Families and history buffs were transported back through four centuries Saturday at “When Duty Calls,” a military reenactment organized by the River Grove-based Chicagoland Combined Veterans Museum.
The event, which organizers plan to host annually, featured military reenactments from the French and Indian War (1754-63) to the Civil War (1861-65), both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts.
Several reenactors, some who were veterans themselves, were decked out in military uniforms from different periods and brought weapons, pictures and other items to use in educating participants. They also fired mortars, cannons and muskets and held other period demonstrations, along with period entertainers and speakers.
Veterans captivate young people
Families like Craig and Nicole Culp, who came from Arlington Heights with their 14-year-old son Lincoln, said they came to enjoy a “fun, family atmosphere.”
Elizabeth Kerner, who brought her 6-year-old son Michael, agreed, saying for her son, who wants to join a SWAT team one day, the event was “a blast,” noting the irony of her description.
Along with seeing the arsenal of weapons being fired, attendees got to talk to military veterans like Vietnam veteran David Serikaku. He served 18 months in Vietnam as a combat medic and also went on recon missions.
“I like to tell them what we did, to give them a little flavor of what it was like,” said Serikaku, who was dressed in a uniform similar to what he wore in 1971 in Southeast Asia. Now 71 and retired from a career as a registered nurse, Serikaku said he attends several reenactments every year, bringing photos of his war experience along with weapons and other items.
Craig Dorsey, a reenactor who dressed as a soldier in the French and Indian War, displayed muskets and talked to attendees about the legacy of that war, which include the phrases “half cocked,” “flash in a pan,” and “lock, stock and barrel.”
For history buff Chris Mantas of Morton Grove, who dressed as a soldier from the Korean War, it was important to convey the experiences of a conflict that is often overlooked.
“The only Korean War thing most people know is M*A*S*H*. But 36,000 were killed there, so it’s important to honor them,” Mantas said.
Another veteran participating at the event was Luther Johnson, who was representing the U.S. Colored Troops that fought on the Union side in the Civil War, and honoring the contributions of Black soldiers in all wars. On Saturday, Johnson was dressed as a World War I soldier, referred to as a “doughboy.”
“We want all African Americans to be represented,” Johnson said.
Although the organizers advertised that a Black Hawk helicopter would be landing at the reenactment, they were informed a few days before the event that the helicopter was needed at the U.S. border. So, Fiorentino said they improvised and reached out to Air Methods, the parent company of emergency helicopter company Lifestar, which agreed to provide a BK 117 air ambulance to the event.
“We were thrilled, and we were pretty crafty to make sure we had a helicopter land. We were thrilled that we were able to get that done,” Fiorentino said.
River Grove site fizzled
The event was originally to take place in River Grove, but after the organizers could not work out arrangements with River Grove officials, it took place in Berkeley Park in Berkeley.
Lorenzo Fiorentino, president of the Chicagoland Combined Veterans Museum and commander of American Legion Post 335, both of which are located in River Grove, said River Grove officials set unreasonable restrictions for the event.
Fiorentino, a Park Ridge resident, said his group approached River Grove officials in January and hoped to have the event at Riverfront Park, across the street from the American Legion and museum at 8664 Grand Avenue in River Grove. However, they weren’t given permission to have open fires or fire cannonballs, which many reenactors consider essential to Civil War reenactments. They also weren’t allowed to have a helicopter land and, finally, weren’t allowed to have potential attendees park in the building’s parking lot.
Fiorentino explained that his veterans’ and museum group needed permission to use the parking lot, because in 2008 the leadership of the American Legion deeded the building and parking lot to the Village of River Grove gratis with the condition that the Legion could use the building. That arrangement allowed the American Legion to avoid any property tax responsibility.
However, after the veterans’ group this year had to find a new location for their event, which took away the chance to attract new people to their museum, Fiorentino expressed regret for the 2008 decision.
The building on Grand Avenue, home to both the American Legion Post 335, VFW Post 5979 and the Chicagoland Combined Veterans Museum, also houses River Grove’s Kathryn M. Bruce Recreation Center.
“The goal [of the reenactment] was to showcase our museum. The museum was putting on this military reenactment, so of course we wanted to show off our museum, but we were told that we couldn’t let anyone park in the parking lot (of the building) that our museum is in,” Fiorentino said.
Asked if he was given a reason, Fiorentino said “we were told because of public safety concerns,” but noted the village allows parking in the lot for other events.
River Grove Village President David Guerin, reached by phone, said, “We were really looking forward to having this event in River Grove; such a tremendous educational opportunity. But the miscommunication was that we have an IGA (Inter-governmental agreement) with the forest preserve that is directly across the street from our recreation center and the Legion, but when we ran the event through our public safety team, we have to respect the Forest Preserve rules, which are no open pit fires, and they don’t allow cannon fire within the forest preserve.
“We were hoping they’d go through with the reenactment, maybe put the fires in some controlled pits, but it got a little late and they found a new location. It wasn’t anything unrealistic in my opinion, we just have to respect the rules of the forest preserve.”
Fiorentino said he was thrilled with the hospitality of Berkeley officials, but left the door open to holding the reenactment in River Grove next year.
Guerin said he’d be open to talking again about it.
“We’re always open to that. We were looking forward to it, but no matter what you do over there, it has to be done within the parameters of our IGA,” Guerin said.
