College of Education student brings WWII alive during re-enactment in France

The piercing sound jolted Alexander Kauffman awake.

His surroundings were unfamiliar. His skin was cold. His eyes were heavy.

The bugle horn tore through the crisp dawn air as a group of soldiers felt the pull of slumber slip away.

The third-year Penn State College of Education student had a long way to trek that day in the French countryside — and he knew what he was in for.

The uniforms, vehicles, and weapons gave the illusion of a world at war, although World War II ended 79 years ago. 

This was not an ordinary morning for Alexander, a secondary education social studies major. He was in Normandy, France as part of one of the world’s largest World War II re-enactments.

Kauffman’s passion for World War II history led him to participate in “Cobra to Lüttich: From Avranches to Mortain." The Second Armored in Europe, a war reenactment company, puts on this event. 

In the summer of 2024, he spent 10  days retracing the steps of American soldiers, camping, eating and marching just as they did during the 1940s. Kauffman joined around 200 re-enactors from across the world. 

Kauffman had multiple great-grandparents serve in the war. His great-grandfather fought in the Pacific and had medals displayed on the wall of his home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

One of Kauffman’s most cherished possessions is a religious medallion that his great-grandfather carried during the war. Kauffman carried it with him during the 10-day re-enactment. 

He hopes to use these experiences to teach his future students about history in the most accurate way possible. 

After all, teaching runs in the family. Kauffman’s mother, Rebecca Kauffman, is an elementary music teacher in the Reading School District.

“She wanted me to try something else but I eventually decided I did want to go into teaching. I used to coach football with my dad, youth football. And I was like, wow. I actually really, really do like interacting with the kids,” Kauffman said.

Once he discovered his love for history, he saw a career where he could pass that along to his students.

“One of my history teachers in high school actually came into class dressed as a World War I soldier and taught World War I like that,” Kauffman said. “I could talk to people about history and actually see the excitement on their faces. Their faces light up when I would tell them about something interesting.”

That passion brought Kauffman back to a foreign land where he trekked along with his fellow re-enactors.

Each day, they woke up at 5 a.m. to the sound of the bugle and ate meals out of cans. They even slept wherever they could.

The group covered around 50 miles daily, traveling in half-tracks, just as the armored infantry would have done.

“During the event when we re-enact the battles, we try to be as authentic as possible,” Kauffman explained. “Tanks were there, and they had pyro, sticks of dynamite planted to the ground so it looked like artillery was going off. Planes flew overhead. It was wicked.”

After 10 days, Kauffman left France with a deeper understanding of what those soldiers truly experienced. As a future educator, he hopes to help others see World War II not just as a romanticized chapter in a textbook, but as a historical event full of sacrifice and bravery.

“We can never truly understand what they went through, but this is the closest I can get,” he said.