World War II

June 20th 2009

History is our thing, apparently. Today we went to the airport in Benton Harbor, Michigan to attend the World War II battle reenactments there. As we arrived we walked through the allied and axis camps on our way to the shuttle. Oh, the terrible shuttle service. It made us late for the beach landing of Normandy though we had arrived an hour early. When we finally arrived at the beach the battle was already ensuing. We were unable to gain a close encounter so we opted for a view from atop a near by dune. As the Scout Master and I watched our three young offspring preferred to dig in the sand. After the battle was over we walked down near the shore and took off our shoes to get our toes wet. The water was freezing as it waved to shore and shocked our feet. The kids loved every minute of it. After the battle field was combed and rid of the shells of the blanks we were allowed a close up view of the equipment and the soldiers. Emma and Kyle were given a bullet shell each. They got their picture taken with a British solider complete with a cigar and were allowed to enter into one of the amphibious vehicles. The Scout Master was amused by the instructions painted on the side of each floating tank. They read "Install drain plugs in the hull bottom before attempting to float." One owner told us some people need to be told everything. After our adventures at the beach we returned to the airport after some shuttle mix up. There we had some pizza, walked among some airplanes, toured the inside of one airplane, and watched and looked and pointed to all our satisfaction. My favorite part of the whole day was watching the Scout Master climb the wall and also when the largest airplane flew so close that you could actually see the paratroopers jump out. Since pictures are worth a thousand words.....here are some of our day.