Originally Posted by
KJAir
I can give you some insights on that, Bill. It has to do with some pretty serious acts of duplicity, deception, character assassination, and various other indicators of serious social maladjustment. Call if you want details.
I got a private email from someone else who got dumped from the original Burkittsville organizing committee who castigated me for "not telling the whole story" (I will omit his rather childish actions after he was bounced from the committee). I concede that you both were both treated badly. Certain individuals behaved as they typically do-- only more so-- and this is part of the reason why campaigner events have dwindled. I've already lamented here and on the AC forum how some of the best and the brightest have left because of infighting (some of the malefactors have left or are leaving, too, but that doesn't off-set the "brain drain").
But your personal travails don't change the fact that the first Burkittsville was among the best progressive events of the past few years, due mostly to its creativity and variety, but partly to the fact that its novelty: a progressive event that didn't require a perfect kit or any campaigner experience. Whatever happened behind the scenes, the results for the rank & file were:
1.) marching over pristine ground (not THE march route, but conceivably very much like the original);
2.) a lovely setting that time has passed by (the village of Burkittsville and many of the buildings in the outlying country);
3.) a battle (too short for many, but historical) on the original ground, scripted to come out the way it did in the history books;
4.) no blowing of "Taps" and all getting up and shaking hands, but the dead and wounded carried off the field on litters (unusual at the time).
5.) authentic civilians who put on a hospital scenario that brought tears to the eyes of some observers because of its realism (impressions and "acting," not blood and guts);
6.) a prisoner scenario that, despite some wrinkles, has not been recreated to my knowledge.
It had warts, too (camping under a street light Saturday evening, and essentially nothing happening Sunday morning, leading to a gradual bleeding off of most of the participants).
Does a superior event justify you and your colleague being mistreated? No. But I live in the corporate world, and sometimes bad things happen to good people, with a result that's better overall.
And you and I both should recognize that event organizing isn't always a pretty sight. We both worked on "Into the Wilderness," and I saw many of the event's warts up-close and personal. In fact, I don't think I am speaking out-of-turn to say that most of the senior Federal officers came away angry and disillusioned, both with the way that the CS forces operated, and with the way the CWLHI ran the event. We expressed our concerns to you privately for the most part, and it looks like from recent communications I've seen that we won't be repeating our participation at any high level in the next Recon.
But our dissatisfaction was not shared by the Federal rank & file, who came away from the event happy and feeling they'd gotten their money's worth. So on a certain level, it doesn't matter that you were misused at Burkittsville, or that I feel the CWLHI made serious mistakes in the way it organized ITW. The participants of both events had a great time, and that's probably what counts.
It's tough to think of the "greater good" when you're having a lousy time, but that's probably unavoidable with organizing a good event, and probably why so many of us quit after awhile.
Bill Cross
Treasurer, The Rowdy Pards
'In the end, it's the history, stupid. If you can't document it, forget about it. And no amount of tomfoolery can explain away anything that makes history (and living historians) look stupid and wrong."
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