OPENING COMMENTS: Hello and welcome back to the next edition of the Post Herald! Things are starting to speed up as we approach the campaign season as everyone scrambles to put the final touches on their gear, equipment and impressions. This issue will have some pictures as always but will concentrate on the articles that were left out of the previous issue, like School of the Soldier, History Lesson and A Woman’s Point of View. On with the Herald!

AFTER ACTION REPORT: Paula Taylor, the military museum curator at the USAF base here invited area reenactors out to the museum for their annual museum open house, held the weekend of May 20-21. Several people were present and greeted the various visitors and tours to the museum. I surprised one modern USAF officer ( Lt Jaimie Harrison) with a «sergeant’s salute», which at first she didn’t realize was 1800s protocol. As I greeted her and the other officers with a hearty «good day», she returned the salute and laughed, realizing what had happened. I had some embarassment a short time later as a Colonel came up the steps and I gave him a sergeant’s salute. I should’ve given him a «present arms» since he was above the rank of Captain, but I thought he wouldn’t catch it but he did. Luckily I didn’t get a good dressing down or have to walk in the bull ring and everyone had a good laugh out of it. Hmmm…..I guess I still need to brush up on my 1800s military protocol! Below are three pictures from the event.

On the left, we have me, Lou Janack and Dennis Birch on the front steps of the museum, which used to be the original post Commander’s quarters. The middle picture shows Dennis’ better half, Sherry, and on the right is a picture of Dennis taking a break in the museum store between tours.

FETTERMAN/MONTANA/FT LARAMIE EVENTS: Word has come in from various members about these three events which occurred recently! Hank Miller and Bill Hutchinson went up to the Fetterman event and said Saturday there was a lot of action and activities with the Native American Dance competition and demonstrations of drill and firing demos by the soldiers. Betty, me and the girls arrived there Sunday afternoon after 2 PM but unfortunately everything had been packed up by then. We spent the time looking around the grounds and in the museum and various buildings. When you picture what life must have been like in the 1800s for soldiers stationed at this remote post, it was a hardship post indeed! The Montana event was also very enjoyable! Russ Pierry put in a lot of work developing the site and most of the soldiers and civilians stayed in the log barracks or officer’s quarters. It was made to look like a one company post would’ve been. Each barracks room boasted it’s own wood stove, bunks, tables and chairs, and also wood pegs to hang your equipment and uniforms on, and shelves. As usual, the Real Bird members gave us a run for our money, literally, till Captain Harris had to shoot two deserters in the back when the battle went bad! (grin)

The event at Fort Laramie also went well for members of the 5th Cavalry, Hank being a member of that group also, and our campaign partner, Lou Janack, had a good time. There were firing demos, drill demos, presentations and a lot of opportunities to talk with the spectators and visitors, some of who had come all the way from Europe!

All in all, the «opening shots» for the campaign season went well for units of the «southern column» and we can look forward to even more fun and mayhem in the near future! Here are a couple pictures from the Montana event, and I will post pictures from the other events as I receive them.

The picture on the left shows the provisional company in skirmish order, preparing to meet a mounted attack by Real Bird members. The picture on the right shows my daughter Megan in her outfit in front of our tent, taking a break from beating just about everyone at the fort in checkers!

The last picture above shows some of the buildings at Ft Fetterman, as you look across the parade field. The building in the center is now the museum, and the white building to the left was the ordnance building. Both buildings had some excellent displays in them and made the trip worth while.

KIEV DAYS: Max and the members over in the Ukraine participated in what is called «Kiev Days» where reenactors of different eras set up displays, demonstrate drill and show what life was like during different times in history. Max said they had a good showing with lots of spectators asking questions about the uniforms, equipment, and demo weapons. The members also had a display of American Vietnam era uniforms, equipment and weaponry. All in all it was an enjoyable event for one and all! Way to go everyone!

COWBOY SHOOT: A short time ago at the end of June, our stalwart scouts, Les and Ron, participated in a «cowboy shoot» in the town of Laramie. It was a series of shoots that involved a total of 50 rounds made up of .45 long colt and .12 gauge shotgun rounds. Les and Ron did themselves proud and Les came in third place overall, missing second place by a few seconds. For those of us who have firing replicas or would like to participate in a shoot, contact Ron and Les for more information! Way to go guys!

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!

We received great news from Max and Joanna recently! Anastasiya Popov was born at 5:40 PM on June 12th!!! She weighs 3.500 kg and is 53 cm long! We warmly and sincerely welcome little Anastasiya into the world and give a great big hug to Joanna! Anastasiya couldn’t have asked for better more loving parents! We will look forward to seeing pictures of all of them in the not too distant future! Best wishes and God bless all of you!!!

Photos are -> here

UPCOMING EVENTS: The event for the territorial park in Laramie is now set up. Several units within a three state area will be attending, to include our friends the Real Birds. Mike Harris will be the company commander and we will be under the watchful eye of Sgt Justice once again! According to Milward Simpson, the park staff is eagerly looking forward to working with us. I walked the grounds yet again on July 11th and it looks like the park is adding more buildings in the ranch area, to include a very large barn. The officer’s row tents will be placed along the west wall of the prison, with the company streets along the northern wall. The emigants will be encouraged to set up their tents in whatever spot looks good to them, since for the scenario they have been stranded in Laramie due to their stock being stolen. Members of the 7th Cavalry out of Colorado may be joining us with their mounts, which will be a big change for those of us used to fighting on foot! I will send out final emails to everyone to let you know what to expect when you arrive at the park.

Fort Russell Days: Once again, the local Fort D.A. Russell Days event is upon us! The encampment promises to be fun with different eras being represented, sutlers selling their wares, and of course the milk can dinner and dance! There is more «room to roam» this year since all of the houses in the Wherry Housing Area have been torn down. The good news is – all the trees have been left standing where the houses once stood, so it is by no means a barren landscape. Paula Taylor and Hank Miller have put a lot of time and effort into the event and their will be groups attending from a fairly widespread area. The dates are July 22-24th. I hope to see you there!

COMRADES IN ARMS: I have recently been contacted by Jerry Davenport of Company C, 9th US Infantry, in central Nebraska. Don’t confuse this group with Company C with Chuck Casada, who does SPANAM era reenacting! Jerry’s group does an 1870s garrison impression at Fort Hartsuff, Nebraska. Their group numbers about 25 soldiers and several laundresses and civilians, and are part of the living history presentation at the fort. Jerry has invited us out to an encampment that will be held at the fort this coming September. The soldiers will be bunked in the refurbished barracks complete with cots and mattresses. You must bring your own bedding. Civilians will be housed in the hospital building. For Ron and Les, unfortunately scouts and civilians won’t be allowed to sleep in the barracks because it is reserved for the «wool wearers». I plan to attend and will probably bring my shelter tent. Company C doesn’t do a campaign impression yet and have stated they would be interested in learning skirmishing drills. Jerry also said to bring blanks and some live rounds. They plan to have a live shoot, and to do some blank firing drills. There is a cooking stove in the barracks that will be available to everyone, with Jerry’s group providing one evening meal and one breakfast. For those of us with heel plates or hob nail shoes, bring another type of footware with the boots/brogans to wear inside the authentic buildings. Jerry sent me some pictures of his group at the fort. I unfortunately don’t know the names of the people in the pictures, but you will get an idea of what the group and the fort looks like.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS: Fort Russell Days was once again a wonderful event, well worth attending, thanks to the hard work of Paula Taylor, Hank Miller, and members of the 5th US Cavalry. The firing during the skirmishes was hot and heavy, with different eras being represented doing their own skirmish demos. These included Civil War, IWP and WWII enthusiasts. There was even a member portraying a soldier from the Spanish American War, and German Wermacht troopers! To top it all off, we also had a Highlander group with pipers, drummers, and dancers! The tent area covered a considerable area this year, and featured several sutlers and their wares. Much fun was had by all and we thank all those involved for once again making it a memorable event!

The pictures on the following page show some of the participants enjoying the Milk Can Dinner and Dance, hosted by F.E. Warren AFB and the Historical Society. The picture on the left shows Bonnie in her saloon outfit with her fan. The one in the middle shows Sherry and Dennis of the 5th US Cavalry (who are also sutlers extroardinaire), the one on the right shows our Hank Miller in his Sergeant Major outfit, and Mike Demoully, Commander of the 5th US Cavalry, enjoying themselves during a dance.

WYOMING TERRITORIAL PARK EVENT REPORT: Since this newsletter will cover several months’ worth of activities, it will be a little longer than I had hoped, but with luck and Max’s outstanding computer skills, I hope we can get it out to everyone without the usual need to pack sleeping bags and meals as it downloads! After some initial confusion and dealing with the question of «who will actually make it», the event at the park went well. The park staff was very enthusiastic during the scenarios and put their acting hearts and souls into the skits. Pam Malone, the park superintendent, said afterwards that the park doubled their visitors during this weekend, and that they were so pleased with the results, that they plan to do the reenactment again next year over the same dates (August 4-6). We threw in some additional skits like the warriors ambushing the stagecoach (Ray, the stagecoach driver, sure did enjoy running those horses!) and also the «execution» of a drunk deserter, who was saved at the last minute by General Crook himself. The gunslingers took a nasty shock when they were confronted during a prison breakout by not only the army, but the warriors as well. In the last scenario on Sunday, the gunslingers were finally beaten, the town was returned to order, and one of the warriors took home some hair as a trophy (he used a soldier’s knife for the scalping!). Here are some pictures from the event.

In the picture on the left, our Hank Miller and my campaign partner Lou Janack are helping the ranchers to fight off an Indian attack. In the picture on the right, members of the Real Bird group pose with one of the park’s staff members after one of the scenarios. All in all, it was a great event and everyone had a lot of fun. I would like to thank everyone who participated as reenactors, as well as the park staff for a very enjoyable weekend.

IN CLOSING: I know this newsletter was a long time in coming. With my surgeries in March and my continued recovery, along with work schedules, therapy sessions, and the usual everyday activities of life, it has taken me longer than I hoped to get the next issue finished and out to everyone. Thank you for your patience. I also know this issue was supposed to include articles missed in the last issue, such as «school of the soldier», «history lesson», etc, but I was unable to research the material needed to complete those articles. I will concentrate on those solely in the next issue, which will hopefully be out sometime in late September. I would like to thank everyone for their contributions of pictures, narratives of events and interest in this newsletter. Without you, this newsletter wouldn’t exist. Once again, congratulations to Joanna and Max in the birth of their daughter! She is a beautiful bundle of joy! As always, take care, keep your hair, and keep up the fire!

Your ob’d servant,

Roy D. Varga