{"id":72520,"date":"2023-04-20T13:45:39","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T13:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/20\/civil-war-reenactor-goes-off-script-admits-plan-to-bomb-battlefield\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:18:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:18:44","slug":"civil-war-reenactor-goes-off-script-admits-plan-to-bomb-battlefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/04\/20\/civil-war-reenactor-goes-off-script-admits-plan-to-bomb-battlefield\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil War reenactor goes off script, admits plan to bomb battlefield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Virginia man recently confessed to bringing a pipe bomb to a Civil War reenactment, creating a less-than-historic retelling of how an important battle unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerald Leonard Drake, 63, a former Civil War reenactor, was federally charged for mailing threatening letters and planting an explosive device at the Cedar Creek Battlefield in Middletown, Virginia, during a 2017 reenactment event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pleaded guilty April 17 for possession of the unregistered explosive device and for stalking, according to a release<\/a> from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Western District of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis defendant sought to intimidate and harm innocent people, and further, he tried to sow discontent by falsely claiming that the attempted bombing was politically motivated,\u201d U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said in the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\t