Every where you go is a car show...

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
Mark Jesic
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Re: Every where you go is a car show...

Post by Mark Jesic » Thu Jun 15, 2017 12:32 pm

How many times at an event have people came up to you and your pristine jeep and said "was this one of those jeeps found in a crate ?" Yes even here in England. At one show a really old guy came up to me and started telling me what he done in the war. He wanted to sit in a jeep again for old times sake but said he "was too old to climb in". I picked this hero up and placed him in my jeep. He then burst into tears as the memories must have flooded back to him. I told him to take as much time as he wanted, and kept people away from the jeep, while he had his deserved moment. I helped him out, and he thanked me, i then thanked him for what he had done for us all. Priceless moments. :)


Old Dodge Guy
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Re: Every where you go is a car show...

Post by Old Dodge Guy » Thu Jun 15, 2017 5:01 pm

Lee Bishop wrote: That moment alone has made all the stress, cost and problems with owning a WW2 Jeep worth it.
Lee, many of us have had THAT moment.......it is always humbling. It always makes all the other irritations and gripes fly away.
I have had the grace of God to have had two of these. One involving an original Flying Tiger, the other a Free French underground fighter. Both humbling beyond belief. Maybe someday I'll write them up, too heart wrenching tonight for some reason. :cry: Must be too tired and hot. :roll:
Thank you for sharing the story.

Like I said, these events make it all worth it, from the drooling morons to the tearful vets, those stories make the hobby worthwhile.
Still crazy after all these years.
The OD bug bit me in 1970......and I have never been the same

42swing
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Re: Every where you go is a car show...

Post by 42swing » Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:54 am

One of the very great pleasures I have each year at WWII Weekend in Reading, PA, is to drive vets around the venue. The area is huge and most can't hope to get around it. Since I'm attached to the Home Front, I have more freedom to get around so I'll get a call from the main hanger that a vet wants a ride. This year it was a motor pool mechanic that was based in the UK (and was wanting to see a Weasel) and his "Rosie" wife, plus a Navy Ensign based on a ship in the Aleutians, and a B-17 pilot. What extraordinary people, and what stories they have to tell.

I have a small box to help them climb in, but none have wanted it yet. They all just seem invigorated by the surroundings and jump into the seats like they were teenagers again. The Navy Ensign and his wife were pretty fair dancers at the swing dance that night. In previous years I've had an Iwo vet and one from CBI.

This is what it's all about...
Malvern, PA
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car

Mark Jesic
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Re: Every where you go is a car show...

Post by Mark Jesic » Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:29 am

Reading all this has really whetted my appetite for a show this coming Sunday in Badsey, Worcestershire. Apparently there will be 40 plus jeeps attending (including mine) and a couple of Shermans. I hope we get some vets turn up, i could listen to them all day. I will try and post some pics next week. Seeing Old Dodge Guys reply about a French Resistance fighter reminds me of my Dad. He was the same but never told any of us what he had done, not even my Mother. Two weeks after he died, a very old gentleman knocked my Mothers door, and handed her a piece of paper saying "Thats what your Husband did in the war" and walked away crying. Dad was a hero and we never even knew. One day i will tell his story on here. All i will say for now is he was a far better, braver man than me.

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Lee Bishop
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Re: Every where you go is a car show...

Post by Lee Bishop » Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:44 pm

I had a decent experience at the Olympia WA airshow. We had over half a dozen WW2 vehicles including a 1941 Ford GP
My '44 MB is the first one in line with the top up and the invasion star on the hood.
Image
We got rained on Sunday morning as we huddled in our M41 jackets, then baked in the afternoon heat.
But still, worth it.
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former US Army Captain and REMF :mrgreen:


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