe parachutist’s field camp at last year’s World War II Victory event in Crestview. At the April 2022 event, he said, visitors will find continuous activities throughout the weekend, “and it’s all absolutely free.”
The Cultural Services Division is partnering with Northwest Florida State College’s Robert L.F. Sikes Educational Center. The former Crestview library will serve as an “occupied French château” that will be “liberated” by Allied reenactment forces several times during the weekend.
“For inside the atrium, we’re inviting a living history group that specializes in portraying German field clerical soldiers,” Mr. Morfey said. “When the château’s not being liberated, people can examine vintage World War II radios, field telephones, and other communication equipment.”
During the weekend, most of the east Twin Hills Park facilities will remain open for public use, including the rest rooms and the walking path around the pond, which will become a “World War II Milestones” history walk with historical display panels set up along the way.
Activities and exhibitors currently under consideration for the weekend include:
• A “Command Post” welcome center tent where visitors can receive maps, event schedules, information and proposed periodic “briefings” on World War II topics by NWFSC history faculty
• Event “passports” in which visitors can receive stamps from various camps and exhibits
• A display of war-era medical equipment in a field hospital setting
• A canteen or field mess offering cuisine of the era
• A U.S. military transportation battalion’s vehicle repair station
• Possible flyovers by World War II aircraft
• A collection of World War II vehicles
• A free public USO-style Victory Dance with a 15-piece big band on April 23
• Meet re-enactors representing both sides of the conflict and discuss World War II tactics, equipment and history; learn about the reenactment hobby; examine weaponry and equipment; and, with permission, try on uniform pieces such as helmets
• War-era music, announcements, and vintage radio commercials broadcasted daily
• World War II newsreels and vintage documentaries screened in the movie tent
• A display of World War II film posters and books from which WWII films were made at the Crestview Public Library throughout April
• An ecumenical field church service taken directly from a World War II chaplain’s manual, with music from the World War II U.S. Army and Navy hymnal played on a field pump organ.
“It’s going to be an amazing weekend,” Mr. Morfey said. “I’ve helped coordinate, and have participated in, numerous re-enactments all over the country, but the enthusiastic support we’ve received the City of Crestview is going to assure one of the best and most educational events I’ve ever seen.”
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up