Westborough Man Aims For Patriots Win

The highly anticipated rematch between the Patriots and the New York Giants in this year’s Super Bowl has all of New England fired up.

But there is one Westborough resident who has supported the team all season long in a unique way. For every home game, Bill Gundling dons revolutionary-era clothing, picks up his musket and gunpowder and heads to Gillette Stadium to honor his team, the New England Patriots. Gundling is a member of an elite corps of volunteers known as the End Zone Militia.

If you’ve watched a Patriots home game, you’ve no doubt seen and heard the End Zone Militia. Every time the Patriots take home field, ten of the uniformed militiamen are standing at attention at each end zone for the entire game. As the Patriots enter the stadium, they fire a salute. They reload their muskets in preparation and fire a salute again at every score. When the Patriots win, they fire a congratulatory volley.

We’ve come to expect it, to celebrate victories with them, and to view these faithful volunteers as unofficial symbols of our championship team.

So who are these “other” patriots known as the End Zone Militia? The End Zone Militia are all historical war re-enactors, and all are volunteers. They hail from all parts of New England and represent a wide variety of occupations. All have an interest in preserving the historical context of our country, and all participate in other reenactments as well, such as the Battle of Lexington and the Boston Massacre. 

Each member of the End Zone Militia has to supply their own historically accurate uniform, musket, powder and cartridges. Since 1998, they’ve been part of the New England sports scene, and today they represent New England in charity events, parades and other civic events. 

Gundling, who is a member of the Lexington Minutemen, has been part of the End Zone Militia since 2002. He is also Co-Chairman of the and is employed locally as an engineer.

One other thing every Militiaman has in common is that they’re all big football fans. Bill said it’s pretty exciting down on the field, as one might imagine. “With 68,000 screaming fans, it can get pretty noisy. But we get a close up view of the game, standing there in the end zone.” 

He said his most memorable moment was the game now known as the Snow Bowl of 2003, when the Patriots played the Miami Dolphins for the AFC East title. “We’d just gotten two feet of snow,” he said, “and it was way below freezing. It was the fourth quarter and Miami was ahead, when suddenly Tedy Bruschi intercepted the ball and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. It was the play that turned the game around, and the fans just started picking up snow and throwing it in celebration.” Gundling said it was an unbelievable moment.

Perhaps we’ll have another game to remember in this year’s Super Bowl. All of New England stands behind the Patriots in hoping for a very different outcome in this rematch. As Gundling might say as he shoulders his musket, “It’s payback time!”

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