Few kids at the age of 16 can say that they have gone to war, but junior Kurt Herrmann and sophomores Ben Stafford and Baylor Blair spend weekends at a time reliving the Civil War. The boys get to experience and take part of the era of 1864 and they get to honor their country’s history while doing so. “Wearing wool clothing in ridiculously hot weather, sleeping in canvas tents, getting up way too early to the sounds of fifes and drums and then standing in lines shooting each other,” according to Herrmann, is what a day consists of at a Civil War reenactment. “I’m a history nut so it’s a really cool thing to do,” he continued.

The boys are not dressing up and playing a role. They are truly becoming a Civil War soldier for the weekend. “I have been doing this for 2 years and I have done 14 battles. The goal of the battles is to shoot the rebels!” said Stafford with enthusiasm in his usually quiet voice. “We use replicated muskets. You pour black powder into it and you fire off a blank,” said Herrmann, who has only been involved for one year, but is already an expert on the battlefield.

All three of them have to fight for their survival otherwise they will have to be done fighting for the day. “You can die in battle when you run out of ammo or if you want to make it look more realistic you can fall to the ground and ‘get wounded.’ You only stay dead for that day though. You don’t stay dead for the whole weekend,” explained Stafford, who when shot, lays down in the field to soak up some sun.

The weekend is not only battles, but occasional parades, firing squad displays and even dances. “One of my favorite parts is singing. There’s a group of 12 of us that sing on Saturday nights rather loudly,” laughed Blair, a five year veteran remembering cold nights filled with song.

Spectators are a big part of the reenactments as well, providing support for the soldiers and cheering loudly at the end of the battles for both sides. “We love having people come watch us. Next year in August we have one in Snoqualmie and that would be a good close one for maybe people from here to come watch. We love to have a crowd.”

An event like no other, Herrmann, Stafford and Blair, get to fight for their country while remembering the history that has shaped it. “You can read a lot about the war but you get a whole new appreciation for it when you’re actually out being a part of it,” said Blair.