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August 5, 2005
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| Two re-enactors wear authentic World War II uniforms. On the left is a uniform of the German Wehrmacht. The soldier on the right is dressed as a typical American GI. In the background is a World War II vintage M-1 Sherman tank. (MPR Photo/Bob Kelleher) |
Duluth, Minn. — In Richmond, Virginia, Lee Holland's neighbors might have reason to wonder what's going on next door. He seems to have his own army.
"I have primarily World War II vehicles in my collection," Holland says. "World War II jeeps; World War II Dodges and GMC two-and-a-half ton trucks (are) in my collection."
Holland is one of thousands of members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association - mostly middle aged guys who collect the trucks, jeeps, and tanks from the First World War right up to the present.
For Holland, it all began when he was a youngster in the decade after World War II.
"Start off as a kid with a model - a plastic model - and it just evolves from the plastic model to the real thing," Holland says. "And I've been doing this for over 20 years."
On display in Duluth this week are jeeps, humvees, and troop trucks. Kent Chipman is here with a dull green Harley motorcycle he's brought from Texas. When he got it, it was just a frame and a fuel tank.
"And four years later, after buying parts all over the world, I have a fully restored, as authentic as you can possibly get, World War II army Harley," says Chipman.
It's a show winner, and his pride and joy.
"I put my whole heart and soul in it," says Chipman. "Four years; four years of dedication."
There are plenty Minnesotans here too, like John Varner.
"I'm the current president of the Red Bull Historic Military Vehicle Association, which has 140 members in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota," Varner says.
Varner shows off his slightly faded Dodge Command Car. It's just like the vehicles Generals Patton and Eisenhower rode in. He's even playing the Glen Miller music they might have listened to.
"I had wanted a command car for a number of years," Varner says. "My older brother, of course, had one, so I had to keep up with him."
He also has a "DUCW," (prounounced "duck"). That's an amphibious vehicle like they haul tourists around in the Wisconsin Dells. Varner admits it's a fine line between interest and obsession.
"Everybody collects something, whether it's Hummel figures, or what ever," says Varner. "And with military vehicles, it does become an obsession. We call it the green disease. It's just a cool thing."
The main hall is divided on one side, between vendors hawking everything from floor plates to jeep dash boards; on the other side heavy tanks and trucks. A Duluth member's half-track looks factory new, with glossy green paint, white stars, and a menacing, although inoperable, machine gun perched on top. A couple of years ago it was almost unrecognizable, found in a rock quarry, painted orange, with a big boom welded to it.
But the ultimate toy has got to be the tank. There's an M-4 Sherman tank, owned by a farmer from Spooner, Wisconsin. He found it in a scrap yard out west. Varner says it's the perfect off-road vehicle for a spin around the back 40.
"He'll get out on his farm and drive up and down the hills and just have a blast with this thing," says Varner.
It's one of about a dozen Sherman tanks in the United States still in running order, and it's worth about a quarter-million dollars. You'd think the owner would take better care of it.
"Well, that's the beauty of a tank," says Varner. "You don't have to drive it carefully. You can't hurt the thing."
A military obsession might seem a little politically incorrect. But these guy see it as history. Vehicles, weapons, and uniforms, are here not only from US forces but from those once considered the enemy as well. With one exception. The uniform of the notorious Nazi SS is not welcomed at these events. That's just too much of a political hot potato.
"We continually strive to insure that the public understands that we're not some fringe paramilitary group - that we're just like everybody else, or their next door neighbor," says Varner. "We just tend to like military vehicles."
Varner, for example, is somebody's next door neighbor in Onamia. He's also the superintendent of schools there.
The convention wraps up in Duluth Saturday with a public display of the vehicles, in the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.
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