America in WWII - (Page 19) T.W. BURGER JOE RAZES JOE RAZES The WWII event each September at the Eisenhower Farm historic site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is all about “OD”—known to laymen as olive drab—and WWII military vehicles. Opposite: Merlin Hanson of Maryland shows off his prized Volkswagen KF82E. Above, left: WWII Jeeps, rugged army workhorses now about 65 years old, merited tarps to protect them from rain at last year’s event. Above, bottom right: A US Army motorcycle on display. Above, top right: War correspondent Ernie Pyle attended last year’s event, courtesy of West Virginian Tim Cook. Beetle body. He drove 30 miles to come to the event and was close to staying home. “It’s a good thing it wasn’t raining when I left the house, or I wouldn’t have come,” he said. “I don’t like to get it wet.” He said that although the machine was intended for field use, it’s “a pain” to keep rust away from lug nuts and other small parts. TRAVEL TIPS WHERE: Eisenhower National Historic Site, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania DATES: September 15 and 16 HOURS: Saturday from 9 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. and Sunday from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. GETTING THERE: Take Route 15 to the Taneytown Road exit and follow Taneytown Road to the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center and park in the lot there. Shuttle buses depart regularly for the Eisenhower site. Weather permitting, parking— for cars only—will be available in a field near the Eisenhower site accessible from Emmitsburg Road on Business Route 15. ADMISSION: $5.50 for adults, $4 for children ages 13 through 16, and $3 for children ages 6 through 12. SPECIAL GUESTS: Darrel Powers of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th Parachute Regiment; Leonard Feinberg, medic with the 35th Infantry Division; Abner Rainbow, P-51 pilot with the 391st Squadron of the Ninth Air Force’s 366th Fighter Group; Windsor Miller of the 14th Tank Battalion; Don Markle, author and expert on intelligence operations; Margaret George, author of We Knew We Were at War: Women in WWII. Morris Waid of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, didn’t mind getting his 1942 Studebaker Weasel wet. The Weasel is an amphibious, tracked vehicle with a bit of Jeep and a bit of bulldozer in its genes that did the job of a Jeep in swampy areas. Waid does not drive his Weasel very far, but he does drive it regularly in parades back home. Though the cool gear and clanking machinery might be the main draw for some of the general public, several of the reenactors at the event said the OD clothing and painstakingly assembled gadgets were basically stage props for something much deeper: respect and gratitude. “I exist in this world because of what my father and others in his generation did,” said Neil Campbell, 54, of Havre de Grace, Maryland. “The cream of that generation lies in graves all over the world. People in this country right now should be galvanized by that.” A T.W. BURGER, a reporter for central Pennsylvania’s Patriot-News, wrote the tasty article on the chocolate issued to WWII GIs, in our February 2007 issue. OCTOBER 2007 USO-STYLE DANCE: The Gettysburg Big Band will perform 1940s music at the US P.M. Army Reserve Center at 1200 Fairfield Road (Route 116) west of Gettysburg, 7:30-10:30 Saturday night. Admission is $5. INFORMATION: Contact the Eisenhower National Historic Site at 717-338-9114 or visit www.nps.gov/eise. AMERICA IN WWII 19
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