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Hauling Vets on 4th July Parade

dittle

Well-known member
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Location
Albia, IA
Had the honor of hauling 11 Korean War vets and 2 Vietnam vets in my Deuce yesterday. Had Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force personnel representing as well as me for the FSMM. Also is a picture of 1 of the 2 LMTVs that showed up for the parade. Both were full of vets as well. There must have been over 2 dozen MVs there for the parade, most of them with vets from what I saw.

During the parade it was pretty unreal. The entire route was just jam packed with people, sometimes up to 12 deep on each sidewalk from what I saw. The entire time while driving with the vets 99% of the people were on their feet clapping, saluting, and saying "THANK YOU" to the vets. Even heard 5 year old kids saying this; atleast someone is educating their little ones properly about the sacrifices made to be here today. Was an awesome way to honor these fine individuals for their service.

Met SS member SGTStewart while loading up the vets. His M109A3 is a nice looking rig. Wish I could have talked to him longer but I was loaded up told to get in the lineup by the parade coordinator.
 

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dittle

Well-known member
1,582
72
48
Location
Albia, IA
I made sure to shake each one of their hands and give my own thanks to them. They really enjoyed the ride, although one of them did tell me he thought my springs were welded together (in a joking manner). One of the roads on the way to parade start was very rough and as you know the Deuce doesn't have shock absorbers on it. I even bottomed out my air ride seat on the bump he was referring to and I had it cranked to the max....all at 15mph on the way over.
 

steelandcanvas

Well-known member
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Location
Southwestern Idaho
Our Club, Military Vehicle Collectors of Colorado, had the Honor of 60+ Veteran Guests riding with us in 19 different vehicles. They enjoyed the Parade ride so much, they booked us for next year. After the Parade, to show us their appreciation, they treated us to an Ice Cream Social while displaying our vehicles for them. All in all, it was a great day! Great people, great food, and a great Club. Someone will chime in with photos from the day.
 
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SGTStewart

Member
223
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18
Location
Owatonna, Minnesota
I had a great time at the parade. It was nice to meet you dittle. I could not believe all of the people along the parade route. The people were great.

Here are some of the pictures that I had taken.
 

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dittle

Well-known member
1,582
72
48
Location
Albia, IA
SgtStewart found a video from a local TV station up here. It takes a while to load. I'm the Deuce (driving in yellow shirt) behind the LMTVs and he is at the end with his M109A3. The MVs start showing up around the 5:45 mark in the video.

2009 4th of July Parade
 
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