I became interested in U.S. Army Air Corps reenacting because of my father. His name was Thomas J. Alexander and he was born in 1923 in the small town of Henrietta, Texas. Like many others of his day, he knew that there was a major military conflict building up in Europe, as well as in the Pacific and he took advantage of one of the new programs offered at colleges in those days to train civilian pilots learn how to fly. After obtaining his pilot’s license, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a lieutenant and after basic training he began flight school to train as a B-24 Liberator pilot. Lieutenant Thomas J. Alexander eventually joined the Eighth Air Force, 491st Air Bombardment Group, 854th Squadron based out of North Pickingham Airfield in England. He crash landed twice, once in Cinay, Belgium after being hit by anti-aircraft fire over the Marshaling Yards in Gutersloth, Germany, and another time at a fighter base outside of Paris when a bomb hung up in his bombay doors causing him to run out of gas.
He died last April 18, 2005 and as I was heading over to his home after work on that very day, I saw a B-17 circling Love Field with a B-24 taxiing down the ramp both in town for an air show. I told my dad what I had just seen and he smiled. He really loved those old planes and I grew up enjoying his stories about his experiences in the war.
Although I had been interested in reenacting before, the events of that particular day caused me to put together an impression of not only his uniform, but also some other variations including different rank and decorations. I agree with Bob Hopkins that reenacting is not just a hobby, it is a way to pay tribute to those who have not only served our country in the past, but those who continue to serve and sacrifice to this day. I like his term “Living Memorial.” I think it describes what we do pretty well.
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