Convoy on the Air Part 2

[electricflyer]

More photos of the military vehicles. Note one of the licenses was for a camper and then a photo of the "camper" on a 5 ton chassis. These vehicles were all licensed in the state of the owners. I only looked at just a few but there was some from Iowa, Massachusetts, and Ohio that I saw. Pretty sure there were some from Florida also and other states in the mix.

[electricflyer]

More military photos from MVPS. Photo of the contents of a Comm trailer. And one of the club members setting up a station which didn't stay up for long as liquid sunshine started to move in. Naturally one guy doing the work and the rest watching an giving advice. The convoy was being tracked by aprs. There were some ham operators active in the convoy. They were also on 146.55 simplex along the route.

During my stint in the Army I was licensed for 1/4 ton (jeep), 3/4 ton and 2 1/2 ton (deuce and a half). The Deuce and a half I drove had a 2 speed automatic that had killer upshifts and downshifts. Either slammed everyone against the tailgate on the upshifts and against the cab on the downshifts so passengers had better have a grip on something. It had a top speed of about 45mph. Drove that during summer camp and on the way back home for about 500 miles. Drove a 3/4 ton up to summer camp at Camp McCoy (I believe it is now Fort McCoy) in Wisconsin for that 500 mile trek. The town of La Crosse was just outside the gate and on the weekend we had off everyone (nearly) got polluted on Wisconsin beer. Wisconsin at that time allowed 18 year olds to have 3.2 beer and there were taverns that only served 3.2 beer but if you were 21 or older you could get 5% beer at other establishments. Never saw anything like it. There were guys passed out in the gutters, over the hoods of cars, in doorways, just about everywhere. Loved it.

Just another thought, I had a friend when I lived on the north side of Dayton (about a mile from Hara Arena) that used to enter in the Great American Car Race every year. He bought a brand new 3/4 ton military truck, either a 1938 or 39, I believe it was a Dodge and was going to use it in the race. For a backup he bought 3 additional engines, original, still packed in cosmoline. I don't think he ever put it in a race but resold it and the engines. He did race Marmon automobiles in the Great American Car Race (it was actually a rally) for many years and seemed to have a different one each year. The last time I saw him was about 8 years ago and at that time he had acquired 12 Marmons, but what the hell, if you got 60-70 million dollars go for it. He's to old to do those races any more. I think about the last race he was in was the Bejing to Paris race which had a $30,000 entry fee. He broke an axle the first day and had to drop out.

[Radio]

I like the navy staff car and the half track best.

On the other hand my father, WWII, hated half tracks. He had the early ones that could not keep the tracks on. Said you spent more time putting the tracks back on the truck than you did riding in it. :) But as a kid, and student of the great war, I always wanted one.

[W9CMG]

McCoy is 40 miles from La Crosse. Sparta would be closest to the gate.

[NN5I]

I like the navy staff car ...

And I always wanted a 1941 Packard 180 Touring Sedan, which is what kind of Packard I think that is. Gorgeous!

[electricflyer]

McCoy is 40 miles from La Crosse. Sparta would be closest to the gate.

It may have been Sparta, that was 55 years ago so memory fades.

[NN5I]

And I always wanted a 1941 Packard 180 Touring Sedan, which is what kind of Packard I think that is. Gorgeous!

No, I was wrong. It's a 160, not a 180. Still drooling, though.

[electricflyer]

At my first ever job I worked with a guy that spent time in Alaska while in the Seabees. He said he and a buddy after imbibing in a few adult beverages stole the commandants staff car flagged (which means the officer is in the vehicle and demands a salute) and drove up and down in front of the base theater. Luckily they never got caught. That would have been sometime in the early 50's as I started my first paying job in 1957 with the Railway Postal Transportation Service (railroad post office, I worked in a mail terminal, later merged with the USPO) after I decided that being a farmer wasn't going to make my prosperous.