NOW Impressionators WAS Re: [MV] Aberdeen- Convoy-for sale stuff and shopping list

From: Ron (rojoha@adelphia.net)
Date: Sat May 07 2005 - 14:31:06 PDT


    Yep, it's best that the Viet Nam Impressionators die out instead of
letting wannabes not be 100% correct while they come up to speed. Best to
not have someone willing to at least try to help preserve SOME of the
history than have it incorrectly portrayed to a public that couldn't even
find Viet Nam on map, let alone notice if that big green truck over there
has the correct exhaust stack. Then they would yell "FAKE!!!". Wouldn't want
that to happen, right?

    But wait, how correct is it for some one who was born after, say 1957
trying to pull off a Viet Nam 'impression'? Or worse yet a WWII
'impression', with cloth made in 1999 from the closest fabric weave that
could be found to ALMOST match authentic 1942 manufactured cloth? How about
the canvas on your truck there, Bucko? Same weave, weight and preservatives
as used back in 1968? Got black oxidized grommets or brass? Are you SURE
your tie down rope smells right? How about that rifle your carrying there,
pardner? Full auto M16, dated 1967 or earlier, Colt marked, REAL, not repro,
right?
    Don't want any Viet Nam vets to come up and say, "Geezze Man, this takes
me back to '66'. I used to drive a truck IDENTICAL to this one." And then he
climbs in and sees your '68' marked data plate and jump out screaming
"FAKER" at you because you used the wrong screws or because you got a heater
mounted in your 36 year old truck that was in it when you got it from the
DRMO because it was turned in by the Iowa National Guard, which anyone would
know was not in the RVN.
    Got a flash for ya sport. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN! These Guys are just
THRILLED that anyone NOW even recognizes what they did THEN! How many M35
owners have had WWII vets come up and say to their 50 or 60 year old son,"
This is the TYPE of truck we used to ride in during the war." I sure as
hell am not gonna correct him!
    I've been asked to take part in the LST 325 visit to Boston at the USS
Constitution next month. To drive one of several driverless WWII vehicles
down and back. We've been asked to wear period correct uniforms by the NPS,
if possible, or as close as possible. But because of the lack of "authentic"
uniform items at a reasonable price, and the anal retentives you run into at
these events, I'll probably just wear jeans or a mustard colored set of
Dickies work clothes. It's that or the "PUBLIC", and especially their
children, misses out on seeing another WWII vehicle sitting on the pier next
to the LST. As close as any of them are EVER going to come to the feel of
the docks in England on May 29, 1944.
    Best to not even try, because of the FARBEs out there, just can't wait
to crap in a fellow HMV collector's rice bowl, showing they ARE superior to
you, eh?
    CRAP!!!!! Guys, DON'T let them do this to the hobby! We are trying our
best to keep these valiant old veterans out the CHICOM smelters. And in this
case, 'Close Enough' is better than pointing at your Wal Mart lawn mower and
saying " That mower deck probably contains metal from Viet Nam era M38A1s,
M715s and M35s! We could probably paint a VN Service Ribbon on her."
    Ever notice the re enactors either don't, or can't, own an HMV for one
reason or another? We all compliment each others hobbies....

    Oooooppppppss, timer on my soap box meter says I gotta give someone else
a chance....

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tactical Truck Info" <info@tacticaltruck.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: 07 May, 2005 08:13
Subject: Re: [MV] Aberdeen- Convoy-for sale stuff and shopping list

>
>> I had two deuce and a halfs in VietNam with the 427-1
>> with turbo on them.
>>
>> Sonny
>
> Sonny, your memory serves you better than mine, I always
> forget about the short lived M35A1. Out of the hundreds of
> M44 series trucks I've seen, I can remember two M35A1s.
> They had the exhaust out between the rear tandem. It's a
> pet peeve of mine that people will spend alot of time
> getting their Vietnam impression as acurate as possible
> then blow it when they pull up in their turbo stack M35A2.
> Anyone ever seen a picture of a deuce and a half w/ a turbo
> stack exhaust in Vietnam? I saw one late war picture at the
> National Archives of a M35A2 that had the expanded metal
> stone shied on the grill. The exhaust was not visible in
> the photograph but, with that grill, it could have had a
> turbo/stack exhaust. It was being strapped down to a boat
> and appeared to be a South Vietnamese truck.
> Jeff
>
>
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