Frank Waldner of Bismarck wiped off his M151A2 Jeep near the Dakota Territory Air Museum right after a rainstorm went through Minot Saturday morning. He said the rain doesn't hurt the vehicle he just wipes it off.
Waldner's Jeep is one of a number of vehicles and historic aircraft on display at the air museum this weekend during the North Dakota Military Vehicle Collectors' annual show.
The show began Saturday and continues through today, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the museum at 100-34rd Ave. NE north of the International Airport. Admission is free during the event.
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Eloise Ogden/MDN
Frank Waldner, Bismarck, sits in the driver’s seat of his M151A2 Jeep Saturday, which he has on display at the Dakota Territory Air Museum during the annual North Dakota Military Vehicle Collector’s show. The show began Saturday and continues today.
This is the third year Waldner has taken part in the military vehicle show in Minot. The Vietnam War-era Jeep has a delivery date of 1970, Waldner said. Waldner, who retired from the National Guard on Jan. 17, 2008 also his birthday said restoring the Jeep then was his project.
Donations for Honor Flight
All donations taken at the air museum during the weekend event will go to the Roughrider Honor Flight, said Don Larson, president of the air museum's board of directors. Based in Bismarck, the Roughrider Honor Flight provides World War II veterans a free flight to and from Washington, D.C., to see the World War II Memorial built in their honor along with seeing other memorials.
The military vehicles show was organized by Ken Yuly and Lyle Torno, who started collecting vehicles in the mid-1990s.
The first two shows were held at the Yuly farm west of Ruthville. Yuly said air museum board of directors members Warren Pietsch, Duane Haugstad and Larson came to the second show at the farm on a cold, rainy day and suggested they bring the show to the air museum. The show was held at the air museum the next year.
"It's a win-win for everybody, and a great partnership," Yuly said.
"We're always happy to have the show here," Larson said.
On the average, Yuly said the shows have about 65 vehicles on display.
He said this is the second year they will be giving show awards. The awards include several categories: Pre-World War II, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm.
He said the winners get plaques. They take a picture of the winning vehicle and incorporate it on the surface of the plaque. The name of the vehicle's owner and the award division also goes on the plaque.
Affiliated with national group
The N.D. Military Vehicle Collectors Association's parent group is a national group, the Military Vehicle Preservation Association.
"I would say the majority have been restored," Yuly said of those vehicles being shown this weekend in Minot. "The guys do nothing but great jobs for color schemes correct to the period." The vehicles are in running condition.
Vehicles for the show already were being delivered to the museum this past week, including two Korean War-era vehicles. This is the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
The Korean War-era vehicles are a 1952 1/4-ton M-38 Willys Jeep and a Dodge 3/4-ton M-37. Yuly said the M-37 was used to haul troops and supplies.
"It's bigger than a Jeep and smaller than a truck," he said. Both vehicles are owned by Dennis Sundby of Underwood.
A 715 3/4-ton Kaiser Jeep pickup, owned by Lyle Torno of Minot, has been sitting on the west side of North Broadway, across from the new Westlie shop, where people can see it advertising the military vehicle show.
"I started (collecting) with one of those 3/4-ton Dodges and moved into smaller one-quarter-type Jeeps. It's been a wonderful trip and it made me a better mechanic," Yuly said.
1st time in show
A vehicle which has never been in the show before is being displayed this weekend. It's a 1935 1 1/2-ton Chevrolet truck, and it's the oldest vehicle in this year's show. Yuly said they got it from a farmer north of Minot, near the Canadian border.
"It's a U.S. CCC truck U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps," Yuly said. He said there was no information with it but they found the correct license plate for it with the Department of Agriculture stamp.
"It's very nice, very unique," he said. "We've been like voices in the wilderness putting it together." He said they were able to find three pictures from the State Historical Society of North Dakota in Bismarck and also a 1935 news reel to help with the restoration project.
He said the truck covers a great deal of history. He said CCC trucks were allocated by the Department of Agriculture, handled by the Army and then converted in 1940 when a governor was put on them for war use. A governor, or speed limiter, is a device used to measure and regulate the speed. "All military trucks have governors on them," he said.
John Pitner and Dwight Fyllesvold, both Minot, are working with Yuly to restore the CCC truck.
The average year of vehicles in the show is about 1940, Yuly said. He said the newest ones are from the 1970s and 1980s, which were used in Desert Storm.
The N.D. Military Vehicle Collectors Association has close to 70 members in the state, Yuly said. He said their vehicles run the gamut from newer types back to the 1940 prototypes.
"You don't have to have a vehicle to belong," he said.