Memorial Day recently passed, and yours truly made it another weekend of gently correcting those who say “Happy Memorial Day.” Although I never served, I understand we shouldn’t treat this holiday like the others present on the American calendar. This one should be more about personal moments of reflection and gratitude.
My personal reflections during this time still include thoughts of the automobile. That’s how my brain is wired, and it got me thinking about the stories Hagerty Media readers could share about military vehicles.
There are vehicles that become the engines of advancement in the military, and then there are those that won the day with rugged simplicity. With all the variety over the decades, of course I had to turn this into a question for the According To You series. I will start us off with a more obscure example.
Me being me, I pondered all the prestigious civilian vehicles that were repurposed for military duty. So let’s go back in time, as Packard vehicles became staff cars for the Armed Forces. Premium automotive brands turn into modes of transport for high-ranking members of any organization, and everyone needed to pitch in to the war effort.
Packard made airplane engines during WWII, but the vehicles it built beforehand likely helped with transport more than we can ever know. And that’s why I would love to know which military vehicles you are grateful for, be it a passenger car, truck, Jeep, tank, airplane, boat, ship, or anything else you have fond memories of.
The comments section is open, so tell us: Which Military Vehicle Are You Grateful For?
When I say “Taxicab”, many folks will envision the iconic Checker, maybe the black London Cab, or a Crown Vic, or even some sort of Waymo contraption. But when I served in the USMC in Vietnam in 1969-70, the “taxi” I took most often was the Bell Huey – with some occasional longer distance commutes in larger eggbeaters like Chinooks. It was the UH-1 that was mostly the “daily driver” for hops into and out of areas of operations for us guys. It took us into some pretty hot areas, but it usually also returned to retrieve us (and I mean walking troops as well as fallen ones). I was surely thankful for those noisy danged “vehicles” in those days! One of my best friends ever was a Huey driver (call sign “Queball”), who chauffeured me around a lot of places, and he and I have remained close still today. I have a feeling that many fellow Vietnam Combat Vets will join me in both cursing and blessing the UH-1 chopper.
On Memorial Day, I make it a point to salute my father, a WWII vet and POW (for 45 months!) and my teammate in Quang Tri Province, PFC “Dickhead Dave”, who died in my arms.
Mine may be an oddball one, but I’m very grateful for the M116A2 generator trailer (that counts as a vehicle, right?).
Years ago I left my trade and went to college as an adult student. I grew up a military “brat” and have always seemed to have made friends with folks who served, and in college- largely because of our similar age differences from the traditional students- most of my friends were recently discharged vets. Looking for some part time trade I could do to fit my hours as an adult student/new parent, I thought I’d use my truck to start a contractor business cleaning out houses, running scrap metal, etc. But I needed a trailer to make the most of my time. A couple of the guys I hung out with talked about how tough Army trailers were, so when I saw one for sale on Craiglist, I ended up coming home with a M116A2 generator trailer for $200. It’s a pretty basic deckover trailer, sturdy as can be that used the same bolt pattern wheels as my truck. I fixed a few things, took a few things off, and to this day it is still my favorite trailer to use. On its 6 foot by 9 ft deck I’ve loaded everything you can imagine including a convertible Mercedes that needed removed from a creek after a flood.
That $200 trailer has been the basis of a small business that has kept my family afloat for years, after the college degree turned out to be worthless, and after multiple dips in the economy that forced me to rely on myself instead of others for jobs. It’s a business that I’m now able to let my son’s take over, teaching them that they can always do something to earn a living. My son actually looking foward to his driving his first load towing the “Army trailer” behind his square body truck, which looks enough like a 1970’s M1008 (military Chevy K30), because it’s a “natural fit”!