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It’s All an Illusion

Things That Go Boom goes to Gettysburg (and upstate New York). We don’t dress up.

Words: Laicie Heeley
Pictures: Glen Bledsoe
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  • Nearly everyone has played dress up at some point in their lives, whether putting on mom or dad’s clothes as kids, for Halloween, as their favorite Marvel character at ComicCon… or even, maybe, as a Civil War soldier. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where historians say Civil War casualties were highest, attracts many reenactors. They carry their muskets,[...]
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Nearly everyone has played dress up at some point in their lives, whether putting on mom’s or dad’s clothes as kids, for Halloween, as their favorite Marvel character at ComicCon… or even, maybe, as a Civil War soldier.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where historians say Civil War casualties were highest, attracts many reenactors. They carry their muskets, pull on their blue britches, and revel in the past. But today that hobby has taken on new meaning — survivalists on the left and right and even some pundits have suggested a second US Civil War isn’t quite so unlikely as it might seem. So, we thought we’d head out to learn a little bit more about why some folks like to play war… and what they think about the prospect of another.

Guests:

Pete Bedrossian, Civil War reenactor; Mike Peets, Civil War reenactor; Levi Rifenburgh, Civil War reenactor, high school student; Mary Babcock, Bannerman Island; Rebecca DuBois, Bannerman Island, archivist; Peggy Bedrossian, Former reenactor, Pete’s wife; Kyle Windahl, Regalia maker, historian; Jocelyn Windahl, Occasional Reenactor, High school STEM teacher, Kyle’s wife; Matt Atkinson, Civil War reenactor; Sherry/Cheri Stultz, Gettysburg Family Restaurant; Mark Russell, Civil War reenactor

Additional Resources:

Civil War Re-Enactors Have Their Own POG-Level Slang, Blake Stilwell, We Are The Mighty

How Gettysburg Became a Refuge for Conservatives Battered by Trump-Era Strife, Virginia Heffernan, Politico

Author bio

Laicie Heeley

Editor in Chief

Laicie Heeley is the founding CEO of Inkstick Media, where she serves as Editor in Chief of the foreign policy magazine Inkstick and Executive Producer and Host of the PRX- and Inkstick-produced podcast, Things That Go Boom. Heeley’s reporting has appeared on public radio stations across America and the BBC, where she’s explored global security issues including domestic terrorism, disinformation, nuclear weapons, and climate change. Prior to launching Inkstick, Heeley was a Fellow with the Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program and Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Her publications include work on sanctions, diplomacy, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, along with the first full accounting of US counterterrorism spending after 9/11.

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