Veterans

Your Main Forum For Discussing 1:18 Scale Military Figures and Vehicles.
don
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Veterans

Post by don » Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:01 pm

I'm just wondering how many veterans are here? What service were you with? What specialty? Where have you served?
Do you think your military service affected your collecting military figures or perhaps did collecting military figures affect your joining the military?

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Not a Veteran, but...

Post by tmanthegreat » Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:23 pm

Wish I was one, though! Being in the armed forces was always an unrealized dream of mine, but due to some physical defects (aka somewhat bad eyesight and a few other things) the military wouldn't accept me. I have come to realize that collecting XD may on some subliminal level be a way that I compensate for that desire. However, with the military option out of the question, I have chosen to serve my country in various other ways. Still, I have respect for all veterans from WWII all the way to the current Iraq conflict. Thank you.

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Post by corpbob » Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:42 am

U.S. Army Mililtary Police, 1977-1980, Alabama and Germany.

I was a WW II and armor buff prior to joining the army, so I'd probably be collecting the same stuff regardless.

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Post by Threetoughtrucks » Fri Oct 15, 2004 9:31 am

I was in the Army, 64-67. Three year enlistment and extented my enlistment one year in order to serve a full year in Vietnam. First I served a year in Korea 64-65 (1st Cav). Toughest 18 months of my career was in Texas before I got a break and volunteered for Vietnam. Sorry Texans but I never believed you could be up to your butt in mud like glue and have sand blow in your eyes.

I grew up on war movies, war TV shows (Combat, Gallant Men) and built every scale model tank and truck I could find. Even a few planes. I was so brainwashed by war books, movies and TV that when I enlisted the Army wanted me in a tech job but I enlisted for and insisted on Infantry. First light weapons and then heavy weapons (mortors, machine guns). I loved it. Until I went to Korea and realized that I was not John Wayne and if I got shot, I wasn't going to get up when the director called "Cut, print it". A life changing decision. I got a tech job.

Been into 1:1 military trucks and have had at least one for the last 30 years (3/4 and 5/4 tons) but I have owned part of a CCKW and Dodge 1 1/2 tonner. My buddy owned a White M-16 half-track he converted to a M-3. Lots of fun. Also into 1:18 and 1:6.
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...

Post by macvsog » Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:50 pm

I did one tour in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne as a Second Lt. combat platoon comander.

I then recieved a battlefield comission to 1st Lt. and started my second tour with MacVSog (CIA) special operations.

I was in the A Shau Valley the entire time and entered active combat duty in very late 1969. In my two tours, i had only 33 days of non-combat rest.

I was wounded twice, both relatively minor. Got shot once in the knee getting off a huey, and got shot again in the side on ambush. I was back in just a few days after each.

I was medically retired 2 months short of finishing my second tour. However this was more of being mentally-medically retired.

To be honest it was the best time of my life... i really do wish i could do it again. Not because i like war, but because i feel bad about what happened there. I'm not really afraid of death anymore seeing as i have lived a full life in my own opinion, and i think i could do a better job now.

I think collecting has grown from my service, as i told GP on the old board, it is a kind of therapy for me. I lost 20 of the boys in my platoon, most all of which were the same age as my sons. I think collecting is a way of almost... not forgetting the past. From the day i got out of vietnam until only a year or two before i found GP's i never talked about being in the army. My wife and children had no idea i was in the army until the last few years. Now, i like thinking about it, as is good for me to not pretend like it didn't happen.

I think collecting for me... is a way of changing the past, as the hardest thing for me was leaving Vietnam and then watching it fall on T.V. The natives i knew over there truely didn't want to be taken over and they really did want us there, even if Hollywood and oliver stone is trying to tell us something different.

So, for me, collecting whether WWII, Vietnam, Modern or whatever, it is a way of connecting back to the past. To maybe work out in my head the guilt i feel for having left Vietnam having not done the job i feel i was suposed to do.

I don't want to pretend like i didn't do the things i did, and collecting helps that. It helps to have contact with the things that are hardest for you. Or for me at least.

Collecting makes me feel like a part of a group of people in history.

I know if i had not been in vietnam, i would have never started collecting. Ever.

Further more, it is nice when people ask questions on this board about... what did they wear or do in vietnam. Because hollywood is really far off. Since "platoon," everyone thinks that rape was just a standard part of that war. I'm sure it happened, but i never did it, and if i ever saw someone doing it they would have been very, very sorry. But i never saw anyone ever do it or even think about it. We never killed civilians, ever, but we did kill lots of bad guys. Yeah, we threw people out of helicopters in MacV, but they were all bad.

And I'm sure a lot of you will read that and say, "that is a bad man to do that." And maybe you are right... i dunno.

But the 1:18 stuff i collect wont ever judge me for vietnam. I never killed a baby, but i got called a baby killer many times. My 1:18 corsair wont ever call me a baby killer. Do you guy know what i mean?

And so, collecting helps me contact the past and keeps it in my mind, because just forgetting about it really doesn't help me. And by collecting, maybe i can tell someone who wasn't there about what it was like to be there and they can learn and expand themselves.

Collecting is a way of learning about the past, and if we don't do that, we will just repeat those mistakes. Collecting is one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Whats funny, is now that my son is home from Iraq (he was also in the 101st) he has begun to take an interest in collecting, when before he had no interest really.

I really do believe that collecting is therapy.. and it works for me at least... and it is an objective representation of a part of the past.

Also, please don't think that I'm trying to put people with other views down. If you think Vietnam was wrong, i think thats really just fine. And i have very good friends who were draft dodgers and protestors. We just disagree on it, and thats just fine.

My point was not really about Vietnam, as it was about collecting helping out in a way many wouldn't ever think about.

-mike-
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Post by Rylau » Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:50 pm

Feb.'67-Feb.'69 RVN July '67-July '68. 11B10 1st Bn.2nd Inf. 1st Inf Div. E-5 Always liked toy soldiers,knights,spacemen,etc. Been collecting vintage toys since about 1980.

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Thank You!

Post by CW4USARMY » Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:01 pm

First Off, I would like to thank Mike and all the other vets who have so bravely and proudly served and protected our nation. Especially those who served in Vietnam and had to put up with a nation in turmoil when they came back.

I have been in the Army for 18 years now (2 more to go) and served in Desert Storm with the 3rd Armored Division and have also served in the 82nd Airborne Div, 24th Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Division (Korea), 108th ADA BDE, 1st COSCOM and Chief of training at RSA.

I never started collecting military figures and vehicles until the first time I saw an ME-109 (original) at ToysRUs and bought it. I've been hooked ever since. There's something about the level of detail at a 1:18 scale that I just cant get enough of. Only problem now is that even though I have a room just for my toys (um.....highly articulated and collectible military action figures and vehicles :D ), it is full and I am now having to leave my new additions in the box in a closet :cry:

I am grateful to GP for having his website (it was the only one I could find when I became hooked on XD). I also sincerely thank P-51 for carrying on with this new website and especially all of you who keep our community informed, entertained and hopeful of new things to come!

VR,

Andy

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Post by Teamski » Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:34 pm

I'd like to tip my hat to all of the Vietnam vets as well. What you guys went through was something to behold. I'm sure the guys in Iraq would have a lot to exchange with you! SO many thanks for what you did for all of us!

I am a 15 year MSgt in the USAF. I supervise maintenance on C-5s here at Dover AFB. I used to be stationed at Travis AFB, CA and spent 7 years over in the UK working on special operations MC-130Ps and MC-130Hs at RAF Mildenhall.

My interest in the military and collectiong goes all the way back when I was 5! My dad wasn't military, so where I got it from, I don't know. I knew then that I would be a soldier when I grew up. I was obsessed with Baa Baa Blacksheep and the Corsair for the longest time as a kid and my interests kept me out of trouble. I just really liked aircraft, so the USAF was the only way to go for me. I spent 6 1/2 years in CAP and got my Spaatz award in 1987 (when you make cadet Col) and went on to join the USAF in 1988. I started collecting military patches when I was 10 years old (I have over 3500 in my collection now) and got heavy into medals in 1991. I even had a USAF Medal of Honor in my collection at one time.

XD collecting came about when I first saw the P-51 and 109 in pictures on a forum when I was over in the UK. So, when I got sent back to the states in 2001, I got what I could (and even got a P-51 and 109 from the 21st fan club when they actually had them!!!!) and I've been hooked ever since. Now they are a disease that has spread to every cell of my house.......

-Ski
[url=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2869983520050168193AYuxRR][img]http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/8785/2869983520050168193S600x600Q85.jpg[/img][/url]

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Post by don » Fri Oct 15, 2004 5:10 pm

I too would like to thank all the veterans who have served this great nation. I've been home from Iraq almost 6 months now. Spent a year in Baghdad with the Ut ARNG 1457 combat engineer battalion, working under the 1st Armored Division. I too hold a special place in my heart for Vietnam vets. The old codger master sgt I worked for had also served in Vietnam, he never really talked about it, but he sure knew his shit. I would not have wanted to go through those times without him.
Lt macvsog, Im glad to hear you sound proud of your service. Im sure Im not the only one here who are damn proud to know you and gratefull for your service. Tell me, what do you know about the Military Order of the Purple Heart? A freind of mine told me about this organization, but I don't really know what they do? I was wounded last year, caught some shrapnel off a roadside bomb. Minor, I was lucky...

As far as collecting, I have collected star wars figures since I was a kid. I was 6 when the first SW movie came out, so it seems like it has always been there. I also collected some gijoe stuff during the 80's, but never really liked how non-military they seemed. I dumped all my joes on ebay a while ago. Focused on SW collecting and customizing. I think it was the active service in Iraq that drew me back into military collecting. I love the realistic modern figures and have started cusomizing them. I have been gathering props like ammo cans, fuel cans and mini-girly-magazines to try to deck out a couple of BBI hummvees to like like they might in Iraq today. I havnt been able to find 1:18 scale bottled water so I may have to attempt to sculpt and cast that myself.

So my recent interest in 1:18 military figures sort of explains why I am new to this community. Hope to get to know you all, maybe trade, maybe just see your customs and learn from you.
Yours in patriotism.

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Post by macvsog » Fri Oct 15, 2004 9:27 pm

I have never really heard anything about the Military Order of the Purple Heart. What do they do? I personally didn't keep my medals... not that i didn't want them or anything... i guess they just were not very important to me at one point in my life.

I gave them to some kid who lived near me who was interested in them and i figured he wouldn't destroy them.

Also, let me say that, it isn't needed to thank veterans... or at least me. I have never said, i wish people would thank me for what i did... And don't think any veteran has ever really thought that. It was just a job, it was just a time in my life, it was just something that you did. Like highschool. Don and Ski and three tough trucks and the rest of you know what i mean. You just put your head down and look forward. Never look back, its not a safe thing... you just keep looking forward, don't look back... always look to what is coming.

Don, i hope your wounds healed well. What i always hated about larger "bombs" and the such was the feeling it always gave me in my chest and sinus'. I always felt... sucked out. Very unpleasant.

I really do believe that collecting promotes understanding. I mean look at all the people on the board who are advancing their knoledge base so dramatically. Think about what people could understand if everyone had the level of interest we have? I mean collecting isn't about toys or just collecting, but for me at least, every time i get a new piece i get to learn volumes about that specific piece. When i see new pieces being produced, the first thing that comes to mind is that i need to go get 4 or 5 books writen about that piece... whether a bird, or armor, or grunts.

i just love how much we get to learn from collecting... its really the only thing you have when you get older as life seems to have turned out to be a narrowing process for the most part. if that makes sense.

-mike-
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Post by KAMIKAZE » Sat Oct 16, 2004 8:53 pm

macvsog,

Very interesting story.One of my best buddies was a Marine sniper in
Nam.He told me stories of the huge ants that would bite them all over
their bodies when on station and that they never traveled the trails because of the danger of ambushes and mines.We have talked for hours
about their trips into Laos,Cambodia,and even North Viet Nam!My hats
off to your guys who served over there.It took a lot of balls to go into
an area you new was going to be crawling with the enemy.I passed on military service because I have a problem with authority figures.I Hate them!But in a weird sort of way,I think I would have probably liked it over
there.I know,sick right.I guess I'm just a war monger.Thank you and all
vetrans like you that have protected our country for so long.

Mark
I'm a legend in my own mind.

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Post by Threetoughtrucks » Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:17 pm

I knew a lot of guys who served in VN. Some of them went over there as war lovers and came back as a dove. My service didn't change me, I was and still am proud of my service. I knew a lot of VN civilians, mostly farmers and from small villages. I found that the average civvie had no concept of our life here AND they didn't care about us and our freedoms. They also didn't want the VC around either. All they wanted to do was live by themselves and raise their families. Made sense to them. They didn't have a "big picture" of the world. No TV, no newspapers, no electricity, no running water - nothing that we take for granted. , but they were happy to be left alone. Unfortunately for them, nobody left them alone. Nice people, when somebody didn't make them shot at us.

We are damn lucky to live in this country.

End og commercial.

TTT
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Post by Jagdflieger » Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:45 pm

US. Army... 26 years 1973-2000
US Army Security Agency and Military Intelligence.
Different places.. US, Germany, Panama, Haiti, Bosnia, Korea.
Airborne

Got into 1:18 when I saw the Winter Bf109. BIG WWII Aircraft Fan... specifically Geman Aircraft... VERY SPECIFICALLY Jagdgeschwader 27.
Jagdflieger

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Post by grockwood » Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:14 pm

I was in the USAF from 1981 to 1985. I spent two years at Maxwell AFB in Alabama and two years at Ramstein AB in W. Germany. I had built tank models since I was thirteen , but joined the Air Force so I don't think building and collecting military models had an influence.

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Post by grockwood » Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:25 pm

I was in the USAF from 1981 to 1985. I spent two years at Maxwell AFB in Alabama and two years at Ramstein AB in W. Germany. I had built tank models since I was thirteen , but joined the Air Force so I don't think building and collecting military models had an influence.

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Post by Gordak » Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:59 pm

8 hours in meeps, before i found out the scars on my back needed to be investigated further, pushing my ship date too far into College....

A very wimpy excuse, SO Im not really a prior service type,
But I do want to say to all the VN vets, I really admire you guys,
Heros through and through. I Will never forget your service, and Ill always make it a point to make sure everyone around me knows the great deeds you guys did, in serving our country.
I am VERY proud we have VN vets on our board, that is GREAT!
THANKS AGAIN!!
-Gordak

p.s. Not to leave the peace timers and Iraqi wars guys out, Im Very proud and greatful to all of you!
-Gordak

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Veterans Day

Post by don » Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:13 pm

Happy Veterans Day. Thanks to all who have served. Please, everyone, take a moment today to think about those whos lives are on the line this very hour.

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Post by Jericoeagle1 » Thu Nov 11, 2004 2:31 pm

I was in the Air Force from 1980 thru 1988. I was a boom operator on KC-135 Refueling Tankers for the entire time. I really loved the job as it allowed me to travel with out being stuck at one place for too long. I have built models my whole life that is until I started collecting XD a few years ago with the first tanks and airplanes.

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veterans

Post by stv9000 » Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:40 pm

I was in the Navy 87-93. 3 ships Saratoga, Kalamazoo, and the Spruance.
I was on 3 Med. cruises (6 month deployments) and the fourth time I was in the Med. was for about 9 months for Desert shield and Desert storm.
My rate was EW (electronic warfare). I got married in 92 then left the Navy in 93 to start a family. No way I was going to have kids being away
so much. I have seen what that can do. I do miss it from time to time.
You can't beat making a destroyer "disappear".

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Post by DocTodd » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:23 pm

Thank You to all the Veterans-Happy Veteran's Day! My Father served in Korea and my Uncle was a sharpshooter in WWII. My dad says he killed alot of Germans but my Uncle won't talk much about it. I have several friends/ clients that served in WWII. It is incredible to hear them talk about it and yet at the time they did not give it too much thought they just did what they needed to do. An impressive bunch. I hope that as a country we can continue to fight evil and stand for what is right instead of worrying about trivial things. Collecting these planes and armor helps me feel more connected to the history of our country and the sacrifices that have been made for all.
Todd

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veteran's day

Post by 75th Ranger » Thu Nov 11, 2004 9:29 pm

Proud Veteran
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOOAH!
I'm a proud US ARMY RANGERS 3rd bat. veteran.
I jumped in the invasion of Panama, 89', did two rotations with the UN to Haiti 95-96'. I did a long tour at the DMZ, Korea, 91-93'. And many more stuff.

I love figure collecting and I like realism.
take care,
HOoAH!

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Mil Service

Post by airforcecop67 » Fri Nov 12, 2004 7:14 am

I started out as an 0311 Infantryman in the Corps. First duty station was Marine Barracks Guam, M.I. followed by a stint with the Walking Dead in Lima 3/9. I did 11 months at Range 214, mostly as Pitt NCOIC and finished my active time with Kilo 3/1. Did a WestPac in 89 aboard the USS Belleau Wood, LHA-3. Hit Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, the P.I. Hawaii, and Okinawa. Awesome float! Even got to see the Russkies a few times although they were usually in an Trawler shadowing us, but did have a Ka-27 put on one hell of a display for us one day. It was a pretty aircraft.

Volunteered for Desert Storm, but never made it further than Camp Pendleton before the war ended.

Enlisted in the AF Reserves (long story) as a Cop in 96 and was on duty by 1 p.m. (AZ time) on Sept. 11. Deployed to Bahrain in 02 and Kuwait in 03. Got to Kuwait 5 days before Iraqi Freedom kicked off. It was a damn busy place, but other than a few Scud inbounds that never made it past the Patriot Batteries, it was quiet for most of us. Spent a few days in full MOPP though. Always nice to see the A-10's and Hornets go out with live warshots and come home with empty pylons. The Hogs kicked major @ss!

Anyways, the curse of age and an undetected genetic defect is wreaking havoc on my vision and the AF has no use for a half blind Cop, so Im on the way out.

The old man did his time in the Navy, two tours to Nam in 66 & 68, and a tour to Beruit in 83 aboard the USS New Jersey. Grandfather and Great Grandfather were Army and I had a Great Uncle at Henderson Field working on Wildcats in WWII.

The family paid the price on March 23 03, when my cousin, Corporal Randal Rosacker USMC was Killed in action in the vicinity of An Nasiriyah.

Semper Fi buddy!
"When the enemy is in range, so are you!!"

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Post by Threetoughtrucks » Fri Nov 12, 2004 10:40 am

My story is elsewhere in this thread but you guys are mentioning family. I have six uncles, five served in WWII, but only one would not talk about it. He was combat infantry from D-Day to the end. He never got over his experiences, died a drunk...sad. My other uncles were like me, they never stopped talking. Two uncles in Korea and one brother-in-law with me in VN. He was a Marine, don't talk much about his service but now is a minister, that speaks volumes about his service.

Our service effects us differently, like any other major experience in our lives. Like 9/11 effected us all, in one way or another. My son's long time girlfriend's father worked on the 107th floor of the Trade Center, gone. They were a super family, ripped open. My son (FDNY) was at Ground Zero for four weeks looking for survivors, attended funerals for a year. Six guys alone out of his firehouse, gone, nothing left to bury. My son went from a kid to a man in four weeks. He still loves the job. As a matter of fact, he started me in this hobby, buying me a 1:18 Command Car one year.

TTT
Sometimes I am the windshield, sometimes, I am the bug.

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Veterans

Post by 5ohsinker » Sat Nov 13, 2004 7:58 am

Hi,

I know I'm late in doing this but just got off a 48 and didnt have access to email. To all veterans and especially the veteran's on here, thank you for your service to our country. No matter what branch you served in, where or when you served, thank you. God Bless you and keep you and your families safe.

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