Photo By Rick Emert | FORT CARSON, Colo. — The 4th Infantry Division Museum hosts its sixth annual Living...... read more read more
By Aleah M. Castrejon
Mountaineer editor
FORT CARSON, Colo. — This year’s sixth annual Living History Day event did not disappoint, as 1,800 people attended the Mountain Post Living event hosted by the 4th Infantry Division Museum May 18, 2019, at Kit Carson Memorial Park at Fort Carson, Colorado. The event commemorated the 75th anniversary of D-Day and was more than double in size compared to last year.
The clouds and sporadic rain showers didn’t keep community members away for long. Sounds of the 4th Inf. Div. band rang throughout the field as old timey songs were sung and children could be heard laughing as they played on the various displays.
The event took more than six months to prepare for, from choosing a date to who would be participating.
Planning began in November, said Joseph E. Berg, museum curator, 4th Infantry Division Museum, and this year the U.S. Army Garrison and the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR) partnered with the museum, making the turnout even greater.
“I couldn’t have asked for better partners in the Fort Carson community to make this happen,” Berg said.
Last year the division wasn’t able to participate due to operational commitments, Berg said. However, this year they were able to show the contrast between the division of 1944 and the division of 2019.
The division’s presence was there in full strength. The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade brought a Chinook; 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team had infantry demonstrations, a motor section, field ambulance and other demonstrations with weapons; 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team brought a Stryker; 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd IBCT, displayed a howitzer; and many other units participated with other various demonstrations and static displays.
“Our job here in the states is ‘dudded ordnance,’” said Sgt. Thomas Simpson, 764th Ordnance Company, 242nd Explosive Ordnance Battalion, 71st Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) “So if … artillery (Soldiers) are out there on the range and (an artillery round) doesn’t go off, we go out there and handle that.”
The 71st EOD team brought an array of items they use for the community to see and touch. The robots, which are used for either recon or disruption of IEDs, were on display and kids had the chance to maneuver them around the field. They also brought out their new vehicle, an M-ATV, a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle for the MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV). The vehicle was on display and many people had the chance to touch, see, and climb on the same vehicle the 71st EOD Soldiers use.
“EOD dates back to World War II, that’s when we got our start, in 1942 is when they started having a need for EOD because of a specific German fuse they were using over there,” Simpson said. “It was initially (called) ‘bomb disposal units’ back in World War II; it has a special significance for us because we like to celebrate our history … it’s important to understand (the) history.”
Being hidden away most of the time, Simpson said it was nice to get out and explain to the community what they do.
Berg said it can be difficult for community members and Families to understand exactly what Soldiers do, and the Living History Day event helps to educate.
“I think if you’re not intimately associated with the military, sometimes you don’t understand the ins and outs of what this is as a profession,” he said. “And Fort Carson contributes so much to the Colorado Springs community, both economically and in terms of the personnel that … (are) stationed here. I think it behooves us to have some idea of what that profession is. This (event) is a great way to be exposed to it.”
Similar to years past, re-enactors from World War I, World War II and Vietnam attended, and this year there was a demonstration of an M5 Stuart Tank, a running World War II light tank, from Loveland.
Law enforcement and other emergency services had displays at the event and the El Paso county sheriff’s office brought out a 1960s classic cruiser.
“We’ve got just about every type of vehicle in the inventory that’s being represented out on the field today with the exception of tanks, which are all in Kuwait,” Berg said. “We’ve just got about everybody that we’ve always wanted to have at this event … and we couldn’t be prouder about it.”
The Al Kaly Shriners attended with mules and a clown to entertain the kids.
Eugene “Geno” T. Romero, Al Kaly Shriner, said the team enjoys participating in events such as the Living History Day event to reach out to the community.
“We feel that we are (teaching) the public what we do and what we want to do for them,” he said.
Berg said events like this educate the youths today in helping them understand the significance of our history.
“Unless we teach children what that was, they take it for granted,” he said. “The liberties that we enjoy (and) the freedoms that we enjoy were not just gifted to us by our grandparents, they were fought for. And this (event) is how we make that connection with a younger generation of what it was like to fight for our rights and our freedoms.”
“I’d like to see a lot more young people go into the military and understand that there really is a good use for arms in the U.S.,” said Nancy Pokorny.
Pokorny and her husband were excited to participate in Saturday’s event because they are planning a trip to the Normandy landing site for the 75th anniversary, so it was convenient timing for the couple to preview the Living History Days events.
“This is very cool because we get to know about a lot of the equipment that we will be seeing when we go to Normandy,” Pokorny said.
Berg said he and the museum staff enjoy showing the museum to the community throughout the week. The museum is free and open to the public Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
| Date Taken: | 05.18.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2019 10:53 |
| Story ID: | 356450 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Living History Day: Annual event draws 1,800, by Rick Emert, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
