Combat vehicles and memorabilia draw military buffs

Eighth annual show and swap meet featured plenty of history, By John Church AUGUSTA — Augusta went green last weekend — olive drab green. Fair weather greeted fans at the Military Transport Association’s eighth annual Military Vehicle Show and Swap Meet held on the Sussex County Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday. Collectors, restorers and the curious found a wide assortment of new and used parts to keep American military history rolling. For the less mechanically inclined there was a row of tents manned by historical re-enactors explaining the uniforms and equipment used during WWII. “This would be the first stop for a wounded soldier after being tended to by a medic in the field,” said John Dwyer of Clinton as he explained the contents of a tent set up as a battalion aid station. “An aid station would be manned by an NCO and five or six soldiers. Wounded would be stabilized, given whole blood if necessary, and prepared for transport to field hospital. Doctors and surgeons were stationed at the field hospitals.” Weapon fans could listen to an explanation of the workings of a bazooka at a tent set up by the 78th Infantry Division WWII Living History Association. “The bazooka firing tube is thin and light weight as it did not have to contain high pressure gas like a gun barrel,” said Matt Paluba of Philadelphia, Pa. “The projectile is rocket propelled allowing the weapon to be hand held when fired. It also emits a large back blast so you do not want to be behind the weapon when it was fired.” The six 78th Infantry re-enactors were displaying equipment and uniforms used on D-Day and most of the gear had some level of water proofing. Two radios were displayed in rubberized rucksacks. An unusual part of their uniforms was a heavy paper sleeve worn on their left biceps. “This paper sleeve is a gas brassard,” said Matt Carroll of Westville. “It is a litmus-type device that would turn pink in the presence of poison gas. The planners were aware that a logical place to use gas was on the invasion beaches and equipped the troops with these simple detection devices. At the first sign of pink you would don your gas mask. Luckily the Germans never used gas.” Ken Coanshock of Carteret and Phil Suttile of Belvedere were doing some engine repairs on a Jeep using a part they purchased from a vendor at the show. “Jeeps were made with many straight lines to ease manufacturing, contrary to the curvy body styles popular at the time,” said Coanshock. “They were made to be compact for high volume shipping. Fold down the windshield, remove the steering wheel and stow the spare tire temporarily in the body and it fit into a very low shipping crate. Every extra Jeep that fit aboard a cargo ship to Europe helped the war effort.” Jeeps worked hard, sometimes too hard. “This Jeep has a hitch on the front bumper that could be attached to the rear of a second Jeep,” said Coanshock. “The two Jeeps together could tow artillery pieces as large as a 105mm gun. It was similar to putting two locomotives at the front of a heavy train.” All of the equipment on display was not born green and that is where Paul Viens of Exton, Pa., steps in. Viens has collected unopened cans of military paint and used small samples to reproduce fresh batches of the exact shades of paint needed for accurate restoration work. “I reverse engineered the colors to find the various tints used and can make any color in modern two-part urethane paint,” said Viens. “The tricky part was developing a lusterless material for military vehicles.” The marking of newly manufactured vehicles was complicated by the need for secrecy. “The fear was a spy could take a photo of a vehicle storage facility and a second photo some time later,” said Viens. “By comparing serial numbers the spy could estimate production rates.”