A number of years ago my dad and started collecting military vehicles for restoration. Making friends along the way that were prior military the " gang " grew member by member. They filed with the National Military Vehicle Preservation Society for their own chapter and everything took off from there.
Not only were they a recognized chapter they filed & received their " non profit / charitable organization " status too. This gave them major props with the command staff right next door on Ft. Benning. They were allowed to take parts off of target & decommissioned vehicles. They are also allowed to take entire vehicles for restoration as long as procedures are followed. Working with city & State Government Offices , other vehicles sold off to various agencies have been given to the group as well.
Somewhere along the way they decided to open a " Hands On " type museum dedicated to all branches of military service , they named it " The Iron Mike War Museum. Anyone visiting can touch , ride or sit / crawl through any vehicle on display. Today was the grand opening and it went very well. Folks came to visit all day , even as they were closing up. Rides were given in a WW2 Half Track and a Military Dump truck along with a jeep or two. This has all been done out of their own pockets.
I found out tonight there are plans for expanding it. Something about villages with re en actors and setting up for RV hook ups. Heres the local newspaper article , looks like the half track got the engine swap , not the M114. They've been on the news all weekend.
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
2007-09-21
Section: ARMY LIFE
Edition: LEDGER-ENQUIRER
Page: D1
WAR MUSEUM CRANKS IT UP
COLUMBUS ANTIQUE MILITARIA ORGANIZATION'S IRON MIKE WAR MUSEUM OPENS SATURDAY
BRAD BARNES,
bbarnes@ledger-enquirer.com
The half-track brings back memories to folks who served in Vietnam.
The 15,000-pound vehicle rests in a building, alongside a dozen or more other restored vehicles. It's only one of the shining achievements of a loose-knit group of enthusiasts called the Columbus Antique Militaria Organization.
It rests today inside an old garage behind the state Farmers Market. They all rest there.
But they won't be resting for long.
On Saturday, the garage and surrounding two acres will open as the Iron Mike War Museum. Folks can get rides in authentic military trucks or personnel carriers. They can see reenactments from different wars, from World War I to Desert Storm.
The collectors want their site to be a hands-on complement to the Army's more formal infantry museum.
"This is an experience museum," says Don Moeller, one of the collectors and restorers. "It's interactive. There will be truck rides and track rides." That's right. Their collection of tracks, half-tracks, Jeeps and trucks actually run --- even a 1942 trench digger that's sort of a giant, earth-chewing chop saw on wheels.
So how did this group of people come to possess such an impressive collection of functional military gear?
To put it simply, they rebuilt them.
But of course, it's never really simple.
Take that half-track, for instance. They found the vehicle --- a 1962 M114 Armored Personnel Carrier when collector Marvin Adzic got a tip from a friend that this old piece of gear was hiding on a Fort Benning target range.
"We drove back there to see it several times," says Adzic, who typically works as the group's scout.
The personnel carrier obviously had seen better days. It was riddled with holes, most likely from both enemy fire and friendly fire upon its retirement to the testing field. Trees had sprung up around it. It was partially sunken in the soft ground.
When the CAMO crew decided they wanted to salvage it, that's when the fun began.
"It took nine months to clear it through Fort Benning," says Moeller. "Everybody has to say they don't want it."
Then, after the post said OK, they brought in another friend, Larry Board, who runs a towing company.
"It was in heavy undergrowth. There were trees all around it, and they don't like us messing with that stuff," Board says. "In the end we took out one tree about like this," he says, forming a 3-inch diameter circle with his hands.
"We extricated it out of a big mud hole, basically," Board says, "with a dozer."
The collectors called in another friend, mechanic Troy Ohler, to fix the engine, transmission and steering mechanism.
"There are people in life that are just talented," Moeller says of Ohler. "If he can't fix it, trash it." (A 1977 Chevrolet pickup engine went in as a substitute for the original V-8 Chevy 283 it was built with.)
Moeller, meanwhile, replaced a missing track and had an engine cover fabricated. He also researched the proper colors and repainted it.
Historian Roy Collier filled in the back-story about such personnel carriers and is creating diorama around it at the museum.
"We restore them to motor-pool-ready status. These look like they've been used," Moeller says.
"We left the holes," he says, poking his finger through a ragged gouge in the dense body of the half-track. "The public doesn't understand what these soldiers go through."
Then his eyes gleam, and he says, "If we started it up, your skin would crawl."
They will be starting it up, when visitors come to the museum on Saturdays. Already, CAMO had been displaying their gear at air shows and Memorial Day gatherings. But only recently did the group form a nonprofit and rent the land behind the Farmers Market from proprietor Allen Woodall.
Aside from Saturday's opening celebration, the hours will be mostly ad-hoc. But the enthusiasts, who are mostly veterans, spend most of their Saturdays there. Admission is free.
"About all we can say is, if the door's open, come on in," says Moeller.
IF YOU GO
What: Iron Mike War Museum
When: Grand opening is 10 a.m. Saturday, with a ribbon cutting by Mayor Jim Wetherington. Festivities continue until about 5 p.m.. The museum will be open most Saturdays.
Where: Behind the antique mall at the Farmers Market, at 10th Avenue and Fourth Street
Cost: Free. Donations will be accepted and rides on trucks or other vehicles might carry a charge
A SAMPLING OF WHAT CAN YOU SEE
> A 1970 Jeep ambulance. "There are four of these left in the world," says Don Moeller. "When we found it, it was just a tub. no glass, no motor, no suspension."
> A 1942 trench digger.
> A 1959 all-aluminum Jeep. Aluminum minimized weight for air transport of the rugged Jeep, which has an air-cooled engine. "It can run on three tires," Moeller says.
> A 1962 M114 Armored Personnel Carrier, it's original Chevrolet 283 engine replaced with one from a 1977 Chevy pickup.
It took a great deal of work but the doors opened 3 months after they got building. The newspaper ran a story on them , I think all 3 news stations showed up , the mayor came out and gave a speech too. There was a big BBQ for the group & visitors and they made $300 in donations to help towards rent of the building , purchasing vehicles , parts and restoration supplies.
Heres the link to the folder for more.
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q...nsBoas/Museum/
Password is friday. I think I got it right.
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