This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. With the anniversary comes a renewed interest and some events that are annual events as well as some new events as well.

These events and reenactments offer us all a chance to get a peak at what life was like for civilians and soldiers 150 years ago. It’s a great chance for your kids to see history come to life. We’ve taken our kids to Civil War reenactments and events in the past and it has always fascinated and captivated them.

Plowshares into Swords
April 12, 2011 – February 5, 2012
Special exhibit at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing explores how the Civil War changed Michigan resident’s lives.

Niles – Brandywine Civil War Reenactment
May 14-15th
They are reenacting the Battle of Shiloh this year.

Civil War Reenactment at Walker Tavern
May 14-15
Watch battle reenactments, artillery and infantry demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

Civil War Days in Branch County
This Memorial Day Weekend event in Coldwater is another great Civil War history experience. The local steam-powered locomotive, Little River Railroad, provides a ride for Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. There are vintage baseball games, an 1860′s wedding, a reenactment of the Battle of Vicksburg, and much more.

Iron Ore and the Civil War
August 6-7th at Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee
“The Civil War and the role Michigan’s iron resources played in preserving the Union will come to life when the museum hosts a weekend Civil War artillery encampment. This encampment features military and civilian camp life, cannon demonstrations, cooking demonstrations and costumed portrayals of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.”

Civil War Era Artillery Encampment
August 12-13 at Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor.
“Battery D, First Michigan Light Artillery, recreates army life of the period with artillery and small arms drills, cooking, soldiers’ pastimes and much more! The encampment features more than 25 costumed interpreters, tents and full-scale artillery pieces, as well as authentically reproduced mess gear, small arms and other period artifacts.”

Jackson, Michigan Cascades Civil War Muster
August 26-28th
This is the largest Civil War reenactment event in Michigan. This year they are reenacting the Battle of Bethel Church, Virginia.

Michigan 16th Infantry Civil War Reenactors at Mackinac Island
September 10-11 at Fort Mackinac.
“A little-known page in Fort Mackinac’s history will be revealed when a group of 16th Michigan Company reenactors depicting the Stanton Guard and the 3rd U.S. Infantry are hosted at Fort Mackinac.”

Holland Civil War Muster
SEPTEMBER 17 & 18, 2011, at the historic Van Raalte Farm in Holland, MI.
“This year’s all-new FREE event features the 1st Battle of Bull Run (known in the South as 1st Manassas) with two days worth of music, impressions of historical figures, performances, medical scenarios, period-style vendors, and (of course) battle.”

Don’t forget to check out SeekingMichigan.org for an in-depth list of statewide events related to the Civil War.

[photo of previous USS Detroit by PHAN Alex J. Recalde]

Their have been six previous USS Detroit warships. Construction on the seventh USS Detroit is expected to begin this December or January of 2012. When complete, the ship will be 378 feet long, 57 feet wide, and have a cruising speed of 40 knots.

The first USS Detroit was built by the British in 1813 and captured by the Americans in the Battle of Lake Erie. The most recent USS Detroit, nicknamed “Dirty D”, was decommissioned in 2005 after 35 years of service.

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank November 10, 1975 taking the lives of all 29 crew members on board. It’s hard to believe that 35 years have passed since this tragedy and I’m sure it’s even hard for the friends and family of the 29 men who died.

Here is a roundup of Edmund Fitzgerald posts I have made over the years –

Remembering the 29 men who perished when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Nov. 10, 1975

Lyrics to Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’

Beautiful video tribute to the 29 crewmen of the Edmund Fitzgerald

SS Edmund Fitzgerald – LEGO model

Perfect Storm Caused Fitzgerald to Sink

Today, October 14th, is a date which lives in Detroit Tigers infamy. Three significant events occurred on this date for the Detroit Tigers.

October 14, 1908

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in the deciding game five of the 1908 World Series. This would be the last time that the Cubs would win the World Series (as of 2010, anyway). The game attendance of 6,210 at Bennett Park ranks as the lowest ever for a World Series game. With the Cubs’ 1907-08 World Series championships, they became baseball’s first dynasty.

October 14, 1984

The Tigers were leading the 1984 World Series 3 games to 1 over the San Diego Padres. Interestingly enough, the Cubs could have had a World Series rematch against the Tigers, but they collapsed after a 2-0 NLCS lead over the Padres.

The Tigers held a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the 8th in Game Five of the World Series. Kirk Gibson came to the plate with runners on second and third and Goose Gossage on the mound – an intentional walk would have been in order. After all, Gibson had already belted a home run in the first inning to give the Tigers the early 3-0 lead.

However, Gibson was 1 for 10 against Gossage during his career up to that point and Gossage told his manager, Dick Williams, that he could strike out Gibson. The count was 1-0 and Tigers manager, Sparky Anderson, yelled from the dugout, “He don’t want to walk you!” and gave the motion for swing away. Gibson ripped a 1-0 fastball into the upper deck in right field for a three run home run and pretty much assured the Tigers faithful that the Detroit Tigers would be the 1984 World Series Champions.

October 14, 2006

The Detroit Tigers were one win away from sweeping the Oakland A’s and going on to the World Series. Game four of the 2006 ALCS was a back and forth affair and the Tigers had to claw their way back from a 3-0 deficit. In the bottom of the 9th the score was tied 3-3.

With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Craig Monroe and Placido Polanco each hit singles. Magglio Ordonez came up to the plate with two on and two outs. On a 1-0 count Magglio absolutely crushed Huston Street’s fastball into the left field stands for a three run walk off home run to send the Tigers to the 2006 World Series.

I just about cried watching Magglio circle the bases with his fist in the air, the pure joy of Craig Monroe waving both arms over his head, and Placido Polanco happily skipping all the way to home plate. Man, what a moment. Even today I get goosebumps just watching the replay.

My dad sent me this in an email last week, but I have to give credit to SeekingMichigan.org for posting this excellent footage at Vimeo. If you want to find all kinds of unique historic information and other assorted goodies about Michigan, check it out.

This 1924 video showcases the Armstead Snow Motors concept vehicle utilizing both a Fordson tractor and a Chevrolet automobile. I like the rugged utility of the Fordson tractor mashup. I could have a lot of fun with one of those. I can’t believe they never went into mass production. You would have thought the military could have made use of them in the winter campaign of 1944-45 in World War II, but perhaps politics and pettiness kept that from happening.

Armstead Snow Motors from Seeking Michigan on Vimeo.

Photo Credit:

34 years ago today during the evening of November 10, 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior taking the lives of all 29 crewmen. This video tribute is hauntingly beautiful. I feel so bad for the families that lost loved ones 34 years ago today. The music featured in the video is, of course, Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Don’t forget that you can watch the annual service from River Rouge online tonight from 6pm until 8pm. There is a school program online from 1:30 until 3pm as well.

I simply cannot believe it has been 25 years since the Tigers last World Series Championship. In some ways (with all those horrible years) it feels much longer than 25 years and in many others – it just doesn’t seem possible. It was an exciting summer back in 1984. The Detroit Tigers roared out of the gate to a record 35-5 record after 40 games on their way to their first title since 1968.

There will be a special ceremony before tonight’s game honoring the World Series Champs. Gates will open early at 5pm with special photo opportunities from 5:10pm to 6:10pm. Some of the 1984 Tigers to appear at the game are: Sparky Anderson, Alan Trammell, Guillermo Hernandez, Kirk Gibson, Darrell Evans, Jack Morris and Lance Parrish and many others. You can watch highlights from that magical season at MLB.com.

They were in first place all year, or Wire to Wire as they like to say. Wire To Wire is also the title of a decent (it’s not real in-depth, but it brings back a lot of fond memories) book on the 1984 club written by George Cantor. If you want an in-depth look into that magical 1984 season, read “Bless You Boys: Diary of the Detroit Tigers’ 1984 Season” by Sparky Anderson.

Speaking of the Bless You Boys (the moniker bestowed upon them by former Detroit sportscaster Al Ackerman) here’s the classic ‘Bless You Boys’ video montage from WDIV:

The 1984 Detroit Tigers Roster:
Pitchers:
Glenn Abbot
Doug Bair
Juan Berenguer
Willie Hernandez
Aurelio Lopez
Roger Mason
Sid Monge
Jack Morris
Randy O’Neal
Dan Petry
Dave Rozema
Bill Sherrer
Milt Wilcox
Carl Willis

Catchers:
Marty Castillo
Dwight Lowry
Lance Parrish

Infielders:
Doug Baker
Dave Bergman
Tom Brookens
Scott Earl
Barbaro Garbey
Howard Johnson
Mike Laga
Alan Trammell
Lou Whitaker

Outfielders:
Kirk Gibson
Johnny Grubb
Larry Herndon
Ruppert Jones
Rusty Kuntz
Chet Lemon
Nelson Simmons

Other:
Rod Allen
Darrell Evans

Take a second and vote in this week’s poll –
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Talkin’ Baseball – Detroit Tigers Style –

Grab your ticket for tonight at StubHub.com and celebrate the 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers.

The hottest ticket in town (heck, even the state) tonight will be for the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals game at 7:05pm. Not so much for the teams (even though Detroit is in the midst of a division race) either. Longtime Tigers radio broadcaster and Baseball Hall Of Fame legend Ernie Harwell is to be honored by the team tonight.

Ernie Harwell recently revealed that he has incurable cancer and there has been an outpouring of love and support from fans both young and old. I think it’s great (and long overdue) for the Tigers to pay tribute to a real gentleman. Emotions will be running high in the ballpark tonight.

Ernie Harwell Tribute Video with a smattering of his legendary signature calls as well as his final sign-off from 2002:

It was not until recently that I knew Michigan was home to several German POW camps during World War II. Somehow these camps were left out of every single Michigan history book I read in school and later in life. I feel a bit ignorant not knowing about these POW camps and wonder just how many other Michigan residents are unfamiliar with them as well.

Camp Raco German POW Camp

I can’t remember where exactly I came across this, but somehow I found this documentary, The Enemy In Our Midst. This documentary was produced by Jackie Chandonnet and John Pepin and originally aired back in 2004. The German POW camps in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are the focus of the documentary, but the premise of it intrigued me enough to dig further and see where, and how many, German POW camps were in Michigan during World War II. I was hoping to get a DVD copy of The Enemy In Our Midst, but I emailed John Pepin and he said that there are only VHS copies available. I’m buying the VHS version as I really want to see this film.

I’ve been unable to get a consistent number, but thanks to a handful of different websites (pimarily this page at www.gentracer.org) I was able to put together a list. One would think that there would be more information available on this subject, but so far I haven’t been able to find too many sources. Depending on how you link the camps together (some camps fell under the “umbrella” of other camps) I was able to come up with 31 different camp locations. Now, some of these locations may have been consolidated under another camp name/location and some of them were strictly hospitals so sometimes you see the number of camps in Michigan listed closer to 20.

Around 6,000 German POWs were posted at the various camps across Michigan. About 1,000 of the POWs were at the five camps in the Upper Peninsula with the remainder located in the Lower Peninsula. The Red Cross made periodic inspections of the camps to ensure that the POWs had decent living conditions and were being treated fairly. Escape attempts were few and no German POW from Michigan is known to have made a complete escape from one of the camps.

German POW Camp Pori

A lot of the German POW camps in Michigan were formerly CCC camps and filled mainly with Germans that were forced into service in Hitler’s army that fought in Africa. Therefore, they were not thought of as too terribly dangerous and were brought here to work at various camps. Of course there were some SS soldiers that were definitely in the Nazi category and locals usually steered clear of them. These camps were not forced labor camps, in fact, the POWs liked being able to go out and do something, plus the ones cutting pulpwood in Michigan’s U.P. were paid $.80 per day. The work the German POWs performed was in areas where there were shortages of labor due to the war effort.

After the war ended the German POWs were sent back to Germany. Many of the prisoners would have liked to have remained here, but due to regulations they had to return to their home country. The German POW camps in Michigan were an interesting part of Michigan’s history that I am glad to have found. I still can’t believe it took me so long to hear about all of these POW camps and how they have been buried in our history books.

Nicely done video by students from Allegan High School about the German POW Camp near Allegan:

More information on The Enemy in our Midst:

Viewer’s Guide to the Enemy in Our Midst
POW Camps in the U.P.

Books offering more information on German POW Camps in the United States:

We Were Each Others Prisoners
Nazi Prisoners of War in America
The Barbed-Wire College
The Faustball Tunnel: German POWs in America And Their Great Escape
Guests Behind the Barbed Wire

List of German POW Camps in Michigan:

• Camp Allegan
• Camp AuTrain
• Barryton, Mecosta County, MI
• Benton Harbor, Berrien County, MI
• Blissfield, Lenawee County, MI
• Caro, Tuscola County, MI
• Coloma, Berrien County, MI
• Croswell, Sanilac County, MI
• Fort Custer, Galesburg, MI
• Dundee, Monroe County, MI
• Camp Evelyn – Alger County, MI
• Freeland, Saginaw County, MI
• Fremont, Newaygo County, MI
• Camp Germfask – Germfask, MI
• Grant, Newaygo County, MI
• Grosse Ile Township, Wayne County, MI
• Hart, Oceana County, MI
• Camp Lake Odessa, Ionia County, MI
• Mattawan, Van Buren County, MI
• Mass, Ontonagon County, MI
• Milan (USFR), Monroe and Washtenaw Counties, MI
• Odessa Lakes, Tuscola County, MI
• Camp Owosso – Shiawassee County
• Camp Pori – Upper Peninsula
• Camp Raco – Upper Peninsula near Sault Ste. Marie
• Romulus Army Air Field, Wayne County, MI
• Shelby, Oceana County, MI
• Camp Sidnaw – Sidnaw, MI
• Sparta, Kent County, MI
• Wayne (Fort), Detroit, Wayne County, MI
• Waterloo, Jackson County, MI
• Wetmore, Alger County, MI

With the approach of the 65th anniversary of D-Day and the trouble the auto industry has been facing as of late I was interested in learning more about Detroit’s role in producing the products of war. This post was also inspired by this snippet in the Detroit Free Press.

Quotes about Detroit’s WWII role –
“The hottest town in America” – 1943 article in Variety
“The wonder city of America” – novelist Erskine Caldwell talking about how much Japan and Germany wanted to bomb Detroit.
“A miraculous city, a city forging thunderbolts” – New York Times shortly after U.S. entered WWII.
“Detroit is winning the war” – Josef Stalin reportedly told this to President Franklin D. Roosevelt about three months before Germany surrendered.

Detroit was known as the “arsenal of democracy” after this quote below –

Roosevelt referred to Detroit, Michigan as “the great arsenal of democracy” because of the rapid conversion of much of the Detroit-area automotive industry to produce armaments during World War II.

The Big Three Detroit automakers (and other smaller auto companies) GM, Chrysler, and Ford converted their assembly lines to build the tanks, planes, trucks, and weapons necessary for the war. In February of 1942 domestic auto production was halted in order to concentrate on the war effort. Even Michigan’s Upper Peninsula got in on the action by harvesting timber for over 4,000 gliders built in Kingsford.

Read all about Detroit’s role in producing the weapons and machines necessary for war in this Michigan History Magazine article – “Autos to Armaments.”