deciding on numbers for my M 42

[NAM VET]

Still recovering from my knee replacement, and my truck is a hundred miles away, down in Columbia SC, and likely some weeks before I am able to drive and just climb around my truck. So enjoying planning and acquiring that I want to do, priorities, maybe additional tools and equipment, and thinking about what numbers I want to put on my truck. I was thinking about something commemorating my first Army assignment, A CO, 1st Battalion, 3d ID, in Schweinfurt, Germany, '69. But the more I think about what part of my own life I want on my truck, and having been an Army Physician after my first five Infantry years, something that pulls all that together for me is to mark the truck like one that would have been part of a medical unit. After all, I was Chief of Staff for the 410 EVAC, the busiest hospital in the Desert Storm war of 25 years ago. We had CUCV's, HUMVEE'S and 2.5 and 5 ton trucks. Of course, M 37's were out of the active Army by my own start on active duty as a newly minted 2nd LT after ROTC at Nebraska, summer of '69. After Infantry and Airborne and Ranger school, I was posted to Germany, and 18 months later, to Vietnam.

So what seems to tie it all together is to mark it like one from the MASH TV series. I was down at Brook in SA for the Advance Course when the last episode of that wonderful TV show aired, and we went to a big sports bar to watch it. It meant something to all of us.

So, I have looked at all kinds of pictures of various vehicles from the MASH show, and found an assortment of front bumper markings, and sure enough, there is a variety. On some, 4077 MASH is centered, on others, to one side or the other. None of the TV trucks has a winch, though. I think what I will do on my own truck, which has a winch, is to put 4077 MASH on the passenger side, and HQ 1 on the driver's side. After all, my own truck is a complete M 42, just less radio's. Then a star and the vehicle number on the hood. Not sure about on the rear of the truck, though.

By the way, I have always been exceedingly proud to have been an A Team Commander with the 5th Special Forces at Bragg for 18 months, in the early '70's, and would love to commemorate that duty assignment, but back then, I was glad not to have to deal with the maintenance requirements and inspections of army vehicles, as we had none. We got to where we needed to go by parachute, not trucks.

All the best to all of you on this glorious Thanksgiving Weekend.

Hal Copple,
COL, USA Army, retired,
Flight Surgeon,
here, AKA NAM VET

and here is a pic of the 410 EVAC, 300 miles out in the Saudi Arabian desert, just south of Iraq.
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[carolinamv]

Hal ,
I used my unit markings of the best unit I was in , that I went to war with, on my M37. The original unit of my M37 was lost to time as the person I bought it from put some USCG and number and the other side said 54 M37 along with made up hood numbers. I got rid of that quick and put one of my old units like I said.
Id honor your own service and put one of your units that could have had M37's or that you served with longest , or one your most proudest of. The trucks from the TV show were not don't to spec from what I saw and were mostly WW2 vehicles.
It just depends on how correct you want your truck. Just my 2 cents.

Thank you for all your service , Jay

[Cal_Gary]

I'll offer that it's your truck and you can choose the markings that feel "right" to you.

I'm doing mine in the lasting memories of my first permanent party duty at Ft. Ord in '77-'78. A Co, 707th Maintenance BN. I got my truck 30 years after it finished serving at Ord so we have that binding tie-would be scandalous for me to use something else.

Be prepared though, as some purists will point out every incorrect bolt, stencil, unit abbreviation, etc. once you've added your stencils. It's the only real pisser in our hobby, as some of the most critical are those with faded memories or perhaps have never owned an HMV. Our brethren here know what i mean.

Thanks for saving another HMV!
Gary

[NAM VET]

CAL, I well recall the Motor Pool in my first active duty post in Schweinfurt. With all the repairs and parts (and troops) and such being sent to Vietnam, we had great shortages of just about everything for our M113's. If some part or tool was lost, there was no way it was going to be replaced. For instance, each track had a 50 Cal up top by the commander's cupola, and when we had alerts, it was my job as platoon leader to climb up onto each of my five tracks, and set the headspace and timing on the guns. I knew if I left the two gage set in the track, it would disappear like 4 out of 5 already had, so I kept it with me, and I still have it, in the little case they issue them. I spent a lot of time out in the track park, and have no recollection of any repainting of our vehicles, nor re-marking of them, probably because we had no paint!! I agree with you that once military vehicles got to their home units, or came back from depot maintenance, there was little standardization of marking them. On my own truck, I am sure it too had more than one trip back to depot maintenance over its near two decades of service. I don't know if the odo is original to the truck, it reads a little over 6K miles now. Some of the bolts have the older OEM square washers, others have just the simple split ring washers, likely because the mechanic grabbed whatever was in the washer bin over in the corner of the motor pool garage. I see my own truck as a "tribute" truck, with meaning to my own service, and to the creed of the military front line medics and care teams, "we will take care of you."

And besides, looking at all the photo's of the vehicles used in the TV series, indeed, most are WWII vintage, with an assortment of markings.

I think in about two weeks, I will get my truck back from Columbia, and start rehabilitating it to my standards. Can't wait!!

And here is picture of an evening meal with my counterparts, just to show that most of the time, my tour as a MACV advisor was pretty easy going. In my locally made black Pajamas. I am still good with chopsticks. [URL=http://s663.photobucket.com/user/h ... .jpg[/img][/url]

NAM VET

[carolinamv]

Gary,
I know what you mean. Id like for people to have a correct idea of how markings go or if you want to tribute a unit to get it right but its the people that jump all over you that's funny.

Perfect example, my M416 has the tail lights mounted upside down, I know that but that's exactly the way it was sold from the Army in the 80's , and all the faded paint will tell you it was that way from when it was painted in the 60's. I left it , its different and correct as far as the Army thinks.
At the Veterans day parade I had a Marine vet with a Mighty Mite give me crap and told others about my tail lights being wrong. Can anyone spot the giant issue with his Mighty Mite?


On your vehicle markings do the best you can and that your happy with. The public will be happy to se your M42 and hear the stories you have and to hear theirs is great.

[NAM VET]

Well, marking my M 42 as a tribute truck to the 4077 MASH is just not going to work. The Physical Therapist really beat me up yesterday, so had a crummy nite, lots of awake time. My wife just told me that apparently my constant right leg movement to obscure the ache has worn a hole in the bottom sheet on the bed. Never liked those flannel sheets anyway.

So, being awake a lot last night, naturally led to thoughts on my truck, for one thing, I just got three sets of 2 inch aviation belts with the forged "latch and link" belt connector; called Crow out in CA, they made up some 60 inch belts, and since on my prior sports cars I much preferred to have the snap in ends to attach (and remove when necessary) the belts to the eye bolts, they sewed the snap in ends on, with of course the belt adjustors to be sure I can make the belts the correct lengths. Three sets, with the eye bolts, round two inch washers, sewn in snap links, all mailed to me in Upstate SC for $114. Black. In my other cars, I had 5 or 6 point harnesses, but I don't think I can find a way to do that in my truck. I just keep looking at that big horn button and imagining what it would do to my forehead if an abrupt stop occurs.

But back to my Tribute truck. I would suspect a real MASH M 37 or other Korean War hospital truck would have had red crosses on the doors and hood, and I don't want to go "all in" for that sort of detail. Besides, my hope is to someday put a M1919 30 cal on a pedestal in the truck bed. Our army is pretty strict about observing conventions about using medical vehicles in any sort of fighting role. For instance, one snowy day at Grafenwhere, the main US training area in Germany, back when I was a young Lt, on some trail came upon a broken down medical vehicle with a marked trailer, so I hooked them up to my M113 to bring it back in, and when I got back to our bivouac, I was told not to hook up medical vehicles to combat vehicles. No matter how warm and sunny the rest of Germany was, it was always snowing and sleeting at Graf. Miserable place.

Another short story, one day after the Desert Storm war was over, and our EVAC was still open for business, some Canadians who where on their way home, pulled a quad 30 cal anti-aircraft gun trailer up by our maintenance tent, wanting us to weld up something so they could take it back as a trophy. The quad had this one seat, where a single gunner sort of laid back with these big traverse and elevation wheels, which could spin the mount rapidly this way and that. Bad for low flying helicopters, I am sure. Anyway, I was walkiing with our hospital commander, and when he saw the gun being pulled into our maintenance tent, he was livid, and demanded it be removed immediately from our compound. When the Canadians asked for just a quick weld, our CO allowed that, but the quad 30 had to be out of our compound in just a few minutes.

Back now to considering how to mark my M42. Probably something relating to my first duty assignment, A Company, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry, 3d ID.

Glad some rain is finally coming to the awful fires north of me in Tenn. And of course, will close with a picture. Here is an M1 Abrams, one of only I think five of them that were destroyed in the Desert Storm war. This one was towing a damaged vehicle, and the hot engine set off the ammo in the turret bustle, but since the blast doors were closed, the crew was OK.
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