I remember as a kid going to parades, displays, shows, etc, and seeing some guy or group of guys with Really Cool Stuff - whether it was a classic car, military vehicle, airplane, cannon...
Yesterday, I realized I am now "that guy" to some kids. And a few envious adult males, too... heheheheheheheh.
As the Rotary Technical made its way to our slot in the Leavenworth Veteran's Day parade, we passed a float full of kids, and one of 'em sang out with "Swwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!" while looking at the Vickers (shown here all kitted out for the several ad-hoc classes conducted while waiting for our turn to start down the route).
Gotta love Leavenworth - driving from the Castle to the Riverfront Community Center and thence to the line-up spot, we passed cops in cars, cops on foot. And they all waved, no one reached for his pistol or grabbed his radio... I should add that the Leavenworth Rotary Club sponsored a pancake breakfast that morning as a fund-raiser - but disabled veterans (on their word, no other proof required, though for at least 3, wheelchairs spoke loudly) got breakfast for free. Not surprisingly, probably about a quarter of the club membership would qualify on those grounds... this *is* Leavenworth, after all.
The Veteran's Day parade here is huge for a town our size (I think). 35K in population (and since males outnumber females, I'm guessing the prison population is in that count). We had over 170 entries in the parade. And an entry might be one vehicle or 15. It takes 2.5 hours to run the whole thing through.
The weather was excellent, the turn-out was great. We started with a fly-over by two F-16s from the Iowa Air Guard, one being piloted by a Leavenworth High School graduate, and then the parade started. We had mounted units, bands, youth drill teams, lots of classic cars carrying vets.
The local Patriot Riders showed up, with an interesting take on POW/MIAs.
The 35th Infantry Division showed up, with some recent OIF returnees.
We had artillery! And firetrucks!
Halfway through the parade, at 11AM, everything came to a stop, and they played Taps.
After that, my crew did their "dash 10" PMCS checks (especially on the trailer), and we loaded up the ammo into the Vickers.
Then off we went. The Order of Rotary, Militant, went over well with this crowd. Many were the murmurs and exclamations of awe, interest, and envy. Only one disapproving pinch-faced Blue Stater (in spirit, anyway). Much was the disinformation given by men to their women and children. I learned that I owned a Gatling Gun, a water-cooled .50 cal machine gun, a Maxim (which is true, I do own one, but this isn't it... though it *is* a derivative), to a Browning M1919, and perhaps the best was the one who confidently told all around that it was a Mark 19 belt-fed grenade launcher...
A couple of people stayed with me for a city block, taking pictures. They didn't *look* like ATFE agents...
Oh, and there was one kid who said - "So that's what Santa does on his time off!"
I have no idea what prompted that.
A good time was had by all, and I've been told I'll do it again next year. Mebbe instead of the Vickers, I'll mount the M18 57mm Recoilless Rifle... and I apologize to my Aussie visitors - I know the block on the slouch hat is execrable.
14 Comments