line and endorphins are good enough to
cheer you up. Sometimes, you become
so cheerful – just like in a group of men
– that the level of jokes shifts to purely
military one.
However, the fact that men can have a
great time without alcohol surprised no-
body. More surprising was the fact that
even city slickers can easily get used to a
simple life without any comforts. Despite
the habits you learn in the city, you can
easily adapt to sleeping on the ground,
under the stars, washing on rare occa-
sions, and the dirt and insects present
everywhere in the forest. Thanks to ev-
eryday intensive physical effort, one can
discover that you do not need much to
be happy. All you want is to rest in a dry
place, fill up your stomach, and have a
sufficient amount of water. Our respect
to soldiers that we reenact grew even
bigger. In their case, the great difficulties
did not last for several days, but for a
whole year. They had to deal with hazards
more dangerous than wild animals.
From the purely personal perspective,
the prize for the whole effort, apart from
gained knowledge in how the uniform and
our equipment function under field condi-
tions, is the pride that from time to time,
you do not only pretend to be a soldier
from the past, you become one.
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