g741.org

Remember it like It was My First Peace of well never mind that part , it's been A bout 3 pluss years and I love it The local V.F.W. # 2580 has Always Asked If I Would Drive The Oldder Guy's Around In The Local Shows / Parades , Got Real Lucky on mine Found it On OldRide.com Down in New Bruffels TX The War began With E-mails For About 4 Weeks and after That I flew Out Of Chicago to San Antonio after working the Grave Yard Shift all week And A Short Cab Ride And A look See And Some Cash In Hand , And had it Transported Back home And The Truck Driver Was So Happy To Quote Get Rid Of it Because of all the Horn honking All the way up And it was Such A P.I.T.A. To Start and I open The Hood And Switch The # 2 and #3 Plug wire Around And Drove It Right Off The Trailer And Home Boy Was That Guy Pizz Off He Said He Had a Hell Of A Time With It , I Sure Got Lucky With Mine. You Can Check My Photo Albm Out If You Wish! Good Luck! To All Who Own Or Have Own One Of These Fine Work Horses !

Lifer wrote:Actually, my doctors have had more of a say in that decision than she has, but yeah...she's happy with it.

HOPE ALL GOES WELL FOR YOU ! RICHEY DALEY ! STILL LOVES YOU ! The Bass terd

When I posted that I had finally acquired the M-37, John Woerheide sent me an e-mail saying: "CONGRATULATIONS, I'm jealous, and I bet you will walk around it a million times tonight."

It got me thinking, and you know, he was right...

This is dedicated to all of us who salvage old war-horses, and, in the process, recover a bit of the glorious past...

"First Night."

by William R. Benson

The recovery vehicle had disappeared down the road in a cloud of diesel
exhaust and the grin of the buddy who loaned its services. The neighbors,
who had come out to gawk at this new "thing" had bid their "good-nights"
and headed inside to eat dinner, watch "Jeopardy", or put the kids to bed.

The day faded into night, and the world filled with the serene silence that lay like a comforting blanket over all.

It sat there, a shape in the darkness, illuminated by only the light
spilling off of the porch. Even in its dilapidated shape, it commanded
respect, like an old soldier trying to straighten to the position of
attention for the flag he fought for so long ago. The newer vehicles
around it seemed to bow to its presence, as if understanding that they
served a daily and useful purpose, but that this newcomer would perform a more noble deed.

I looked at this tired old survivor, and didn't think of the many hours it
would take to get it up and running. I'd do that tomorrow.

Not tonight...

Tonight was a night to rest. It was a night for me to shed all of the
feelings of anxiety and worry. A night for me to take a deep breath and
accept that this old war-horse was all mine, with the title in my pocket.

Tonight was a night for the spirit of this vehicle to accept that it was
now in the care of a pair of hands that would treat it with respect, and
maybe even a little love.

It would never sit in a barn, covered in
garbage.

It would never sit in the middle of a field, lonely and rotting
away.

It would never feel the hands of some casual driver who looked at
it as "just another farm truck".

It seemed to breathe a deep sigh of relief, like that of a rescued soul...

Tonight was a night for ghosts...

A time for all those spirits of warriors past to find this vehicle, to invest in it their own stories, stories which would be revealed as I researched this truck's past decades of faithful service...

I watched it for a little while, and then put my hands on the dented hood.

I could feel the energy over the span of time. How many hands had touched this very place. I walked around it, my finger trailing along its fenders, its doors, its sides, its tailgate, all the while wondering at the places it had been, of the men and women it had carried, and of the events it had witnessed.

Here, in the darkness, I could almost see the faces of the young men, dressed out in their combat gear, riding in the back, on their way to meet their destiny, be it the front lines, or simply from the field to the chow hall.

Tomorrow I would begin to restore this diamond in the rough to its youthful livery.

Tomorrow I would work my will upon it.

Tonight, however, I would be still, and let it work its will upon me...

(The author grants permission to duplicate this piece in it's entirety, to include the author's name, for publication in other works dedicated to the recovery, restoration, and preservation of Military Vehicles .Copyright 1999 by the author.)