MaryAlice
2/3/2010 6:37:16 PM | Well guys I just got off the phone with a friend of mine, one that I knew his Dad was into WWII and it's history. What I DIDN'T know was to teh extreme that he is....
My friends Dad, fought in Vietnam, and his Dad fought in WWII.
(Please excuse my language/term on some of these items, as I am still learning....I also know some of the stuff below was not used in WWII, just running down what he told me from memory)
He has Half Tracks, Tanks, the boat that unloaded soliders onto the beaches of Normandy, he has the TOWER FROM AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER (YES, the WHOLE TOWER), Bombs, M60's, AR15's, grenades, WWI and WWI uniforms, German rifles from WWII, British guns, he has a boat that he said there is only 2 in the entire country, and his Dad has 1 of them, and by now you start to get teh point...We talked for the better part of 45 minutes, of which most of that was spent telling me what his Dad has. They are in the process of repairing/restoring 120+ guns that were mounted on a M38 Willys Jeep, called a 106 recoiless rifle. I also got invited down to his Dad's property this weekend, to check it out.
In fact, he has so much stuff, that once a year, they do a WWII re-enactment, and after I told him about my grandpa, and me joining up with you guys, and the fact that I am trying to REALLY educate myself on WWII, I got invited to attend next month's re-enactment.
So, since I might be going down there this weekend to check his stuff out (he is always buying/selling/trading stuff my friend said) is there any of you guys that need me to ask for something? Any pictures of anything? I mean, ANYTHING you guys think I can do for you, I can ask/try to lcoate, etc....because from teh sounds of it, he has pretty much everything they ever used during teh War, and sounds like he has WAY more than 1 of everything to boot.
So, I wanted to post this up, to see if maybe I can help someone out there...least I can do for teh help I have recieved from you guys. So, just let me know...
Derrick Morris, Grandson of S/Sgt Engr/Top Turret William "Dale" Sartor, 615th BS 401st BG, "Mary Alice"
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MaryAlice
2/4/2010 4:27:16 PM | "donaldbyers":
Thats what I call into it!!!
Don
I mean to tell you Don! This is a friend of mine, tha I talk to, oh, every couple/few months..and more or less really, a guy I know but don't hang out with that much. And, I remember him telling me that him and his Dad (his Dad especially of course) were into WWII. Well, i was like wow cool. And we talked a few minutes about it, but nothing more. Well, after I started gathering this info on my grandpa, started hanging out with you guys...i was like, WAIT A MINUTE..let me call my friend Steve and give him a shout. So, I tell him about my grandpa, and that I joined up here, and was wondering if maybe him or his Dad had some info, guns, etc...Anyways, so I start talking some more, and tell him about the reunion you guys have every year, and he is like, well, you ought to come to our re-enactment. And I am like, HUH?
So, he tells me that, "yeah, I am telling you, my Dad is REALLY into this stuff....he has Tanks, half tracks, etc, etc..." Basically the stuff I mentioned above, and even then he was like...I can't even really begin to tell you what he has...it is just to much stuff. He says his Dad has like 300 acres where they do this re-enactment, and spend a LONG weekend doing it. They set up pyrotechnics, with fireworks and such.
When he told me about the tower off teh air craft carrier, i was like HOW IN THE HECK DO YOU EVEN MOVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT? He said of course they have some firearms/military license to buy stuff like this, and on teh tower, they had to cut it up into a whole bunch of pieces, and take it load by load back to theri palce, and then put it back together! I was like, i can;t even imagine having a TOWER OFF OF AN AIR CRAFT CARRIER!!! THAT IS CRAZY!!!!
But without naming every single item, he basically said that yes, if it was in teh War, chances are his Dad has it, and has mulitple one's to boot. He even said that the WWI uniform is still new, never been worn. Been in some box or whatever this whole time.
Not to mention, he said his Dad is a walking encylopedia about WWII, and he loves to talk just like me...so he said, we should hit it off real well!! hahaha
I am do everything I can to get down there this weekend, and take some pictures for you guys (with my GOOD camera) but just thought that if maybe you guys had a request, i could do what I can to help you guys out.
So, don't be shy...ask away..can't hurt
Derrick Morris, Grandson of S/Sgt Engr/Top Turret William "Dale" Sartor, 615th BS 401st BG, "Mary Alice"
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