Vontinglers post got to me.... As I stated in his thread, I am finishing up a Power Point presentation for my Grandfathers service and I thought I would share a few of the pic's... Grandpa is a vet of 3 wars and was in the service for 31 years. He gave me his fully decorated uniform just before p***ing and it means alot to me. We owe these heroes of the military EVERYTHING. Without them I couldn't sit here, with this nice computer and talk to my friends about the love of cars! Grandpa is basically the person who got me into cars... He was the first person that I ever saw change his own motor oil... (he still did until his health got bad). He gave me my first car (1970 Chevelle). It was his car and when he gave it to me in '89 for my 16th birthday, it was a real treat (it had 47,000 miles on it). At the time everyone at my school was driving new mustangs, camaros, porshe's and every other typical high school 90's dream car.... At first, before I understood the value of old cars and the cool factor of them, I was thinking "why can't I have one of those cool new cars". But it didnt take long before I realized that my little Chevelle could basically whoop up on all the cars in school... Grandpa gave me a few pointers and after replacing the carb, having the motor beefed up, running a better exhaust system and so on.... At the time this was all foreign to me. I was just a 16 year old kid looking for a ditch, ramp or cool curb to skate on... I was not yet a car guy. 2 weeks later I had already gone through the new set of tires that grandpa has put on the Chevelle just before giving it to me.... It was on like Donkey Kong!!!! I have loved cars every since. Thanks Grandpa! HC Grandpa was in the US Calvary before the army took him... He was stationed in El Paso and had a horse named Juarez....
It looks like he would slip across the border with his Calvary buddies on the weekends... Grandpa liked a drink in his younger days.... When he and his brothers were busted for making moonshine, he went into the Calvary to avoid a boy's home...
Grandpa in Okinawa... I have some of the souiveneers that he got while in Okinawa... they mean alot to me!
Living in California...He called his car "the Purple People Eater" I guess the song was a hit at the time...
Thanks for letting me have this O/T post... hopefully some of you enjoied it... Thanks Grandpa.... HC
cool pictures hankcash, I wish I had some pictures of my Grandpas, my fathers father was everything from a boxer to an early union organizer to a theater actor and a hard working blue collor lineman. my mothers father fought in WWI the war to end all wars, I remember seeing pictures of him in doughboy uniform with a bucket- holding a parachute! they would train to jump out of big *** Ford Tri-Motors by jumping off a platform with a 'chute in a tin bucket! no safety lines or nuthin' just jump! after the war he worked on several dams in the Northwest during the depression and worked many years on the waterfront in Seattle running the biggest crane on the Westcoast. a couple real men. here's to all the grandpas out there, we owe you everything, thank you. Paul
"GrandPas" were made from better stock in those days...Great tribute,HC.... My GrandPa and his parents,who were Castilian Spaniards,had a ranch in Mexico...He still remembered, and cursed the thieves who stole his favorite pony...he cursed those bandits til his p***ing in 99...some of you may have heard about Pancho Villa and his gang....
Yesterday we welcomed home some of our troops. This is from our local newspaper. "Sgt. Anthony Allen, a Gulf War veteran, stood at the corner of M-20 and Main streets waiting for his friends to come home. "I know 90 percent of them," Allen said, while waiting for the 1460th convoy to make its way over the Karl Robertson bridge. "Im just so happy they are home and well." As the convoy topped the bridge, police sirens blared. "Look at that, a motorcyle brigade," Allen said as he spotted the Forgotten Eagles Motor Brigade, which led the three motorcoach buses that brought the troops home. As the buses p***ed, faint images of the soldiers could be seen through the darkened windows. There were lots of horns honking, clapping and cheering"...... Later in the day there was a parade in their honor. ....."A Vietnam veteran turned and said, "What a difference 36 years makes," as the soldiers walked by to whoops and hollers.
Excellent post, HC. Those pix are worth more than any amount of money you could ever want. I often tell people I live my life in a way that would make my grandfather proud, and if more people looked at their own lives and asked themselves if their grandparents would approve of what they are doing, this country would be a better place. So, whenever you see one, thank a Veteran. Especially Vietnam Vets, they didn't (or don't) hear enough of them. Jay
Cool pictures. It's good to have a sense of history and appreciate your family. I have some nice photos of my dad when he was in the Air Force. Maybe I'l dig them up one day soon. I have picturesof him and his buddies parked on Daytona Beach -- holding girls above their heads! So cl***ic and funny. I wish there was another photo of the Purple People Eater.
[ QUOTE ] I wish there was another photo of the Purple People Eater. [/ QUOTE ] I asked the same question.... There is another pic of it and my mom is gonna dig it out for me I will post it if she ever finds it.... HC
Those are some cool pictures man! I really love seeing old pictures like that. Makes me wanna live each day to the fullest....Knowing that each day I am surrounded by the setting for a future "OLD picture". I've been do***enting my life quite a bit since I got this here digital camera....hopefully somebody will give a rats *** someday. VT.
[ QUOTE ] ....."A Vietnam veteran turned and said, "What a difference 36 years makes," as the soldiers walked by to whoops and hollers. [/ QUOTE ] Yup, no parades but they gave us free eggs... Good on ya for doing this for your Grampa
This is a great post! I'm lucky enough to still have both my grandfathers. One was in the navy for 27 years as an airplane mechanic on carriers, and the other was a railroad man for years. Neither one is a car guy, but it's still great to just sit and listen. One of my best story memories was when I got a chance to meet a great uncle of mine. I sat and listened to him tell stories of train hopping and trying to find food and work during the Depression. The only reason I stopped was because it was 12:30 am and he had to go get some sleep to leave early in the morning. I went from meeting a stranger to being completely captivated and unable to move within 10 minutes! It's really sad that so many in my generation (25) don't care to listen to their own history. Every year we lose more and more first hand historians.
I wish that I had the time to tell you guys all of the stories that my grandfather had told me.... Here are a couple of my favorite memories.... When I was a little kid I would play in the sand box in my grandparents backyard for hours. I would dig around in the sand looking for gold.... Grandpa would come stand around where I was digging and drop change down his pants leg into the sand by where I would be digging. I would get so excited when I would find the pennies and such and it took me a long time to realize what he was doing.... When I finally did figure out what he had been doing, I didn't say anything to him or call him out on it... I would just play along and dig up the change... Finally, one day I was digging in the sandbox and grandpa walked over and said "what are you doing"? I said "looking for pennies". He started dropping pennies in the sand and after I dug a couple of the up I then looked up and said "no, I meant Quarters, I am looking for quarters"! I don't remember saying that, but I do remember hours of digging for gold. Apparently my little comment was funny to him, cause he brought it up till' the day he died... Other memories... Grandpa was a cook for some time in the army and he made Chuck Yeager's breakfast for him on the morning he broke the sound barrier. Grandpa caould remember exactly what Chuck ate that morning... After breakfast, everyone went outside to watch the attempt. Grandpa said that when they heard the sonic booms, everyone bowed thier heads, cause they thought the plane had exploded. They realized seconds later what had happened and supersonic speed was achieved. Grandpa was there! He also traded a German soldier a Mickey Mouse watch for a set of Hitler's dinner knives just after the war had ended and he was stationed in the area where Hitler's bunker was (the bunker Hitler died in). He gave me the knives and I pull them out every once and a while as a reminder of where we have been and what he had been through for us to be free.... The knives are very cool... Hitlers personal insignia on them and everything... Last one... Grandpa was in a deep conversation with one of my uncles about meat, cattle and Butchering methods. My uncle brought up how much he likes cow's tounge. My grandfather looked at him (as serious as can be) and said... "I would never eat anything that came out of a cow's mouth.... but I LIKE EGGS"!!!!!! Cl***ic- HC
Cool stuff man! My dad has been in the Air Force for 38 years... It's great to see how Americans respect people who are in the military... I'm in the Dutch Air Force myself... Overhere, people just look down on us as if we're useless pieces of ****...
If you can read and write ... thank a teacher. If you live in the US and read and write in ENGLISH ... thank a soldier.
[ QUOTE ] If you can read and write ... thank a teacher. If you live in the US and read and write in ENGLISH ... thank a soldier. [/ QUOTE ] well said! HC
great little o/t post hankcash, you really have someone to be proud of. Reading your post reminded me of my grandfather, John Doran 18883-1985, who was one of the most bad*** mechanical engineers of all time. He worked for GE,and he and another guy designed the turbine engine, No ****. Until World war two he had designed the biggest machine in the world, the con-ed generater that powered NYC. He also worked with a team of other guys on the Manhatten project. But as a car guy he had a Valient, what are ya gonna do?
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