Those of us that have been to an FE or just been around 2 or more Zoners at one time know how we have so many similar interest it is just weird. Those same people are also some of the most selfless and helpfull people I have ever known.
I met with a group just like us last night. Sarge from here way back when and SS invited me to come over to the big town of Austin for the Lone Star MVPA Christmas party a few weeks ago. It is 70 miles or so from my house to Camp Mabry where the meeting would be held. I didn't really want to spend the fuel money until he said Colton could come along and that they use the Texas Military Vehicle Museum for their meetings. My only exposure to MVPA stuff was word of mouth about National level snobbery and election hyjinx. But, I figured it would be a good excuse to take the M715 out for a run.
The last time I was on Camp Mabry was in November of 1988 and I was sent there as a PFC in the TXNG for a weekend of training. The place has changed a little. I kept telling Colton that the building the museum uses sure looked familiar. When I saw the huge arched double door entrance I recognized it. It was a barracks way back then and I had slept in it. Colton thought that was cool. But, once he saw the line up of tanks, trucks and artillery outside the building, he was instantly in hyper mode. Then when we got inside and planes, helicoptors, tanks, trucks, Panzers were seen, he couldn't talk straight. He tried to be everywhere at once. "Dad, look, Dad, look, Dad, look was heard by all." The hit of the evening was a F-16 cockpit simulator. I am pretty sure he was looking at it thinking how we could get it in the back of the M715 for a while.
Boy was my presumtion of how the people would be wrong. It was like being at an FE except I didn't know anybody yet. "Hey, that truck sounds good, that 230 isn't worth keeping" or "I like those big tires on there, they sure look better than those itty bitty 9.00's." Were a few of the comments I heard before I even got out of the truck. People talking about the best kind of carry pistol to get their wife for a present and stuff like that.
Overall, it was a great evening with a great bunch of people. Tim T had a similar report after going to his local MVPA chapter a few months ago. Some of you that had the same presumtions about the MVPA might want to find a local group. You might be as suprised as I was at how at home you feel with them.
Now, they had a 1968 M715 W/W in the museum. I couldn't see the number because the lights were off. I will get it the next time we go. One of the members is a Marine and he told me that he saw USMC M715's in active service with the same tires I have on mine. His words "Don't let anybody give you any lip about those tires. We used them that way." He even has pictures at home of a M715 and a M726 on the beach in Belgium with the big tires from an exercise he participated in at one time.
I got a lot of pictures, be didn't get home to around midnight and they are still on my camera since I had to get up this morning to go to work.