G'day Chris,
Although I'm not in the US, I think you have a great idea. Perhaps never
more than now is some cohesive effort required to keep your vehicles and
ownership intact, for the sake of both history and the hobby. A fund-raising
drive with big banners (not tacky-looking banners that look as if they were
painted in the garage five minutes before the event) but good, accurate,
informative and above all _friendly_ signs to bedeck the vehicles and
getting onto the evening news for helping victims, sick kids and the like.
Something _extra_ to augment that annual Veteran's Parade or HMV display,
to show that these vehicles are used for benevolent purposes all year
round.
With the passing of the SME Bill, I strongly offer the suggestion that
owners should prefix the "H" onto MV to give "_Historic_ Military Vehicle"
rather than just "Military Vehicle". I would even suggest the MVPA to
become the HMVPA. Perhaps it's this lack of distinction in the public's
mind between a 60 year old jeep and a state-of-the-art missile launcher...
after all, they're both green, and that's perceived as "dangerous" - a case
of guilt by association. When I read this suggestion on the list some
time ago about the Historic prefix, it really dawned on me that this is
exactly right.
It may be stereotyping, but the public would respond and "warm" to seeing
an HMV in a context they know. An MB/GPW with a banner of something relating
to a _well-known_ WW2 happenstance eg. D-Day, Betty Grable, even Hitler,
provides a faint connection in Joe Public's mind. Evoking imagery of John
Wayne, Saving Private Ryan, Kelly's Heroes and other post-war views could
trigger a smile or reinforce a feeling of determination. For later vehicles,
some well-known placenames or battles in Vietnam. ...Anything, as long as
it doesn't give the public the impression of the Here and Now, ie. "we're
still active and dangerous". That's a job for the military :)
Steve Malikoff.
steven@phaedra.apana.org.au
On Sat, Oct 13, 2001 at 05:52:03PM +0000, C C wrote:
> With possible legislation pending that could have serious consequences on
> our hobby, I think that this would be a good time to consider attracting
> positive attention toward MV's and MV collectors.
>
> How about raising money for the Red Cross?
>
> Park a row of MV's down both sides of the street leading up to a traffic
> light and put up MVPA banners on the vehicles. Then walk among the cars
> stopped at the traffic light with buckets that have an MVPA logo on them to
> collect money to give to the Red Cross.
>
> I'm in West Central Iowa. If there's anyone around here that would like to
> participate, I'd be more than happy to help organize the event.
>
> Also, this should not be a "one-time" event, but should be done several
> weekends in a row at different places. Hopefully at intersections where
> "politically connected" individuals are like to see you.
>
> I'm also sending a CC of this to Mike Eaton of the Iowa MVPA chapter so that
> we can get in touch and possibly do something in the Des Moines area.
>
> Chris
> M52A2 x 2
> M447C
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 07 2001 - 00:36:25 PST