World War II 80th Anniversary Weekend

Name: World War II 80th Anniversary Weekend
Start: 2025-08-23T09:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-08-24T17:00:00-04:00
Location: 6125 Boydton Plank Rd, Petersburg, VA, United States, Virginia 23803

Schedule

Sat, 23 Aug, 2025 at 09:00 am to Sun, 24 Aug, 2025 at 05:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

6125 Boydton Plank Rd, Petersburg, VA, United States, Virginia 23803 | Petersburg, VA

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.
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.
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.”
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.”
All event activities and programs are included with regular daily paid admission.