Vietnam Buffs Bring Jungle to Va.

Hubble said the family always told him their sons were busy. This remark would be followed by laughter and chatter in Vietnamese. "They were probably thinking, 'What a weirdo,' " Hubble said. "But I just wanted things to be more authentic."

The enemy ranks included his only child, Meagan, a quiet 15-year-old who said she considered this quality time with her dad, and a University of Delaware history major who was as interested in Vietnamese culture as in the war.

The newest recruit was Caitlin Parker, a soft-spoken New Yorker.

Parker started looking into reenacting after she heard someone making fun of the participants. She was offended. Her father, whom she described as a sensitive intellectual, served in Vietnam as a Marine. He mentions the war occasionally, but she has never probed further, assuming the subject was taboo.

"This is kind of a way to understand him better," said Parker, 29, a producer for an audiobook company. "Maybe this will open up a conversation."

Hubble, the first person to e-mail her back, was so encouraging and empathetic that Parker decided to come for a weekend with her boyfriend, David Markowitz. They would be Viet Cong recruits to beef up the enemy forces.

The pair were among the last to arrive, driving up in a cranberry Subaru wagon, their hammocks stuffed in a Whole Foods Market grocery bag. On the way down, they worried about whether they would fit in. Neither had ever fired a gun.

In the Heat of Battle

Loud booms echoed out of the trees. Vietnamese fighters took aim at two men from Gouge's squad; the Americans fell to the ground. Gouge flopped onto his belly, firing back.

It was the second day of reenactment weekend, and Parker, crouching behind a pile of sandbags, was still rattled from the previous night's fiery battle. She knew everyone was firing blanks, but she couldn't get over how real the scenario seemed. She wondered whether her father felt this way.

After a burst of gunfire, one of her comrades collapsed. Another popped up from behind the sandbags.

"You, you in the bunker!" Gouge shouted. "You're down."

Seconds later, the man resurfaced.