Gavin Lindahl

For as long as I could remember, I've always been drawn to military history. Having Fort Niagara literally down the street from my house helped fuel that interest.

Fort Niagara was held by the British during the American War of Independence, so the redcoats, not the continentals, became my hometown team. They became my favorite thing to learn about, I read my first scholarly book on redcoats in fifth grade, and since then, several more have been read (some many times over).

In 2012, I finally did something I've always wanted to do and became an AWI reenactor. Two years later, I was hired onto the fort's interpretation staff. As my boss puts it, "you're our best Brit guy." I spend my summers at Fort Niagara clad in a red coat, shooting muskets and cannons, and striving to teach people about America's 18th century wars - especially about the common soldier who travelled far from home to fight them.