Here is some of the background on my vehicle.
I will start with another photo of it - that should give you some idea.
1SG Lloyd "Bud" Lindeman was a Battle of the Bulge infantry veteran. He told me that when he returned from WW II he started a feed business here in town. He had a farmer that owed the business some money, so he went to collect it. The farmer did not have the money, but Bud saw this jeep sitting in the timber and agreed to take it as payment for the bill.
Bud loved his jeep and spent many hours trying to fix it up. Of course, back in those days there was no internet so it was a pretty formidable task. When his wife, Doris Jane, died Bud moved into a retirement home. There was no room there for his jeep - so he gave it to me. I have spent a bunch of money to make it the way it is supposed to be - with a few exceptions. For instance, the "USA number" on the hood (not visible under the snow) was applied by Bud. It is his service number. As long as I have the vehicle, I will always be explaining how that number could be a valid number for this vehicle. I have "BUDS MB" personalize license plates on it. Yes, I have had to correct people when they say "Bud, what is an MB?" First I tell them about Bud - and then I explain what an MB is. My vehicle will always be Bud's MB.
Anyway, the second photo (as well as the first photo) was taken at Bud's funeral on December 1st, 2018. That is me in front of Bud's jeep at Present Arms. We had a very large turn out of the Color Guard for Bud's funeral. We had more than we could use, but everybody there wanted to be a part of it. One of the "extras" was taking photos. When he gave me the photos, I asked him what kind of special "camera stuff" he did for the photo of Bud's Jeep. He said he just pointed the camera and pushed the button, that is the way it came out.
It was raining very hard before the funeral started and as I was moving the jeep from The Armory to the cemetery. It stopped raining and starting snowing as we were waiting for the funeral procession to arrive. It was not a good day, but I kept thinking about Bud at the Battle of the Bulge. He always had trouble with his feet. He spent time in the hospital after the battle before he was able to return to the lines. I know for a fact the boots I was wearing were far better than Bud ever had at that time - and I would only be there for a brief time. Yeah, that makes a guy think.
Please vote for BUDS MB. I know he would appreciate it.
A very young First Sergeant.