Well, well, well.... I seem to have stuck my foot in it this time.
Very cogent, intelligent missives from Jim, Howard, Darrell and Jason.
Not a flame in the bunch. So I'll take it from the top.
My only contact with restored, "LIVE" main guns on armor and live MG's
are from the folks up in Maine a couple of years ago. A Stuart or Lee
(little square type turret, I think a 37mm) did a "LIVE" fire on a car being
pulled across the pits. Blew it all to hell with multiple rounds, then hosed
the carcass with MG on top of the turret.
Lots of LEGAL, "LIVE" guns, all blowing the hell out of everything
downrange that did or did not move. Most spectator folks (I believe the
gate was around 11k that year) had driven a minimum of 2 hours or more to
play or watch, and lots had driven farther. A goodly number paid significant
money to burn up 4 or 5 mags or buy 1/2 a belt. Probably the greatest thing
next to sex you could experience.
I am not a reenactor. My personal opinion, being I am over 200 lbs (read
chubby), and due to a leg injury, 'gimpy', means that I would not be in any
branch of the service, in any uniform, in the period reflected by my
vehicles ( from approx 1955 through today). Too many veterans of that
period, wore the uniform and suffered and bled. I did not "earn" the right
to wear the uniform, I would not fit the 'profile' of a real soldier of that
period, and hence will not dishonor those who did serve by trying to be
something I am not. I wish to stress my vehicle, not me.
I understand the "Living History" aspect of OUR hobby and that
Reenactors are an integral part of maintaining public support to the hobby
as a whole. Be they Revolutionary, Civil War, WW I, WW II or Korea, they
perform a valid service in entertaining and educating the public. But, I,
and I stress the " I ", feel that as you approach the Vietnam or Persian
Gulf or later periods, the reenactor must become more, for want of a better
word, sensitive to the feelings who were there FOR REAL. The public as a
whole are not terribly knowledgeable about the Military over the past 25
years or so, and hence will accept what they see or are told at face value.
And therein lies the rub.
I am in the hobby of Military Vehicle ownership and operation. As an
owner and operator of "neat stuff", I spend lots of time fielding questions
from neighbors or towns people asking "But why do you want something like
this?". You can't just say "Because I can.". So we all take a deep breath
and try to explain why this little bit of history we are trying to preserve
is also out of respect to the men who operated it as well as to the machine
itself, who we all know is alive and has it's own personality. It spent it's
life as a hanger queen or was ridden hard and put away wet. It sat in an
armory in Des Moines its entire life or was hauled from one end of the world
to the other, saw nothing but pavement in the US or traveled from Toledo to
Fulda to Somalia and back, to be thrown into a field in Massachusetts and
ignored for 10 years until it was decided it's services were no longer
required and sold for less than $1k, then resold in a matter of days again.
Significant Military Equipment? You bet it was, and is still today. Try
moving an Army into battle without the trucks, jeeps or trailers to provide
the logistical tail to the fighting troops and vehicles. But we and the law
see it from different angles. They see it as something that if sold to an
enemy of ours, could harm the members of the armed forces, the U.S. and US.
Whatever the reasons behind the section in the DoD bill requiring DEMIL, I
doubt it is an armor problem, because there just ain't enough out there to
be noticed.
For the armor folks, and reenactor units using restored weapons and
Vehicles, realism starts to be a two edged sword. How many pieces of
restored US armor are in the hands of collectors in America? And of that,
how many are capable of "LIVE" in the full definition of the word?
I take every opportunity I get to put people into whatever MV I am
driving. This summer, at our clubs rally, I hauled over 200 people to and
from the parking area, over the protests of several club members concerned
about "liability".
I'll take my chances. But this was a Public Relations success. When my truck
is parked at a rally or car show, the starter button is unplugged, the doors
and tailgate opened and public is welcome to clamber in and out. It and I
have to be seen as harmless or we're toast.
At our rally in NH several years ago, we had a group of reenactors who
called to get info on the rally and then showed up with a restored WW II
Volkswagen and full kit as Waffen SS. Operational rifles, SS runes,
authentic camp set up. People (read Public) complained to the folks at the
registration tent complained about how inappropriate they felt it was for
the reenactors to "glorify" the Nazis, walking around in full field gear.
They were asked to stay in their campsite for the rest of the rally, if in
character. It was not until later it was learned they had "LIVE" weapons. We
do not allow "LIVE" weapons at our rally,or any event we sponsor, from any
country or period.
I do not stress that my trucks or jeeps could pull field pieces or anti
tank guns. Or mount machine guns for self protection or mission support. If
I ever do get the urge to recreate the 'look' of an armed vehicle, it will
be with dummy weapons. Even if I did have a Class III, I would not mount
"LIVE" weapons on my trucks. Why? Because the public in general is not aware
that you can legally posses them. Look at what happened to "assault"
weapons. A bayonet lug or handgrip or whatever, do not make a weapon any
more dangerous than one without. A piece of armor or a half track are very
impressive to the public. One bristling with dummy guns is even more
impressive piece of history in the flesh. But let the public know that this
puppy don't just look like it is ready to lock and load, but REALLY IS
CAPABLE of it, and your going loose 75% of your support. Regardless of
whether or not you've been vetted by the Pope himself, John Q. Public is not
going to feel comfortable knowing the guy down the street has the capability
to light up their life on a whim. Hell, right now, none of you like me, and
we are all in the same boat.
If you go to Knob Creek,or Dover Foxcroft or other shoot with your guns,
field pieces or Tanks, the people who pay to attend know what to expect. But
if you are reenacting on the 4th of July, or Memorial Day in Peoria, I
guarantee you that the public thinks what they are seeing is special
effects, writ large. But let one of the "Soccer Moms" or other person with
too much time on their hands (like a Senator looking for a re-election
crusade to hang his hat on) find out the guy with the "Big Gun" over there
can make it even more real in a heartbeat or that "LIVE" round he just had
to have, even though it was never going to be used, but gets hauled around
'just in case', meets Mr. Murphy and God help us all.
I don't know you folks,and you don't know me. We share similar interests
in MV's and their restoration and operation, though to different degrees.
But yet we obviously disagree in some matters. To the public, we are a
strange group of military wannabees or have beens, who have old trucks, and
some not so old trucks, that are pretty odd. Keep making it known that there
are even a few HMV's that can go fully "LIVE" out there, and you bet your
boots we'll only have pictures of what we once owned to look at.
Believe it, or not....
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 07 2001 - 00:36:24 PST