Some thoughts for today...


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Posted by Paul Cook in Kempner, TX on Saturday, June 06, 2009 at 20:17:26 :

I grew up with rationing, blackouts, scrap drives, war bonds, and victory gardens. Everyone in the country shared and conformed to a unique way of life that was altered to suit the War. The magnitude of this did not occur in WWI and has not happened since WWII.

Similarly, our WWII trucks are unique to that specific period of our history. When I drive my WC-21 or WC-52 in a parade or display them at community events, folks come up to me and recall loved ones who served in the Army and rode in a truck "like" mine. There are very few Veterans remaining who can talk of when they rode in one. Approximately 1500 of our WWII Veterans are dying each day.

I am the caretaker of my WWII trucks - not the owner. They belong to those who rode in them or marched beside them. They belong to those who were treated for their wounds, or died from them while being carried back from the front lines. Those veterans own the memories of these trucks.

These WWII trucks also served throughout much of the Korean War and have much the same memories for our Korean War Veterans.

The M-37 series served our soldiers well through the Cold War and on into Viet Nam. The M-880 series served in the waning years of the Cold War. While there were different issues that these other times brought to the people of our country, these times did not see the total involvement of the people as in WWII. Sadly, these other military trucks did not come to represent the nation's whole history like the WWII trucks did.

There is a running debate about the value of keeping our trucks truly original. A WDX-WM300, a Power Giant, or a "W" series POWER WAGON can have strong memories for many of us. But those memories are about a family member, a friend, or a job that affected only a few people. And as great as those memories are, they are not the universal memories of a whole nation for a whole period of our history.

More and more, POWER WAGON enthusiasts do not have first hand memories of WWII, and do not sense the special role of our WWII trucks. I hope that all of us will recall this special history. For those who are too young, I hope even more that we will remember that this history is as much a part of the truck as a frame cross member. Please learn and pass on this history each time someone comes over to admire your WWII truck. Remember, it belongs to a whole nation - not just you.



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