I sometimes wonder what re-enactors are all about. This story tries to communicate that and strikes an archaic religious theme.

* Reenactors say people should come to these events to pay their respects to the people who fought and died for what they believed in.

* "To reflect on our heritage and legacy that was once given to us by our ancestors."

* "Parents need to pass it on to their kids, because it is their life."

The statement that resonates the most from this report is, "We are trying to rejuvenate memories of our ancestors."

That's something right out of Mircea Eliade: "In religious worship, the point of the liturgy and ritual is to reenact the myth in such a way that it becomes part of the worshippers' current experience." "Humanity apprehends 'hierophanies' -- physical manifestations or revelations of the sacred" through re-enactments.

When the re-enactor says "because the history books cannot put everything in the books" he is right ... and Eliade is smiling upon him.