This 80th anniversary living history event brings to life the experiences of fighting abroad and the war on the home front during World War II. Guests will have the chance to learn from living historians portraying soldiers who fought in WWII and about different aspects of a soldier’s life including weapons, signals and communications, and tactical demonstrations. Impressions will range from U.S. Army and Marines to those of British and Russian allies. Civilian living historians will portray goings on at the home front and USO activities stateside. Demonstrations will include medical, cooking, weapons and a military uniform and civilian fashion show. A special tactical demonstration will be performed on Saturday afternoon to illustrate the art of fire and maneuver. Throughout the weekend visitors can experience the VA250 Mobile Museum and compare and contrast the soldiers, sailors and marines of the American Revolution to those of World War II, as we commemorate the 250th Birthday Anniversaries of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps,  All event activities and programs are included with regular daily paid admission.

Partner museums to include; MacArthur Memorial, U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, U.S. Army Ordnance TSF, U.S. Army Women’s Museum, and the Virginia War Memorial will have displays and more for visitors to see and experience. Presentations by authors and historians will be throughout the weekend. Actor and historian Charles Wissinger will portray Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Lieutenant Audie Murphy and share his amazing story.

Visitors will have an opportunity to meet and hear about the adventures of U.S. Army First Lieutenant Audie Murphy (portrayed by actor/historian Charles Wissinger) who was an American soldier, actor and song writer.  He is widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, and has been described as the most highly decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at age 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, before leading a successful counterattack while wounded.

Other presenters include Al Barnes, Virginia National Guard who will present “U.S. Army 29th Division in World War II,” Jennifer Cottle, MacArthur Memorial will present “The End of WWII and the Occupation of Japan,” Ali Kolleda, U.S. Army Fort Lee Museums, will present “U.S. Army Chaplains in World War II” and Colin Romanick, Pamplin Historical Park will present “Divided Loyalties: Germany’s Foreign Volunteers.”

The weekend schedule is below.

Saturday, August 23, 2025

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Living history camps and displays open to public
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM USO Children’s Craft Activities: WWII Coloring Book & The Roosevelt’s Scottie Dog “Fala” make & take home item at Freedom Garden (Diana Campbell)
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Children’s Obstacle Course Training Activity – Freedom Garden
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM US Army Quartermaster, Ordnance TSF, Transportation, Women’s Museums displays at NMCWS alcove off of rotunda
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Virginia War Memorial display at NMCWS alcove off of rotunda
10:00 AM – 10:20 AM Viewing of Virginians at War: D-Day: Invasion at Normandy in Education Center
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM “U.S. Army 29th Division in WWII” presentation by Al Barnes in Education Center
12:00 PM – 12:45 PM 1940s fashion show at Education Center
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM “Lieutenant Audie Murphy” presentation by Charles Wissinger (First Person) in Education Center
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM WWII Weapons demonstration at Fortification Exhibit
3:00 PM – 3:45 PM “Jewish Army Chaplains in WWII” presentation by Alexandra Kolleda (AME/U.S. Army Museums) in Education Center
4:00 PM – 4:20 PM Viewing of Virginians at War: Battle of the Bulge in Education Center
4:45 PM – 5:30 PM Coordinate reloading of participant equipment and partner displays

Sunday, August 24

8:15 AM – 8:45 AM Safety inspection of living history and demo areas
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Park Opening, Closing, Cleaning — standard operating procedures
Follow event program below:
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM Living history camps and displays open to public.
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM USO Children’s Craft Activities: WWII Coloring Book & The Roosevelt’s Scottie Dog “Fala” make & take home item at Freedom Garden
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Children’s Obstacle Course Training Activity – Freedom Garden
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MacArthur Memorial display at NMCWS alcove off of rotunda (power required)
10:00 AM – 10:20 AM Viewing of Virginians at War: D-Day: Invasion at Normandy in Education Center
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM “Divided Loyalties: Germany’s Foreign Volunteers” presentation by Colin Romanick in Education Center
12:00 PM – 12:45 PM 1940s fashion show at Education Center
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM “The End of WWII and the Occupation of Japan” presentation by Jennifer Cottle (MacArthur Memorial) in Education Center
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM WWII Weapons demonstration at Fortification Exhibit
3:00 PM – 3:20 PM Viewing of Virginians at War: Battle of the Bulge in Education Center
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM Coordinate reloading of participant equipment and partner displays

Alexander F. Barnes was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in an Air Force family. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1974 and then joined the Army National Guard in 1977, retiring as a Virginia Army National Guard chief warrant officer in 2004. He retired from the US Army at Fort Lee in July 2015 after 30 years of service as an Army Civilian including deployments in Desert Storm, Bosnia, and Kuwait. He has a master’s degree in Anthropology and has authored or co-authored nine US Military History books. He is currently serving as the Command Historian for the Virginia National Guard.

Ali Kolleda is the education specialist for the Fort Lee Army Museum Enterprise, which includes the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, the U.S. Army Women’s Museum, and the Ordnance Training Support Facility. Her background is in collections management and public history, and as a museum professional her goal has been to fill gaps in the historic narrative by diversifying collections and programming. She has a master’s degree in Public History from James Madison University and has been working in Army Museums for 13 years. Ms. Kolleda has presented at the Society for History in the Federal Government, the American Association for State and Local History, the Virginia War Memorial, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and is credited on several government and private publications, including The SixTripleEight documentary, outlining the service of the historic 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in the European Theater during World War II.

Jennifer Cottle is a Museum Attendant and Museum Specialist working with the MacArthur Memorial and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation. Since becoming a staff member, she has worked with material in the museum collections to help share the stories of the thousands of Allied civilians interned in the Philippines during WWII with the public through virtual outreach and education programs. Jennifer graduated from Appalachian State University with a B.S. in Anthropology in 2014 and worked in the field of archaeology for several years before joining the staff at the MacArthur Memorial. She is currently pursuing a M.A. in Public History and plans to incorporate the food history of the WWII internment camps into her capstone project.

Colin Romanick is the current Executive Director of Pamplin Historical Park and has worked in the museum field for over 20 years in the areas of education, finance and marketing. He is a graduate of Christopher Newport University where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration. Romanick worked for the City of Newport News, Historic Services Division for 13 years. During that time he conducted educational programs, tours and assisted in the acquisition of artifacts for the Virginia War Museum. Romanick is a published author and contributing writer of numerous historical articles for various periodicals. Prior to joining Pamplin Historical Park, he has worked as an educator for the US Army Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee and conducted tours at historic Endview Plantation and Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News, VA.

Children are invited to experience a World War II training obstacle course and enjoy craft activities to include World War II coloring books and making a take home project of the Roosevelt’s Scottie Dog “Fala.”

World War II, which was fought between 1939 and 1945, cost an estimated 85 million casualties both military and civilian worldwide. The United States military casualties amounted to 416,800. While many were thankful for the surrender in Europe on May 8, 1945 the war in the Pacific raged on and was far from over. The battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the first half of the year gave a glimpse of the carnage awaiting invasion forces set to strike the Japanese home islands. A planned Allied invasion on the island of Kyushu was set for November 1st. There 500,000 Japanese troops were in position and another 6 million were under arms or able to be called into service. This invasion did not come to pass. The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Imperial Japan to accept an unconditional surrender. The terms were accepted on August 14, 1945 and a formal document signing ceremony took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2nd.

This event is held in partnership with Bank of Southside Virginia.