Posted on 02/18/2005 12:29:49 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Mission resident Richard Kemp is used to people stopping and staring at his Madeline.
The 53-year-old, in fact, relishes the attention he gets when people ask him about the companion that he has shared his life with for the past 11 years.
Of course, this one doesn’t spend money.
She just demands it.
Lots of it. About $90,000.
Madeline is no lady; she’s a tank. A 1944 olive-drab Sherman tank with twin diesel engines that rattle when she starts up. She doesn’t purr like her successors; instead, she lets out loud gurgles and burps — symbolic of an era when military machines were less about stealth and more about utility.
"She gets loud," Kemp said of the tank, which he named after his mother several years ago.
Kemp began restoring Madeline nearly 11 years ago, after he saw an ad in the Military Vehicle Preservation Association’s magazine, Supply Line.
"It was $30,000, and $5,000 for the freight," he said of the initial investment.
Madeline’s parts have been imported from across Europe and Asia. In fact, Madeline’s engine was originally used on a Sherman in Russia during World War II, Kemp said.
Of course, Kemp said he didn’t know it would take him 11 years to rebuild her.
"It looked like junk," he recalled. "But I was told all I had to do was put it together — like a puzzle."
Several puzzle pieces (and $60,000) later, Kemp is driving Madeline in local parades and military air shows.
He’s also taking her out to her first battle re-enactment this weekend in Doss, a tiny town northwest of Fredericksburg. He left this morning for the five-hour trip.
The re-enactment will commemorate the Feb. 23, 1945, raising of the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, immortalized in one of the most famous photographs in history. A Rio Grande Valley Marine, Cpl. Harlon Block of Weslaco, was one of the handful of Americans who hoisted the Stars and Stripes that day, but he was killed in action before the battle was over. This year is the 60th anniversary of the battle, which secured the strategic island for Allied forces in 1945 near the end of World War II.
The event is organized by the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, the only museum dedicated to combat in the Pacific Ocean. The museum is often referred to as the Admiral Nimitz Museum, named after Chester Nimitz, the Fredericksburg native who commanded U.S. naval forces in the Pacific during much of the war.
Organizers are expecting more than 300 re-enactors from 22 states including Ohio, Florida and California. There’s also expected to be 80 re-enactors from Japan.
The battlefield will also include several Japanese pillboxes, or concrete defenses the Japanese used to secure limited safety during the battle; a dozen World War II aircraft; and 50 military vehicles, including tanks, halftracks and flamethowers, said Helen McDonald, the museum’s assistant director.
Michael Faubion, a military history professor at the University of Texas-Pan American, said historical re-enactments like the one this weekend are important because they bring history alive.
"History in a textbook can be really boring," he said. "(History) comes to life with re-enactments and makes it more interesting than just words on a page, which can be really abstract."
Of course, re-enactments can never compare to being there to talking with someone who was, he said.
"It’s never as realistic as possible," he said. "But it’s just as relevant and important."
The 36-day battle for Iwo Jima was one of the Pacific theater’s most deadly. Only 1,000 of the 20,000 Japanese defenders survived, while 6,000 Americans were killed.
Most people think the battle was over when the U.S. flag went up on Mt. Suribachi, Faubian said. However, Americans didn’t secure the whole island until three weeks later, March 16.
The re-enactment also honors Iwo Jima veterans like Donna resident James Bell, then a Marine corporal who was shot in the head during the battle.
Bell, 81, was saved by two sugar packets he placed between the lining of his helmet and the metal. When the bullet hit his helmet, it glided through the sugar and out the back of the helmet, grazing his hair, now snowy white with the passage of time.
Bell is expected to be one of the speakers at the five-day event. The patriotic spectacle also includes a parade, USO-themed musical and the battle re-enactment.
This will be Madeline’s first appearance in a re-enactment, Kemp said.
"I just hope it doesn’t rain, I don’t want the OD to run," he said jokingly of the tank’s olive drab paint. "I just don’t like for it to get wet."
As for the drive, Kemp said, it won’t be too bad — most of the time people just stop and stare.
"The real fun is at the checkpoint," he said, coyly. "All those Border Patrol agents want to see it."
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Dulcinea Cuellar covers entertainment and features for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4427.
Richard Kemp tapes a towel around the barrel of his restored 1944 Sherman tank while getting it ready on Thursday morning for today’s trip to a Fredericksburgevent recognizing the Battle of Iwo Jima. Kemp’s tank, which took him about 11 years to restore, will play a part in a historical re-enactment of the famous conflict on Saturday and Sunday.
Iwo Jima Ping!
I do not know a lot about the battle, but I am curious.
Were there tanks used on Iwo Jima? It seems unlikely.
"Were there tanks used on Iwo Jima? It seems unlikely.
"
Yes, there were, and on both sides. Google "tanks iwo jima" (skip the quotes) and you'll find out more. Some of our tanks mounted flamethrowers, and were pretty effective. Tanks received a lot of fire as they landed on the beachhead.
It's amazing what you can find on Google.
Yes. While not invulnerable to Japanese anti-tank fires (delivered with artillery pieces and naval guns concealed in caves) and buried explosive charges, they were highly effective bunker busters. Marines liked them, especially the flame tank variant.
Just what I need for Houston rush hour traffic.
Yes there were.
"Just what I need for Houston rush hour traffic.
"
No air conditioning, though....mighty warm in August, I'll bet.
"Just what I need for Houston rush hour traffic.
"
No air conditioning, though....mighty warm in August, I'll bet.
Hatches open and a small fan.
I'm sure CNN would be horrified by that image today.
Hey buddy, got a light?
I'm jealous.
Re the battle for Iwo Jima..estimates are that over 25,000 USAAF lives were saved when B-29s' damaged during the raids over Japan, used the emergency airfields on Iwo. Indeed, just as the flag was going up on Suribachi, a badly damaged B-29 ditched in the ocean alongside a destroyer that was shelling Japanese positions. The entire crew was rescued..
Ten years ago, I was in japan and flying out of Tokyo's city airport, Hanaida.
In the waiting area was a Shinto priest and a few older gentlemen in suits with medals pinned on. I asked some one what the big deal was and they said the 50th anneversary of Iwo.
It was strange. 50 years earlier, we would have been at each other's throat.
Since that time, I've read "Flags of Our Fathers". This is the true story of the 5 Marines who raised the flag over Iwo. Should you want an excellent read and a good over view of what happened there, I highly recommend it.
I also recommend "Flyboys" which is the author's follow up to FLags about bombing runs on a sister isalnd to Iwo.
Had I read that before seeing the old Jap soldier, I might not have been so respectful, regardless of their age!
Didn't they tow fuel tanks behind them on Iwo?
I know the British put a slightly larger cannon on some of the Shermans (a 3 pounder, for the weight of the shell?) and called it a 'Fire-fly'. And they rigged them for the D-day landings for special functions: mine flails, bridging: "funnies" I think they were called. For a while in N. Africa, Rommel didn't have anything to match it. Then the Russian T-34 came along and the German Tiger.
What a great tank!
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