Are you interested in WWII or military re-enacting? Well, then it is time to put all that hard work you have put in to creating and honoring the soldiers of the past by immortalizing yourself in a portrait. Together we will create an authentic portrait that not only makes you look amazing, but will honor those who served our country in the past.
Recently I had the opportunity to photograph Army Veteran and WWII re-enacting enthusiast, Terry Sackett. This is his story.
Video transcript
Q: Where were you born?
TS: I was born in Southfield, Michigan. Near Detroit.
Q: What inspired you to join the military?
TS: At the time that I joined the military, it was ’86 when I enlisted, and there was a couple of things going on in my life. I was nineteen, and I was struggling financially for one thing. I was going to school for radio broadcasting, and I had also started a DJ service with a partner, and things were kind of—weren’t great at the time, but they were getting ready to, we felt they were getting ready to take off. And also, at the same time, I’ve always had an interest in the military.
My uncle is a Vietnam veteran, and a career Army Reserve Warrant Officer. And he’s one of my heroes. I was named after him, in fact. So that was kind of another example. More than anything else, that was just before the Cold War ended, and there was strong feeling, kind of, in our country in general that at any point the Soviet Union could decide they wanted to take a jump. And we felt if any one was going to get us into it with them it was going to be Ronald Regan, and I wanted to be ready to do my part if that happened. I wanted to help to defend my country if I needed to.
Q: Which branch of military did you join?
TS: I enlisted in the Army Reserve. U.S. Army Reserve.
Q: Why that particular branch?
TS: That’s the branch my uncle was in, was in the Army. I always had an affinity toward the Army. None of the other Services really interested me too much. I don’t know if there’s a specific reason why necessarily. I mean, I respect all of our Services, but I just kind of always had an attraction toward the Army. Also, the jobs that were available that I was mostly interested in, being a radio repairer, going into communications, but specifically when I found out being—about the job of a military occupational specialty of a radio repairer, that really attracted me, too. And so … because I was taking radio broadcasting courses at the time, and things like that, and wanted to get into radio, that seemed to be right up my alley.
Q: What did it mean to you to first put on that uniform?
TS: It gave me a lot of pride. You know, when you put on the uniform it just comes—for me—just automatically made me feel stronger and more proud. It just kind of, elevated my morale. Kicked it up a couple of notches. Just being in the uniform. Not only that though, but to be representing, or part of the military, representing my country, and wearing that U.S. Army on my uniform, so that the name of the country is right on it. That meant a lot to me, too. That was kind of a boost to my patriotism so to speak.
Q: What drew you to re-enacting?
TS: With re-enacting, the main thing that drew me into that was my interest in War World II, number one, but I used to—I started reading memoirs, combat memoirs and biographies of a lot of the front line soldiers who went over to fight for their country at that time. And the things that they went through were harrowing enough and that was enough to touch me. On top of that, at that time, there was—we had a lot going on in the country. We were just coming out of a depression, and we were in a position where there was wars going on in other parts of the globe, and of course our biggest enemies at that time were the Empire of Japan and the German Third Reich. And contrary to popular opinion, those countries were not planning on invading North America, or the United States. Germany did not have the capability to do that, and Japan that was never part of Japan’s goals, to invade the United States. Which is not what a lot of people think. And so we didn’t necessarily have to go to send our guys over to fight in foreign countries. But we did and those guys put their lives on hold, or some of them were never seen—were killed over there, so they never came back to their lives. And they sacrificed their time, and their lives in a lot of cases to go over and liberate a foreign country that was one of our allies. But that was something that they didn’t have to do to defend the United States. They did it to defend others, and that touched me. That they took times out of their own lives to do that. And that was important to me. And I wanted to get that idea to the public. To people living nowadays who don’t—you know, the war never affected the United States as much as it did other countries in Europe. We never had—except for Pearl Harbor of course—we never had cities bombed or anything like that like they did in Europe. And so a lot of people here were isolated from the war, and it’s not remembered very well anymore. And I just wanted these guys and their sacrifices to not be forgotten. I wanted people to know about them.
Q: How did you get into re-enactments?
TS: I got into it with a friend of mine. Well, I took a trip with my family to France in 2012 to Normandy. We went to London for a few days, then we went to Normandy, and we went to Omaha Beach, and Utah Beach, and Sainte-Mère-Église, and some of the other areas that were significant during the invasion of Normandy. I went through the Dead Man’s Corner Museum at that time, and they had in their store, at the end of the tour, they had re-enacting gear and uniforms. Just the whole gamut of equipment that was the same the guys used when they were over there.
So, I decided to pick up a uniform as kind of a tribute to the guys I had read about. When I got home, a friend of mine kept talking about doing re-enacting, and it didn’t really interest me at first, I didn’t want—I wanted to pay tribute to these guys in a different way. But, he talked me into contacting the Southern Nevada Living History Association, and that I’m a member of now, and we ended up going to one of their meetings. They invited us to join, and the rest, as they say, “is history.” No pun intended.
Q: What uniforms were you wearing today?
TS: Today I was wearing the uniform of a U.S. Army Parachutist, or Paratrooper, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, which was one of the two American Airborne Divisions in War World II. And I was also wearing a uniform representing a member of the 29th Infantry Division, which was heavy infantry in those were the guys who landed on beaches of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
Q: Is there a particular reason why you selected those uniforms?
TS: There is. The airborne were highly trained elite soldiers. And I have a lot of respect for what they did, and the way they trained, and just the level of training that they had achieved, and as well as they had taken care of themselves over there executed their missions. The miniseries, the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers was a big impetus in that. I watched the series, and then I read the book, and then I read several memoirs and biographies of the men that were members of that company. And so that held a big attraction to me. And also, the friend who I became a re-enactor with, he was also very inspired by the airborne, and in fact, he joined the Utah National Guard and went through jump school to become airborne qualified himself. And then with the 29th Infantry Division, when the second time I was in France, on June 6, 2019, for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, I learned about the 116th Infantry Regiment. Which…when they hit the beach, about 90% of them became casualties, and they just had the crap beat out of them, really. So, I got the 29th Infantry Division insignia, and when I marched in a parade here in town, I did it to represent a lieutenant—a specific lieutenant—who was killed on the beach. So, I think that the 29th really deserves our attention, and you know, our—you know, just our remembering what they did and what they went through, and the sacrifices they made. And so those are the two primary divisions that were important to me.
Q: Any final words you would like to add?
TS: Well, I would just add that any of the—I’m not a combat veteran myself. I never had to go overseas, and serve in combat, but I still have a great deal of respect for those who did. I just think it important that we—when a lot of the guys came back from World War II, people couldn’t differentiate between—people who were never in the military—didn’t differentiate between the combat veterans and the people who might have just sat at a desk through the whole war, and it was a completely different experience for the people who had been in combat. You know, they had to not only kill other people, but a lot of them watched their buddies die, and came back without them. And I think we need to be sensitive to that, and we need to recognize what they’ve been through. And just be aware, regardless of what war it was, combat is the worst condition that a person can be in, and we just need to realize that.
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