45th G Company

Saturday we did something we've never done before. We went to a World War 2 historical gathering / reenactment. It was in south Tulsa, at the Helmerich Library.

My wife and I are not exactly history buffs. But my wife's old friend Cat and her husband are. In fact, they are members of the 45th Division G Company, a "Historical Color Guard and Living History Unit". They have a ton of old WW2 equipment and artifacts, which they put out on display from time to time. They dress up in WW2 uniforms, set up tents, even drive old military vehicles.

We got to see newspapers, weapons, jeeps, and other goodies. It was pretty cool. The jeeps (fully restored and functional!) were the highlight, at least for me.

Cat and her hubby own one of these babies. He was driving it around the library parking lot, letting kids have a ride. I didn't say anything, but I was very jealous.

This panel (left) of instructions is mounted on the driver's side dashboard of one of the jeeps. I was amused by instruction number 16... it was a different era, to be sure.

And this panel (right) was mounted in the Air Force jeep, on the passenger side. I think it speaks for itself. :)

As we left, a thought struck me. A group of people with similar interests all show up at the same location for a gathering. Many of them are in costume. They collect artifacts from their shared passion. These artifacts are shared freely, but also fiercely guarded. There are many minor attractions at this gathering, and there are a few major attractions.

I shared this with my wife, and then said, "You know, if you just change a few details, this is no different than a Star Trek convention."

She thought about that a second, and then nodded her head in agreement.

God bless you, Vets! Live long and prosper.