Marines re-enact Belleau Wood

Smoke wafted over a soggy field at Inglewood Farm in Bealeton on Tuesday as Marines cautiously made their way through the thigh-high wheat, their 1903 Springfield rifles gleaming in the sun that had broken through the clouds.
The Marine’s target: A group of German machine gunners who were intent on taking out as many members of 4th Marine Brigade as possible.
Confrontations like that actually took place not in Virginia, but in France during World War I during the legendary Battle of Belleau Wood, one of the most storied and pivotal battles in the history of the Marine Corps.
The Marines and eight re-enactors were at the farm to film scenes for a video depicting the iconic battle that will become part of a new World War I exhibit opening at the National Museum of the Marine Corps next spring.
“The battle of Belleau Wood is such an emotional milestone for the Marines. We’ve taken special care to make it as realistic as possible,” said Lin Ezzell, museum director.
Gwenn Adams, who handles publicity for the museum, said the scenery at the farm, located in Fauquier County, looks remarkably like what can be seen near the Marne River in France where the battle took place from June 1- 28, 1918.
“It’s amazing how much this looks like what they charged across, the wood line behind them, the field,” she said.
The Marines, from Quantico, arrived at the farm before daybreak and waited out a huge rainstorm that nearly derailed the day’s filming. While waiting, the Marines donned period   uniforms and some even had   make-up applied in advance of the shoot.
Maj. Kurt Spackman, who is assigned to Marine Corps Recruiting Command at Quantico, portrays a lieutenant in the video.
“We represent a platoon of Marines in the vast array of Marines that were out there during Belleau Wood,” he explained,
Spackman, who has served in Iraq twice, added with a laugh, “I get blown up.”
Becoming serious, Spackman said participating in the re-enactment made him realize “all the sacrifices, all the hardships that those guys went through to actually come out victorious, to create the legacy of the Marine Corps.”
Cpl. Corey Roundtree of Quantico Motor Transport portrayed one of the heroes of the battle.
“I’m the first one in the German trenches,” he said. “I take care of the German machine gun in the trenches. I don’t know if I survive.”
Roundtree said the experience of re-enacting the battle also made it more “real” to him.
“We’re just acting and we’re tired. They went through days of this, real war, really getting shot at and blown up. It kind of puts a serious aspect in your mind. If it wasn’t for them, we might not be here today,” he said.
Unlike the other exhibits at the museum, the World War I exhibit will tell the story of the battle of Belleau Wood from the German point of view, instead of from the   Marine’s point of view.
“You can experience the awe the Germans felt in seeing those Devil Dogs continue to charge, knowing they were outnumbered and outgunned,” Adams said. “They kept charging. They didn’t stop.”
The film, shot by a crew with Batwin & Robin Productions, will be broken into two separate videos that will run about 90 seconds each.
For more information on the National Museum of the Marine Corps, visit its Web site at usmcmuseum.org.