Rikk,
The Nimitz Museum searched, located and acquired the PT-309 for the sole
purpose of displaying it at the Admiral Nimitz Museum Center for Pacific War
Studies. Unfortunately she was in sad shape. As with many restorations,
the difference between refitting her to a static condition and refitting her
to a seaworthy condition was so small as to be inconsequential. Somewhere
along the way (admittedly, due to poor leadership from the Nimitz) someone
failed to put the brakes on this project. Several of the "volunteers"
proved to be quite adept at raising funds and the Museum is always
interested in doing that. Unfortunately, the fundraising "volunteers"
forgot WHOSE boat they were raising funds for!.. The end result seems to be
that some of the so called volunteers now believe they have a financial
interest in the boat and want to exercise control over it.
Several years ago, Bill Daskalos (not a subscriber) and I did a partial yet
very invasive restoration on the Nimitz's DUKW and put it in the water for
the first time in some 25 years without a leak. As volunteers for the
project we were offering our time, expertise, lots of hard labor, a few
drops of blood (and occasionally a few dollars out of our own pocket) for
free, (hence the title, volunteer.) NEVER did anyone at the Nimitz suggest
that Bill and I would have any right to exercise any control over the DUKW
when it was finished! By extension of the idea of being a volunteer, had I
been some whiz-kid at raising funds and that was my contribution to the
project then it would be strictly on a volunteer basis and done for free.
Anything done for compensation is contract labor!
So basically, what we have here are some clever fellows who, under the guise
of being volunteers, have craftily involved themselves in a project they
have no legal claim to. Suddenly, they announce they are entitled to
compensation, even though (to the contrary) they signed on as volunteers.
The Admiral Nimitz Museum (run by the State of Texas) does not like negative
publicity, so much of this jousting over the PT-309 has been kept low key
which is why the state has not brought out any of their sumo-lawyers and
squashed these priates like the bugs they are. I don't think these guys
have any substantial amount of their own money contributed to the project
but I really do not know. The Nimitz would never allow them to "invest"
their money in the project as that would entitle them to something in
return. The State of Texas has very strict guidlines regarding
contributions and donations and accepts those things in that way only.
Investments, as you put it, are strictly prohibited.
So there you have it in a very big nutshell!
Regards,
TJ
----Original Message-----
From: Rikk Rogers <rkltd@fullnet.net>
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Date: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 11:01 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] something completely different
>TJ,
>On this site I'm not seeing much background on this site,
>How did the "Restorers end up with this PT and how much do they
>have invested?
>
>Rikk Rogers
>RK Lion LTD.
>(580)762-3157
>rkltd@fullnet.net
>MVPA -22345-
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Military Vehicles Mailing List [mailto:mil-veh@mil-veh.org]On
>Behalf Of Timothy Smith
>Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 2:38 AM
>To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
>Subject: [MV] something completely different
>
>
>Hi list,
>
>A while back, the Admiral Nimitz Museum acquired and initiated restoration
>efforts on one of the few remaining PT boats still out there. PT-309 is a
>historically significant boat. Somewhere along the way the so-called
>"volunteers" involved in the restoration efforts undertook to make the old
>girl their very own due to a difference in opinion as to what was to be the
>final disposition of the boat, i.e. the museum wants her in Fredericksburg
>and the volunteers (quite understandably) want to keep her close to their
>homes and in the water but they also want the rightful owner (Nimitz
Museum)
>to foot the bill for their activities. The plan to bring PT-309 back to
>Fredericksburg, Texas was the plan from day one. This group of modern-day
>pirates has vowed to block any efforts the museum might make to exercise
>control over the vessel.
>
>To be honest, I am really not sure which plan is ultimately best for the PT
>boat's health but speaking strictly as an MV owner I think I would be quite
>perturbed if I took on volunteer help with the Scout's restoration only to
>have the volunteers start telling me what I would have to do (or ont do)
>with the Scout when she was done!
>
>My opinion is my own, but these fellows (more like privateers & pirates who
>feel they should control someone else's Mil Veh's future), have posted a
>website that very bravely (gotta give em credit) allows the rest of us an
>opportunity to cast a vote on what WE think should be done here. With that
>in mind, please visit http://imakenews.com/jtyson/ and vote according to
>your conscience.
>
>Regards,
>TJ Smith
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 01 2000 - 21:37:48 PST