ZEPHYRHILLS – Thousands of people attended the Battle for Veterans from Nov. 8 to 11 in Zephyrhills.
The Zephyrhills Museum of Military History held the event at a 25-acre site owned by the City of Zephyrhills at 5200 Airport Road. The museum needed a space that was 12.5 times larger than its grounds.
Hundreds of participants from throughout Florida enjoyed their roles while conducting what was billed as the state’s largest Veterans Day experience.
Several military vehicles of World War II vintage that had been used by Armed Forces of both the United States and Germany were displayed. These included Jeeps, staff cars, half-tracks, tanks and a tank destroyer.
People could also see firearms that had been used by the military during WWII. Handguns, rifles and a machine gun that had been used by members of the Russian military were on display.
Bill Zukauskas, a member of the St. Augustine-based organization, Soviet Weapons of the Great Patriotic War, gave some interesting information about the weapons.
The one garnering the most attention from onlookers was a submachine gun that had been used by a Russian soldier on the war’s Eastern Front. A German soldier gained possession of the weapon after the Russian soldier’s capture. Eventually, an American serviceman on the war’s Western Front secured the submachine gun when the German soldier was captured. That soldier brought it back to the U.S. where it has remained since then.
Two M4AE Sherman tanks at the event were each armed with a 105-millimeter gun. These medium-size tanks were the first the U.S. ever manufactured with this powerful gun inside a fully traversing turret. That heavily armored turret was large enough to accommodate three of the tank’s crewmembers.
Also on display was a M36 Jackson Tank, which was designed to ambush and destroy German Panther tanks from a safe distance.
Several participants fired handguns, rifles and submachine guns loaded with blanks as the crowds looked on. The tanks fired several rounds of blanks while reenacting part of a battle.
The noise was so great that it caused several people living nearby who weren’t aware of the event to call the Zephyrhills Police Department
Plans are in the works, according to a museum spokesperson, for another Battle for Veterans in 2025.
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INFOBOX: Event presents awards
Two awards were granted during this year’s Battle for Veterans event.
- Grenadier-Regiment 211 – Florida Reenacted was honored for having the Best Living History Display. That group is for representation of the 71st Infantry Division, 211th Grenadier Regiment of the German Army during WWII.
- A 1942 Humbler Light Reconnaissance Car, owned by Verne Jenkinson, was recognized as the Best Vehicle. The vehicle, also known as a Humberette or Ironside, was a British armored car produced during WWII.
