Frag Out! Magazine

The Historical Reenactment Association (Polish: Stowarzyszenie Rekon- strukcji Historycznej, SRH) »Rakkasans« is reenacting the C Coy, 3/187 Btn of the Vietnam era, was created in 2004 as the GRH Recon 29, by a group of long-time friends sharing passion for military. During their visits to the military shows in Darłowo, Bielsko-Biała or Modlin, watching the groups going the whole hog, they decided to form a group of their own. Just looking the part and collecting uniforms and gear was not enough. From their observations at the shows, they gathered that although the WW2 is very popular, the Vietnam-era reenactors were few and far between. They took that as a challenge and came up with an idea to press-gang all these individuals into a cohesive unit. At first there was some argument as to which unit they would reenact, but several chance meetings, including one with the veterans of the C Company, including their first Vietnam commander and a Polish-American who served with them, solved the problem. Thanks to the internet connection and meetings with more people sharing their interest, the unit grew, attracting new 'recruits' from all over Po- land. The 'unit strength' was growing and diminishing, usually at around 20 'effectives'. Over the years the association changed, attracting people of va- rious age – from 'high-school dropouts'-types to people well past the mili- tary age, but all equally passionate about their hobby. At present the SRH numbers around 20 full members and candidates, mostly male, but there are a few women reenacting the medical personnel of the 326th Medical Battalion and 44th Medical Brigade Field Hospital. The men of the SRH reenact not only the C Coy, 3/187th AB but some other Screaming Eagles units, including the LRRP/Ranger element of the L Coy or the 557th Infantry Platoon Combat Tracker, a K-9 unit, using their own tracker-trained black Labrador, the Duke. As the Polish climate does not allow the 'jungle warfare' all year round, the winter season is out of necessity the REFORGER time: the association changes the subject, reenacting the US Army units stationing in West Germany at the same era. Besides the usual suspects, the SRH has many friends, who support the displays, lending a helping hand with e.g. camp building at the displays. Geographically, the SRH Rakkasans covers most of Poland: from Gdańsk to Warsaw, to Łódź, to Częstochowa, Gostyń, all the way to Wałbrzych and Stalowa Wola. It might seem impressive, but – inevitably – hinders the activities. A seemingly trivial roll-call involves a great deal of QM effort. REENACTING

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