Doug Slagel: Bulldozers to Battlefields
Doug Slagel has worked for three construction companies (one twice) from 1986 to today, driving bulldozers and track hoes (excavators). He has worked on 25A, SR 35, I-670, Springhill Nursery, the Meijer Distribution Center, Abbott Nutrition, and many other sites. Doug says, “I’ve moved dirt in five states. I live and breathe construction and have often worked 10-12 hours a day for 6-7 days per week.”
Hard work came naturally to Doug, who was born into a Sidney family that owned a landscaping business. From age 14 onward, Doug says he helped pay family expenses by working at least 40 hours a week. When I asked him how he learned to run a bulldozer, he laughed and remarked, “You might say I was born doing it.”
Doug spent 12 years in Sidney catholic schools, graduating from Lehman Catholic High School. Mike Borhorst, who was the High School Principal at the time, is now one of Doug’s best friends and is presently the mayor of Sidney. After graduating, Doug earned a degree in landscaping from Clark State and applied his knowledge when he began work in 1986 for Miller Bros. Construction, a heavy construction company. Now, after 39 years of “moving dirt,” 13 years on the Park Board, and four years on the City Council, he says, “I’m burned out,” and is retiring in three months. Although his most recent employer said he can come back and work whenever he wants to.
But Doug hasn’t spent all his time on a bulldozer. He met his future wife, Julie, 36 years ago, at about the same time Ken Burns began making films about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWII, etc., which Doug followed. Then Julie bought him some Civil War books, and Doug says he was caught, “hook, line and sinker.” Thus began his journey into 32 years of Civil War reenactment and 24 years of WWII reenactment. This involved him and his fellow reenactors dressing in authentic or replica soldier uniforms and reenacting parts of famous battles, such as the Civil War battles of Manassas, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Antietam, and the WWII Battle of the Bulge (his favorite battle). Now, Doug not only participates in reenactment battles but also runs, or helps run them, which involves overseeing the event, ensuring people receive their parts, verifying the units are in the correct positions, and coordinating everything to ensure it runs smoothly. He has entertained 100,000 spectators using over 20,000 reenactors at single events.
Doug and his crew of reenactors were in the movie “Gods and Generals” with Jeff Daniels. For the 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, he and Julie spent time on the Normandy beaches, visited the War Room in Windsor Castle, then took the Chunnel to Paris and ate in the Eiffel Tower.
Besides battle reenactment, Doug is a U.S Civil War and WWII memorabilia collector, with a basement full of over 1,000 related books, hundreds of miniature soldiers in combat uniforms, and battle equipment such as horses, jeeps, tanks, long guns, combat planes, and battle ships, many of which consist of 2,000 pieces or more, which he assembled using glue and model paint. Doug has also collected war relics, including a German Luger, an M1 Carbine, a German dagger, a Luftwaffe saber, a WWII 1943 Ford jeep, and many, many more.
Once he retires, Doug says, “I’m going to be busier than when I worked.” He’ll be leading tours and teaching history at the Air Force Museum, perhaps wearing a WWII uniform and focusing on “the greatest generation” who fought and won WWII, while also teaching history at other locations and continuing some reenactments. He recently built a radio-controlled model airplane, which he plans to fly in a park near Piqua, as a member of the Upper Valley Fun Flyers (UVFF).
“I’m a workaholic,” he told me. If possible, he might be busier.
