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Steel Soldiers MV of the month 2019 - December VOTE HERE!

Please vote for MVOTM


  • Total voters
    56
  • Poll closed .

patracy

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
14,639
4,817
113
Location
Buchanan, GA
Please vote for MV of the month! Feel free to campaign in this thread, but please keep it here and not via PM.

1. Digger09
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2. Captain Coastie
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3. NY Tom
NY Tom.jpg

4. M1078MAN
M1078MAN.jpg

5. CBrinker
CBrinker.jpg

6. MyothersanM1
MyothersanM1.jpg

7. Mustangsud
Mustang.jpeg

8. Mamabear/Papabear
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Cape Coastie

CWO4 ENG/MSS, USCG, RET.
528
124
43
Location
Sandwich, MA
I have owned my 1984 M923 for about 4 1/2 years now. I included a few pics of what she looked like when I first saw her, no engine or trans, hood in the bed, a little rough. Put the engine and trans from a M936 into her over 2 weekends and got her on the road with only minor bumps. Have done a lot of small projects on her including the recent move up to 1600x20 tires with HEMMT wheels up front. Have taken her to numerous shows and parades in NJ, NH, RI, MA and CT. we have a great group of guys in my club, Granite State Iron Calvery, thanks Steve Cahill (General McGregor) that provide lots of support. Take a look and throw a vote my way if so inclined. Merry Christmas all.
 

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papabear

GA Mafia Imperial 1SG
13,520
2,464
113
Location
Columbus, Georgia
OK, not so much for campaigning, I just think the story of how "Lady Maria" came to be is sort of a combination of events/people and worth telling so here goes:

Around 12-13 years ago I got a basket case M38A1 thru some "wheeling and dealing" and built a new engine, fixed major rust issues (with a couple gallons of bondo/filler), and got the vehicle ready for a good Marine Corp paint job....because it really was a Marine Corp issued jeep.

At that time, I and several friends had a little museum going and wanted to have Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard jeeps all painted those service colors and outfitted with sorta period correct equipment for the year issued.

SO...."My" jeep I decided would be painted battle ship gray since we already had several "Army" jeeps painted and one of the other guys magically came up with a Marine "Mighty Mite" we decided to use for the Marine jeep display.

BUT.....
when my guy painted "my" jeep with the gray primer....my friend Doc saw how neat it looked and begged me to let him paint his GPW jeep gray and represent the Navy in our display and in honor of his Father in law who was a Naval Officer in WWII. (How could I say no??).


With me so far?

THEN....I decided...well OK, I'll just paint "my" jeep Strata Blue and it will represent the Air Force!

My good friend MACCUS here on Steel Soldiers began telling me about his time in the AF as a Forward Air Control Team (FACT) leader and I decided that would be the theme for "my" AF jeep.

BUT....when the Strata Blue paint came in....MamaBear decided to take me to lunch and came to the terminal. We took a quick walk thru and she saw the jeep and she decided it was time for HER to have a jeep....and of course it needed to "pop"!!

SO.....I said OK (knowing that was the only thing to say...since I already had about 16 MVs and the thirst was still there) but it needs to be this color blue so it represents the AF. Her reply was "No...that color doesn't "pop"!!

SO....My mechanic had a blue Nissan Frontier I provided him and she pointed to it and said "I want THAT shiny color with yellow "words"!!😬 AND...she demanded yellow stars!! AND....it needed to be named "Lady Maria"!! (I've come to realize that "Yes Dear" is the appropriate response...even if the other fellers think you've lost your manhood). At least...it wasn't pink!! That's her favorite color!!:eek:

THEN...in our first Veterans Parade we had an Army (Retired) First Sergeant wearing a 101st Airborne cap, driving a Marine jeep, painted Air Force blue. There was a retired Air Force senior sergeant standing on the sidelines and as we passed he shouted "There's something wrong with this picture but thank you brother"!!

OK....I know I'm PW'd.....but when the wife is happy....life is good.🐻
 
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M1078MAN

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
673
894
93
Location
SW Va, Roanoke County
DITTO /\

Ok, let me re-introduce you to Reis the Beast, she is what she is, a 1995 M1078A0 who found me. One among many, who didn't get any gp-auction love. With zero bids, I dropped one on her the last 2 minutes of the auction, not even expecting to have a chance. A few days later Reis the Beast was conceived. There really is no book to help with the birthing process, so I turned to this great and almighty site, STEEL SOLDIERS and my brothers for answers/help. Private FNG M1078MAN was born. Oh so many great ones within SS and everyone's willingness to help continues to be shown by All here. Thank you for all the recommendations and suggestions.

Here she sits at Ft Bragg, a bit rough, non running, but looking to be mission ready once again.
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So the next step was a mad dash to the EUC-OLIGIST, and the pharmacist-bank. Once the I's were dotted/ the T's crossed, the EUC-OLIGIST gave her a clean EUC and title of health. It was just time until delivery. At this point, we hunted for a Doctor to make the large delivery.

This is when I was introduced to some brothers who were trained PA;s in recovery. Mike started her journey, picking her up from Bragg, and protecting her from thieves, For 8 months he kept her, with naught a complaint. After multiple attempts, personal tragedy and even considering parting her out. I heard of this legend, a larger then life dude and Master Mechanic, who I was assured could execute the TO and put lead on target. It didn't take long to figure out who the legend is,
Dr Wes the man Simp.

After consulting with him and his surgical team, he made the call to c-section this truck. This was no run of the mill recovery and the delivery was very complicated due to Reis being located on top of a mountain, with no paved roads during a colossal rain, storms and mud slides. However, through it all, the Dr persevered as he continued the painful delivery dealing with Tornado's, fog, thunder storms and the obvious idiots on the road. Thankfully, after many hours of road labor, I received a call from a buddy, who excitedly said, I'm up the road a few miles and see your truck being towed by a tank of a truck, and on April 18 2019 at approximately 1600 and after 6 hours of hard labor the Dr made the delivery, all 19k worth. Thankfully, his Dr skills, and mighty assistant, the big cam 900/mrap/het with Duke-monster SIMPly allowed him to complete the mission.
My military-hats off to you Wes:

I got her home, a limp, a tire or two empty, trans and electrical problems, drove her 2 miles to the house. Where she has been under the knife. We have made many leeps and bounds getting her mission ready. Again without the outstanding help of named and unnamed brother on SS, she would not be where she is today.

SUMMARY; Reis The Beast is a 1995M1078A0 WTEC II SS 2.5T truck, married to AN/MRC-69V shelter. With this sites help, she will be a warrior once again, serving me as faithfully as she supported the 3ESC 264CSSB. Reis the Beast has given back as she has cost me. Her lights are lite, her motor runs strong, and boy does she run through the gears.

Polished and waxed, [well, not really],.. This is Reis the Beast, she has had a long journey, in a short time. Her drive to show her pride is evident in her return to mission ready, and a well deserved and honorable TOM

dec tom.jpg
 
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CBrinker

Member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
69
10
8
Location
Berlin, Maryland
The supposed story behind my mighty mite, I don’t know if it’s 100% true or not, is that a local guy brought it back from Vietnam in pieces, without the motor, with him and when he got home he just put it in his old chicken house with the intention of reassembling it eventually. He never reassembled it and my friend heard of “an old army Jeep” sitting in a chicken house in the area and he tracked it down and bought it. He then put it back together with a 1.6 non turbo vw Diesel engine and made all of his own adapters and machined the input shaft of the factory mighty mite transmission to fit the vw engine. My grandfather bought it from him a few years later and repainted it. The markings on it are not factory, the numbers were his mvpa membership number and that’s what he marked all of his vehicles with. Now I have it and after it sat in the pole building for over 10 years I got it running and driving again, although it does still need a new injection pump and starter. Here are a couple more pictures of it and a picture of it in our 4th of July lineup at the house.
 

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Gigi

New member
6
6
3
Location
Columbus, Georgia
I was so proud when papabear gave me my own little jeep. He can be a grizzly bear sometimes but I can tame him to be a cute little cuddly bear!!
He has sold many of his army trucks but he says my cute little jeep will never be sold.
I rode in "Lady Maria" in several parades and I have learned what these old army trucks mean to you guys.
I am proud you have let me in the club and I hope you understand why my jeep has to "pop".
I like to look at the trucks every month and I don't expect to win against these pretty trucks but I'm proud papa let me in.
 

Robo McDuff

In memorial Ron - 73M819
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,891
1,516
113
Location
Czech Republic
One page of canvassing and eight contestants .. probably not that bad for the last month of the year with all the festivities and stress.

Remembered to vote in the nick of time .. only to find that the poll is closed already :mad: :mad: :mad:

Ah well, mamabear is waayyy ahead anyway, so getting my vote as well or not does not matter. Can I get a copy of that jeep for my wife as well?
 

Gigi

New member
6
6
3
Location
Columbus, Georgia
I want to thank you all for allowing me to compete with you big boys and a special thanks to all of you who voted for Lady Maria.

Papa left home early and just got back home and told me Lady Maria won and I hope all the Air Force people appreciate her and our win.

I told Papa I want to ride in her again the next pretty day we have and I'm feeling well. I tried to drive the little jeep once but that didn't end well.
 
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