Veteran's Day Parade - Hillside, IL - 7 Nov 2009

My Dad - 88 years old - wearing his 66 yr old dress uniform.
He was a forward observer - medium artillery - 155mm Howitzers.

Here we are in the parade. Fuzzy picture from my wife's camera.

The 3B ran like a champ. Idling in 1st gear / low range was the perfect speed. Stayed right in sync with ROTC groups in front and behind us. Only had to drop out of gear for parade stops maybe a half dozen times. Piece of cake. Engine temp sat rock solid on 180 degrees. Perfect weather - 65 degrees, sunny and a nice breeze to lift the flags. I had a ball.

My Dad had a great time too. He especially liked pointing right at kids who were waving at him and giving them a big smile. They always responded with a huge smile and a bigger wave.

There were only two other Jeeps in the parade. One nicely restored MB that blew out its starter in the staging area. A bunch of guys pushed it and it bump started OK. The other was a dark blue 3A with a snow plow mount. He led a big Knights of Columbus group.

While climbing in and out of the 3B, Dad commented on how high off the ground it was. I looked at the MB down the line and WOW, it was really close to the ground. Big difference. Even the 3A was noticably lower. I'm wondering what makes my 3B so tall. It can't be just the tires - they're 6.50x16 which aren't that much taller than the standard 7.00x15 NDTs that the military Jeeps have.

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