O.D. NEWS. The Newsletter of the Military Vehicle Collectors of Colorado A Founding Chapter of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association

Transcription

1 O.D. NEWS The Newsletter of the Military Vehicle Collectors of Colorado A Founding Chapter of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association Volume 36 Issue No. 1 1st Qtr 2017 St. Patrick s Denver Parade Amy Barnes driver, Emma Barnes co-driver Star Spangled Duce 1

2 From the command post Denver St Patrick s Parade 2017 a MVCC tradition Roll call at Brooklyn s for our after action report was well attended: Brendan & Emer Johnson, Cathy Raush, et al M35A2 Amy, Danae & Clio Johnson, et al M35A2C Amy, Emma, Randy & Alexander Barnes plus Robert, Austin, Etnan & Eniko Gahan M35A2C Mike & Michael Herbertson with M816 5-ton wrecker Michael Meier & Pumpkin Power M35A2 Phil & Jennifer Movish Steyr Pinzgauer M710 Glade Hill & Ray Web M1078 LMTV light utility vehicle made by Oskosh, second cousin to a Steyr 12M18 Ben & Will Weiskopf USMC MK48/14, another Oskosh Phil & Samantha Curry M936A2 5-ton wrecker the steal Peter & Jill Czarnowski M923 Large Marge 5-ton cargo Lew Ladwig 1945 Ford GPW Frank Scholer Grim Reaper M35 Guntruck Kathy & Chris Raasch M1010 CUCV ambulance 2

3 Vice president s dispatch MVCC OP Order May 29 th the 53 rd Annual Commerce City Memorial Day Parade All participants must prominently display patriotic style decorations. We expect to see Amy Barnes and her Star Spangled Duce. The CIC will provide further details. Participants will mess in mass after the parade. Ft. Collins, CO Veteran s Plaza the Vietnam Traveling Wall will be on display May 25th 29 th. Volunteers to assemble and disassemble the wall are requested. Crumbs from our last MVCC meeting we are polling the members you for activities you would like to be involved in or the club should be involved in or you would enjoy if someone else was doing it or you think would be a good idea because you have seen some other group do it. Suggestions will be anonymous since most people talk in pronouns anyway he, she, them, it, they, etc. s, telephone calls, letters, insults and threats all will be considered and published. Lew Ludwig announce the existence of his Flat Fender (Jeep) Club; any Jeep not to include Ernie Covington s M38A1, will be welcomed. Next MVCC meeting will be May 5 th depending on earthquake predictions 3

4 Chain of command phil curry s nose, phil Movish, Jennifer Movish, Lew Ladwig - the command table Samantha and Phil Curry 4

5 from the editor: Lets see what is our OD News going to look like. I am not going to solicit articles from the membership I believe the expression is a snowball s chance in hell of filling a quarterly newsletter with CCMV contributions. I do thank Lew Ludwig for his contribution on GPW Jeep radiator repair this is very much the type of material that should be passed on to MVCC members. Since you all know my technical expertise no, it is not running yet Covington I will not personally be doing any tech articles. I do intend to chase some of our not often seen brethren out of their dark corners with a series of features Far Flung MVCC Members ; I will be taking nominations & suggestions for this honor. Another area I feel confident to explore is Military Machines in Our Midst Colorado museums and groups that have material to contribute to the appreciation and understanding of our hobby. There is history out there and you do not have to go to Kansas City (WWI) or New Orleans (WWII). I have a beginning list of local museums and if you have some suggestions then I will have a longer list. Phil Movish indirectly suggested the third source of articles MVCC Stars of the Silver Screen when he mentioned seeing Russ Morgan and Weasel in a 10 th Mountain Div. Oliver North production. Then I remembered that Frank Scholer has played the grizzled German on screen as well as off screen. Ask Frank about his stunt credits with Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing and the flaming Datsun episode. Since I did not mention a Commander s Corner I won t. Phil did suggest I include space for new brethren and new machines, old brethren and new machines, and a general rogue s gallery of things MVCC. If you peruse the St. Patrick s Parade Gallery 2017 you will see a number of nonbrethren looking members/drivers so I need a word for female brethren - suggestions? We used to have a WWII bicycle troupe of MVCC women in the St. Patrick s Parade, The WOW Gang (WOW for Women Ordinance Workers). 5

6 st. patrick s day parade 2017 Bill and Will Weiskopf finally arrived at Brooklyn s after a minor (?) breakdown. Us Army guys speak a little Oskosh but not USMC MK 48/14 so it is good that the brothers prevailed on their own. Capt.Jill and Maj.Peter Czarnowski arrived in Large Marge a 2000 M953 5-ton 6

7 Frank Scholer definitely owes me a photo essay on building his M35 Grim Reaper Vietnam Guntruck. The truck is a tribute to the 4 th ID 44 th ST. This is Frank s second outing with his new toy. The Johnson gang is at least easy to identify even if I can t see the 1968 M35A2C that Amy is driving. Danae Johnson is the co-driver. 7

8 Happiness is a M1009 CUCV Ambulance. There are many positive things about a non tactical OD vehicle: seats, suspension, climate control that doesn t equal the outside climate and adequate power. Chris and Kathy Raasch seem happy with it. Eleven years of love, Lew Ladwig s ground up restoration of his 1945 Ford GPW. I even remember seeing it naked at the 2 nd 1940 s Ball in

9 Odd Bits Crissie Allan taking apart a Jeep L134 engine. Ernie Covington s first problem this is a M38A1 Jeep with a civilian L head motor. Crissie is a high school senior who needed a community service project, MVCC qualified as a non-profit organization. Some story about Crissie needing a tank for her senior photo, connecting with Russ Morgan, meeting the MVCC at Lew Ludwig s cookout, and ending up working on Ernie Covington s M38A1. 9

10 classifieds 10

11 classifieds Russ Morgan has some NOS HUMMVEE attachments. They are a Green Vinyl tent extension from the back of a HUMMVEE to a regular tent. Called a Boot wall Tent. NOS in box. $50 each. morganru@oneimage.com FOB Loveland Air Force NP-2 mobile utility lighting system. Has working elevator and the original 33v vapor lights, and booster coils all work. All gauges and controls work. Last used in 92 - $600. Daryl Back (970) eurodirt@icloud.com Jay Bennett has a (1) working tested complete PRC77 Backpack radio set along with the D cell battery adapter (2) correct real USGI Vietnam helmet and cover (3) USGI Map of an area in Vietnam and case (4) mint 1970 Dated M72 Law rocket launcher. I d like to sell them as a set, $ cash. carolinamilv@gmail.com Jay Bennett is seeking a Correct original WW2 Willys MB for sale in the club Mike Langiano seeks Just picked up a XM501 Hawk Missile Carrier and I m on the hunt for parts. Need track, a drivers seat, some trim panels, and a dashboard for it. I would be interested in anything else thats laying around too Tractorfixing@gmail.com NEXT MVCC MEETING 5 MAY Depending on earthquake predictions 11

12 Classifieds Frank Scholer has for sale M2 50cal equilibrator gun mount, model with ammo tray. Fresh rebuild, new locking pins and chains. Ready to drop into your post or other style mount. $ Ernie Covington is selling his soul for a running M38A1 mechanicing doesn t work. Also for sale NOS Heater Kit for M151 MUTT - this kit can be adapted to the M37- $175. MUTT Windshield, used, complete glass $40. NOS Gas Heater for M43 ambulance this is the compartment heater $125. Rear Axel for pre M38A1 Jeep, seems OK free. M38 Leaf Spring - free egalecov2@q.com 12

13 Far Flung MVCC Members I was going to begin my series Far Flung MVCC Members, those Colorado MVPA members we know are out there but hardly ever see, with an interview with Don Chew. I met Don in Don and I had both volunteered to be part of the 2009 MVPA reenactment of the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Train/ Motor Transport Convoy. I wandered out to his house/truck yard/barn in Brighton, CO.; interesting vanity street sign Harrington Way. Sometime in our initial conversation I mentioned a WWI FWD that someone in MVPA owned as award winning I am building an award winning FWD! was Don s reply. Don tended to speak in absolutes, which I later found he was certainly entitled to he knew trucks and he was hard of hearing. So lets visit Don s FWD I believe this was a 1919 FWD (Four Wheel Drive Auto Co., Clintonville, WIS) Model B 3-ton tractor. Don had been gathering pieces for 7-8 years and actually had enough pieces for a second tractor (trucks that hauled trailers were tractors and the combination tractor trailer was a train). As used in the 1919 Convoy the FWD was more of a recovery vehicle than a tractor. Don completed his FWD in time for the Reenactment Convoy and it did travel from Washington DC to San Francisco CA. Don and his wife Doreen and the FWD all traveled in Don s lowboy trailer. Can you really imagine 3,239 miles, in an open cab, solid rubber tires, and six miles an hour (average 1919 convoy speed). Oh, and the Lincoln Highway between the Mississippi River and California was nothing but bad road. What else was in Don s barn Don collected big trucks, historic rigs, and lots of smaller trucks. The stars of his incidental collection of OD trucks were the FWD and an FWD machine shop trailer (this was in someone s field and they offered it to Don on the Convoy), one M26 Heavy Tank Transporter Dragon Wagon, and a GMC CCKW that had seen service on the Red Ball Express WWII. Don was this guy from New Jersey who found happiness driving and mechanicing trucks before he had a driver s license. He joined the Army between the wars and there is another tale how he evolved from the normal 13

14 Interview with Don ChEW morass of Army job classification to aviation mechanic. You didn t join the Army to become something in the 1950 s, you joined the Army and oozed into something or were infantry. Don s after the Army job was with Flying Tiger Line; he established maintenance facilities as the airline established cargo routes across the Pacific Ocean. There are many good tales from Don s Flying Tiger s days including a piece of the Amelia Earhart mystery. Then he retired to what I found him doing restoring, writing about, selling and buying big trucks and being the go to guy on the subject of Marmon-Herrington trucks. Don was 81 when he died last month, March 27 th 2017; so I never did this interview. I have known Don since 2008, visited his collection, talked, listened, and I will miss this gruff, intelligent, smart, purveyor of truck history. These are some of Don s OD icons when they were young. Don s Dragon Wagon was in civilian paint but still one of those vehicles you want to address as sir. 14

15 Interview with Don ChEW FWD as a WWI ammunition carrier with Doughboy endorsement. F.W.D. outfitted with a PTO powered machine shop. This is what Don s F.W.D. trailer would have looked like restored. The sides and bows have been removed for this publicity picture. 15