Building Character

Many new reenactors who have recently purchased their uniform and gear often struggle with what their next step should be. There are many different directions to take, but in this post we'll examine one that is often over looked by many allied reenactors. For those portraying German, this step is a bit easier because they have to fill out their "Soldbuch" or "Pay Book" which documents the career of whomever it is they have decided to reenact. They have to come up with a new German name and home of residence, and many other details that make their impression into a real, albeit fictitious person. It really helps to round out their impression and get them in the proper mindset of those they are portraying.

     For allied reenactors, the story is a little different. Allied reenactors, typically use their real name and the only paperwork that many of them get is an ID card and their dog-tags. However, anyone looking to really hone and round out their impression, should start researching every day life in the late 1930s and early 1940s and decide what their "character" did before the war, and how they got into the war. This is where you go from having a "kit" to having an "impression" and a character to go with it. It is our hope that this post will help anyone struggling with this, find some direction and hopefully improve their impressions that much further. We will use the example of our Commanding Officer's "Character"; Michael C. Fraser to illustrate the steps you could take to build a fully rounded WWII soldier, sailor, WAC, WAVE, or Marine. So without further ado, let's dive in!

     The good thing about doing an American impression is that you can keep your own name if you wish. For many changing your name for reenacting is confusing and a hassle. First you have to find a name, then you have to start getting everyone to refer to you by that name at reenactments. It's confusing, but some people still do it, especially those with multiple impressions. Our suggestion, should you choose to pick a new name for reenacting, is stick with what you know. Take a look back at your heritage and see what nationality was most current in your family in the 1940s. Had your grandparents or great-grandparents just arrived from Europe or had they been naturalized for a couple generations? The closer your family is to their European ties, the more traditional your name might have been. There are many things to consider when looking at choosing a name for your new impression. Do some digging, talk to your grandparents and great-grandparents. Odds are they have some pretty amazing stories that they might want to pass on. Our CO went with the name "Michael Fraser" because his family has some Scottish roots and he wanted to explore that part of his heritage.

     So now we have a name: "Michael Christopher Fraser."

     Another area where people tend to pick what they know is "home of record." We agree with this idea, so we won't spend much time on it. The best idea is to stick with where you are from in real life. Not everyone in WWII came from a big city, many came from small farming towns, or factory towns in New England, the dust-bowl of the Mid-West, and ranches of Texas. Take a run down to your local Historical Society and see what your town looked like in the 1940s. Historical societies are great places to do research on local history and will give you a better idea of what occupations were prevalent in your town at the time.

     Lieutenant Fraser chose the town he graduated High School from: Woodstock, Vermont.

     The next thing you should consider is how old your character is. If you're a younger reenactor (16-20), you should figure out what year your impression is grounded in and subtract your age from that year and you'll have the year your character was born. For example, our CO is 31, but often looks younger so he chose a younger age and subtracted that from 1943 since his impression is grounded in the Bougainville Campaign. He chose to keep his birthdate the same, but changed the year. So he went with May 18, 1918. Your character's birth date is important as you will need this for your dog tags, and your ID card regardless of what service your impression is.

So to summarize so far, our CO's name is Michael Fraser, born May 18, 1918 in Woodstock, Vermont. Look at that! It's already taking shape.

Photo Thanks to "A Timeless Collection"

So what's next? You have a name, a birthdate and a home of record. Well, next you should decide what your character did before the war? Remember, so many people from different walks of life joined the military in World War II. Everyone from poor, dust-bowl farmers, to the rich and famous enlisted to fight. Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart already had budding film careers prior to the war, but they both volunteered to serve in the Army Air Corps. Does this mean you should pick someone rich? Probably not as most of the enlisted men who fought in WWII came from the middle and lower classes. So head on back down to your local historical society and see what your town was centered around? Was there a large textile factory in your town in the 1930s, or was your town predominantly made up of local farmers? This information should be easy to find and easily accessible through the Historical Society. Some people will transfer their real life occupation into their character if it fits. Was your character a railway laborer, a Police Officer, Detective, School Teacher, ect. The possibilities are endless. Pick something you love and build that into your impression. Does your impression center around engineers or SeaBees? Maybe your character worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps before the war. Use your real experience to pick something that works for you.
     Lieutenant Fraser chose a factory worker as there were a number of small factories in Woodstock during the 1930s who enjoyed playing music in his personal time.

Photo Thanks to "A Timeless Collection"

     Now that you have a bit about your civilian life, you can go on and focus on your military career. Word of advice for budding reenactors: pick something plain, simple, and common. People who try and build themselves up to be like John Basilone, or George Patton are usually looked down on by other reenactors. Most of the guys who fought in World War II were pretty ordinary and were just trying to survive day by day. They considered it a good day if they and their friends, survived. So, with that said, it's time to figure out when your character enlisted in the military.
     For most people, a good time to choose would be sometime just after Pearl Harbor. December 1941 through the early months of 1942, recruiting stations were flooded with volunteers wanting to enlist and join the fight, so for the common soldier, between December 8, 1941 and 30 March 1942 would be the ideal timeframe. However if you're a younger reenactor and your impression is based around the Normandy Landings, perhaps push your enlistment date to mid 1943. On the other hand, if you're an older reenactor, it's possible to choose a date prior to December 7th, 1941. The US Military was building itself up earlier in 1941 in anticipation of entering the war. So take a look at the age you have chosen for your impression, and the date that your impression is centered around and go from there.
     Something else to consider when choosing your enlistment date is WHY did your character enlist? Was it patriotism following the Japanese attack? Was it family pressure? Was it an alternative to jail? Was there a massive layoff at your job and you needed guaranteed income? Were you drafted? There are so many different reasons people joined the military in World War II.

     So for the sake of example, our CO chose to join in 1936 following a layoff at the factory he worked at. He joined the Marines because his father was a Marine in World War I.

     If you've been keeping notes or thinking about your character, look at how far you've come. You started with a pile of clothes and gear and now you have a name, a face, a date of birth, a history, an occupation to go with it! You have just doubled the depth of your impression and really started to get into the mindset of someone who lived in World War II. Of course there's more too it than that, but this is a terrific start for the budding reenactor. From here you can start collecting pocket trash, which we will cover in detail in another post. Letters will be much easier to write and collect now that you have a history for your character. In many ways this is like a Live Action Role Play, except that it's based in historical fact and is recreating an actual period in history, rather than some fantastical adventure into Middle Earth.
     Now that you have all of this and you have a character, start reading memoirs of men and women who fought in campaigns your impression is centered around and learn what they thought and how they felt and how their friends felt about what they were doing and what they were experiencing and think about how YOUR character would respond to similar situations. This is another step towards truly creating an immersive and realistic character and persona to present to the public and to portray for yourself.
     We'll build on this later, and in future blog posts we'll cover some more of Lieutenant Fraser's story, how to create, and collect pocket trash, and how to make your impression even better. We hope you found this post helpful, and we would like to thank everyone for helping us reach 100 likes on Facebook! Please check out our Baker Company,1/21 Facebook page, as well as A Timeless Collection, Emily's Vintage Visions, and The Vintage Express!
Until next time;
SEMPER FI!