Monday, May 26 marked Memorial Day, a day set aside for reflection and remembering those who have served in our country's armed forces. But the Idaho Military Vehicle Preservation Association spends its entire year remembering the past and working to preserve it.
The further you get away from an event happening, the easier it is to forgetErik Kunkel, Club Quartermaster
“We sit around and talk about history and how to maintain vehicles.”
Eric Kunkel is the Club's Quartermaster. He says the club has a very simple goal “to educate folks about the historical importance of how vehicles in the military impacted and influenced world history.”
Any vehicle is welcome to “Idaho's largest military vehicle show and swap meet” which is coming up in Caldwell June 5-7. And he says they’re expecting a big variety.
“Everything from World War I on up to present day. And we use those vehicles to reach out to the community,” said Kunkel.
He points out the show is not like being in a museum, instead you get to walk up to and touch history.
“You actually get to hear it fire up. You actually get to smell the exhaust,” and Kunkel said “all of a sudden turn a key or push a button and it comes to life. It growls and … it's just a really good feeling.”
He says each vehicle tells a story.
“You get to see the way that the manufacturing and technical skills were … of our country in the past.”
All the vehicles are privately owned and maintained. Kunkel says it's a labor of love to keep these pieces of military history alive.
“What we're trying to do through these vehicles is not let the sacrifice that the men and women who built these vehicles and used these vehicles, what they gave up and went through,” Kunkel said.
