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African Queen 1943 M16A2 MGMC Half-Track
- Thread starter 1943ht
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Mark:
This is awesome first time I have seen it and boy is it good to read. I am sure glad you saved it too I will try to post some pictures of them in use in Korea later tonight when I get home. I am quite sure I have some on a disc. Thanks for serving with me as an Army son of an Army guy. My mom and dad met in WWII she was an Army Nurse and my dad shipping out to the Philippines in 1942 they met in San Francisco two days before he shipped out and she was working in the Army hospital at the Presidio I lost my day to the effects of Malaria and my mom while I was in Iraq in 2006. They were my heros too and I never heard them argue out loud one time in my whole life. I sure miss them too but I know they left a legacy like your parents.
God bless and stay Army Strong.
This is awesome first time I have seen it and boy is it good to read. I am sure glad you saved it too I will try to post some pictures of them in use in Korea later tonight when I get home. I am quite sure I have some on a disc. Thanks for serving with me as an Army son of an Army guy. My mom and dad met in WWII she was an Army Nurse and my dad shipping out to the Philippines in 1942 they met in San Francisco two days before he shipped out and she was working in the Army hospital at the Presidio I lost my day to the effects of Malaria and my mom while I was in Iraq in 2006. They were my heros too and I never heard them argue out loud one time in my whole life. I sure miss them too but I know they left a legacy like your parents.
God bless and stay Army Strong.
1943ht
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ALCON: I have been deployed down-range with my troops in support of OEF since Mar 08. It now looks like we will be extended until Dec 09 so physical preservation work on the “Queen” has been put on hold for a while. That is not to say that I have not been busy gathering items for her preservation and my return stateside. I recently picked-up a beautiful 1944 M10 Ammunition Trailer from my bud and fellow Half-tracker Rob out in PA. Rob has an M3 Half-track that he is almost done restoring. The M10 is original, complete and in pristine condition and was delivered to my storage garage last week. I have had the good fortune to resource the original weapons for the crew, to include a M1928 Thompson, 2 Garand’s and 2 M1 Carbines. Military buds are storing the weapons in a vault until I return from my deployment.
While attending a meeting in Germany in June and by fate and circumstance, (rental car went down and I was forced to go into ground-pounder mode) I discovered a storage shed with three complete Half-tracks and 2 complete Scout-cars (Shed and its location to remain classified gents
). During an evening while others were standing down I was able to swing back to the site to recover and ship home several original equipment items to include radio shelves, ammo racks and all of the little miscellaneous items that I needed but had not been able to locate for my preservation project. The discovery of these vehicles has now become a recovery operation and is being worked regards logistics, legalities etc ... more updates to follow regards that effort.
The "Queen" now has her original working SRC 528 radio system to include the storage box, the BC 606 Interphone Boxes and thanks to my bud Massimo in Italy (His restored M16 is a beauty) a mount with adaptor for the BC 728 early warning AAA receiver. My friend Chris in the UK has done a wonderful job of scrounging Tombstone Ammo Cans and an original NOS Camo net for the “Queen” and he and I both appreciate the convenience of PayPal! I wish the dollar was a little stronger against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro! I now have 4 of my eight required 50 CAL barrels and am still looking for more at a reasonable price of course! I spend what little time free time I get communicating with loved ones, scrounging for HT parts and goodies online and networking with other collectors. As my daughter told me on the phone "Dad the storage basement is full of really musty smelling old stuff in boxes" ... Man, I would "kill" to get a deep breath of that! Hope this update finds all of my fellow "Steel Soldiers" safe and health. Attached a Pic with some of my fellow bubbas currrently serving with me (First Names)..Left to right; Myself, SGT Ryan, LTC Scott, LTC Steve, MAJ Mitch, MAJ Bruce, MAJ Joe .. we took this pose for the Cigar Dave show last Saturday and we were on the show for about 20 minutes .. as I told Dave "We Smoke To Forget"
LTC Mark A.R. Koloc Sr.
CDR 308th CA BDE DET-26
TF - FALCON
While attending a meeting in Germany in June and by fate and circumstance, (rental car went down and I was forced to go into ground-pounder mode) I discovered a storage shed with three complete Half-tracks and 2 complete Scout-cars (Shed and its location to remain classified gents
). During an evening while others were standing down I was able to swing back to the site to recover and ship home several original equipment items to include radio shelves, ammo racks and all of the little miscellaneous items that I needed but had not been able to locate for my preservation project. The discovery of these vehicles has now become a recovery operation and is being worked regards logistics, legalities etc ... more updates to follow regards that effort.The "Queen" now has her original working SRC 528 radio system to include the storage box, the BC 606 Interphone Boxes and thanks to my bud Massimo in Italy (His restored M16 is a beauty) a mount with adaptor for the BC 728 early warning AAA receiver. My friend Chris in the UK has done a wonderful job of scrounging Tombstone Ammo Cans and an original NOS Camo net for the “Queen” and he and I both appreciate the convenience of PayPal! I wish the dollar was a little stronger against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro! I now have 4 of my eight required 50 CAL barrels and am still looking for more at a reasonable price of course! I spend what little time free time I get communicating with loved ones, scrounging for HT parts and goodies online and networking with other collectors. As my daughter told me on the phone "Dad the storage basement is full of really musty smelling old stuff in boxes" ... Man, I would "kill" to get a deep breath of that! Hope this update finds all of my fellow "Steel Soldiers" safe and health. Attached a Pic with some of my fellow bubbas currrently serving with me (First Names)..Left to right; Myself, SGT Ryan, LTC Scott, LTC Steve, MAJ Mitch, MAJ Bruce, MAJ Joe .. we took this pose for the Cigar Dave show last Saturday and we were on the show for about 20 minutes .. as I told Dave "We Smoke To Forget"
LTC Mark A.R. Koloc Sr.
CDR 308th CA BDE DET-26
TF - FALCON
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1943ht
Active member
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ALCON: If you want to listen to that show .. Google "Cigar Dave", go to Theater-1 and select the date of the show 11 Oct 08, first hour .. we were on about half way thru the 1st hour.
LTC Mark A.R. Koloc
CDR 308th CA BDE DET-26
TF-FALCON
LTC Mark A.R. Koloc
CDR 308th CA BDE DET-26
TF-FALCON
- 3,585
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- Parkville, MD
Mark:
I swear I must have had a stogie on that very same porch. Or perhaps it is just one of the thousands that KBR has built around the world. Great story and if you need anything I can send it free APO to APO from here in the land of the morning calm just PM me.
God bless you all.
David
I swear I must have had a stogie on that very same porch. Or perhaps it is just one of the thousands that KBR has built around the world. Great story and if you need anything I can send it free APO to APO from here in the land of the morning calm just PM me.
God bless you all.
David
1943ht
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David, that is a great comment and your observation is right-on, another KBR hut and porch. Good to go here regards goodies... and I appreciate your offer! I do have a question; do you have any access to the Korean equivalent of our MRE's?
txdodge43man
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Keep us up todate with pictures U are on lucky soldier I looks great 
RsqVet
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WOW --- that is a great, great story. Any updates or word on those additional units you located overseas?
vj
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thanks mark i sure like the m16a2, keep up the good work, wendell
jpcj-7
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DMgunn
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Wow, I hadn't seen this before - what a story.
roscoe
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Anything new with this?
KAILUAZ
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Great story for sure. I'm amazed there was a jewel in the armpit of Djibouti.
1943ht
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Update
ALCON: You are so right, Djibouti is an armpit... although open-water sport diving in the Sea of Aden was beautiful... very fortunate that my duty position and mission there (05-07) allowed me much travel and the opportunity to operate in some interesting locations throughout Eastern Africa. Great Mission and many interesting adventures.
Completed my Balkan Mission in APR 09 but was placed in the Wounded Warrior Program at Ft Benning, GA in May … I managed to pick up some Soviet Iron (122mm rocket attack) during a mission on my tour in Afghanistan and the damage to nerves and tendons in my right leg has come back to haunt with some serious consequences. So much for sucking it up for all of these years. I had my 1st surgery in June, 5+ plus months of casts, crutches and OT but the tendon did not recover as expected which forced another surgery (Posterior Tendon Transfer and yes it is as painful as it sounds) 2 Dec. My Civilian Ortho Surgeon is a miracle worker with a squared away skill-set and a fine team. Am hoping that this will recover some “dorsal “movement back into my foot ... the prognosis is marginal but I’m willing to work any options at this point. Will be at least another 5-6 months of recovery and a MEB (Medical Evaluation Board) to determine if I will remain in the Army. I am on 30 days convalescence leave as I write this... pretty much flat on my back and carefully/gratefully munching down those pain relieve goodies that come in a pill form!
I want to put a plug in for the Army, not that they need it from this old soldier. I have had the privilege of serving this great country and my fellow Americans for 31+ years ... from the rank of Private to Colonel and the Warrior Transition Program (WTB) is one of the better efforts that the Army is making to take care of its wounded and injured soldiers... not going to get into all the should of, would of, could of regards the past and what has been done or not done for soldiers. I just wanted to state that in my personal experience, observations and current circumstances, that the Army has stepped up to the plate and in my opinion is trying to do the right thing with this program. Would also say that after experiencing my first OEF tour (03-04) that was not the case! They couldn’t wait to kick my hinder out the DEMOB door ... just got the old "Thanks for your service don’t call us, we’ll call you etc etc etc."
I have not a chance to do any work directly on the Queen since 08 due to deployments... but that does not mean that I have have not been busy recovering the goodies that she would have carried. I just plain love the INTERNET, PAYPAL, and all of the opportunities to Network online! I have collected and recovered most of the tools (jacks, wrenches, grease gun, chains etc), all of the radios, mounts, chest (SCR 528 System) interphone boxes, cables and accessories and yes the radios work and have a complete set of crystals (Robert D’s great restoration work in Houston, TX) I have flashlights, extinguishers, DECON kit, first aid kits, Garand’s, M1 Carbines, Thompson, grenades, ammo cans, spare 50 CAL barrels, tombstone cans (Still need 6 more) CAMMO nets, canvas covers seats etc, many ammo crates, ration crates, backpacks, lots of individual equipment and the Early Warning (Aircraft Net ) Radio System that the Queen would have had during her service in Korea 52-54. I would admit that I crutched out to the garage last night, hooked up the battery and fired her up … she ran great and It was medicinal to hear that sweet roar. 
I was very grateful to have been invited to several Veteran Day events this year ... during one of many events in GA I met a MVP Group out of Columbus GA .. They have a wonderful organization, lots of goodies in their collection and have welcomed me into the fold. They meet on most Saturdays in their shop and it is my new favorite place to be! I have started what will become great friendships with several members and all have been most helpful with sharing advice, their experience and wealth of MVP knowledge. Many are Korean, Viet Nam and Desert Storm Vets.
I have amassed some spare WWII M10 Ammo Trailer Items to include a couple of very complete trailers (without their fuse boxes), they still have their original lights and wire to include skid plates and the wire junction boxes with working switches. They are located in GA for now and if anyone is interested in one, please contact me at mkoloc44@yahoo.com one of these trailers has already been committed to another party
Want to say a special hello to my good friend Wendell from Michie, TN who indirectly encouraged me to get off my sorry butt and post an update on SS's... Wendell is a Great American, A Veteran and has a fine collection of WWII goodies to include several HT’s …
Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it
//R//
Mark
ALCON: You are so right, Djibouti is an armpit... although open-water sport diving in the Sea of Aden was beautiful... very fortunate that my duty position and mission there (05-07) allowed me much travel and the opportunity to operate in some interesting locations throughout Eastern Africa. Great Mission and many interesting adventures.
Completed my Balkan Mission in APR 09 but was placed in the Wounded Warrior Program at Ft Benning, GA in May … I managed to pick up some Soviet Iron (122mm rocket attack) during a mission on my tour in Afghanistan and the damage to nerves and tendons in my right leg has come back to haunt with some serious consequences. So much for sucking it up for all of these years. I had my 1st surgery in June, 5+ plus months of casts, crutches and OT but the tendon did not recover as expected which forced another surgery (Posterior Tendon Transfer and yes it is as painful as it sounds) 2 Dec. My Civilian Ortho Surgeon is a miracle worker with a squared away skill-set and a fine team. Am hoping that this will recover some “dorsal “movement back into my foot ... the prognosis is marginal but I’m willing to work any options at this point. Will be at least another 5-6 months of recovery and a MEB (Medical Evaluation Board) to determine if I will remain in the Army. I am on 30 days convalescence leave as I write this... pretty much flat on my back and carefully/gratefully munching down those pain relieve goodies that come in a pill form!
I want to put a plug in for the Army, not that they need it from this old soldier. I have had the privilege of serving this great country and my fellow Americans for 31+ years ... from the rank of Private to Colonel and the Warrior Transition Program (WTB) is one of the better efforts that the Army is making to take care of its wounded and injured soldiers... not going to get into all the should of, would of, could of regards the past and what has been done or not done for soldiers. I just wanted to state that in my personal experience, observations and current circumstances, that the Army has stepped up to the plate and in my opinion is trying to do the right thing with this program. Would also say that after experiencing my first OEF tour (03-04) that was not the case! They couldn’t wait to kick my hinder out the DEMOB door ... just got the old "Thanks for your service don’t call us, we’ll call you etc etc etc."
I have not a chance to do any work directly on the Queen since 08 due to deployments... but that does not mean that I have have not been busy recovering the goodies that she would have carried. I just plain love the INTERNET, PAYPAL, and all of the opportunities to Network online!
I have collected and recovered most of the tools (jacks, wrenches, grease gun, chains etc), all of the radios, mounts, chest (SCR 528 System) interphone boxes, cables and accessories and yes the radios work and have a complete set of crystals (Robert D’s great restoration work in Houston, TX) I have flashlights, extinguishers, DECON kit, first aid kits, Garand’s, M1 Carbines, Thompson, grenades, ammo cans, spare 50 CAL barrels, tombstone cans (Still need 6 more) CAMMO nets, canvas covers seats etc, many ammo crates, ration crates, backpacks, lots of individual equipment and the Early Warning (Aircraft Net ) Radio System that the Queen would have had during her service in Korea 52-54. I would admit that I crutched out to the garage last night, hooked up the battery and fired her up … she ran great and It was medicinal to hear that sweet roar. I was very grateful to have been invited to several Veteran Day events this year ... during one of many events in GA I met a MVP Group out of Columbus GA .. They have a wonderful organization, lots of goodies in their collection and have welcomed me into the fold. They meet on most Saturdays in their shop and it is my new favorite place to be! I have started what will become great friendships with several members and all have been most helpful with sharing advice, their experience and wealth of MVP knowledge. Many are Korean, Viet Nam and Desert Storm Vets.
I have amassed some spare WWII M10 Ammo Trailer Items to include a couple of very complete trailers (without their fuse boxes), they still have their original lights and wire to include skid plates and the wire junction boxes with working switches. They are located in GA for now and if anyone is interested in one, please contact me at mkoloc44@yahoo.com one of these trailers has already been committed to another party
Want to say a special hello to my good friend Wendell from Michie, TN who indirectly encouraged me to get off my sorry butt and post an update on SS's... Wendell is a Great American, A Veteran and has a fine collection of WWII goodies to include several HT’s …
Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it
//R//
Mark
Last edited:
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im glad your spirits are in great shape and yes those guys in columbus are one super bunch of troopers... keep us posted on your health and the work on that great looking haftract ........
........
moleary
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Mark - I'm sure that everyone here will keep you in their thoughts while you recouperate from the surgeries. Hopefully if you want to stay in the MEB will recognize that your value to the Army doesn't start at your foot and end at your ankle!Am hoping that this will recover some “dorsal “movement back into my foot ... the prognosis is marginal but I’m willing to work any options at this point. Will be at least another 5-6 months of recovery and a MEB (Medical Evaluation Board) to determine if I will remain in the Army. I am on 30 days convalescence leave as I write this... pretty much flat on my back and carefully/gratefully munching down those pain relieve goodies that come in a pill form!
I remember just after I left Bragg we had a Golden Knight (SFC Dana Bowman) who lost both legs on a civilian jump. They medically retired him despite his insistence that he could still do the job. About a year later he appealed his retirement and passed the PT test on prosthetics. I believe he served out the balance of his time in service as a Golden Knights. If you want to stay in you'll surely find a way! (Anyone that can repatriate a WWII halftrack from the Frenchies can darn sure overcome anything!)
Best of luck!
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Sgt Hulka
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LTC, you are THE MAN!!!! Congratulations and thanks!
pwrwagonfire
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Welcome home, and I wish you the best during your recovery!
Be sure to keep us posted
Be sure to keep us posted
halftrack
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Nice to hear from you again Sir! Stay Strong. Wendell is a great American and I am sure his Guard Unit misses him.
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Merry Christmas and glad you have a good ortho team working on you. It's amazing what a good one can accomplish. They're worth their weight in gold. Hope the recovery is speedy and keep munching on the pink pills...the green ones just make you hor.... LOL
Was nice to meet you at Alpharetta show. Wish we could have talked more.
CARNAC
Was nice to meet you at Alpharetta show. Wish we could have talked more.
CARNAC