Com-Central.net

VMMV has posted an article on their S-tanks and a schedule for their June 3 open house:

www.vmmv.org/newltr/nl21.htm

Mark your calendar now for the VMMV Open House
on 3 June. See below for details. All times approximate.
More details to follow in the next newsletter, so check back often!

1100 Narrated Demonstration of AFVs.
Hear the roar of their engines, the clank of their tracks, and the
earthshaking rumble as VMMV brings history to life with its parade of
historic armored fighting vehicles.

1215 The Battle of Iwo Jima.
Our keynote speaker will be Col. John Ripley, USMC (Ret), a Vietnam
combat veteran and recipient of the Navy Cross for action in 1972.
Before retiring, Col. Ripley served as the Director of Marine Corps
History and Museums. He is a student of the battle of Iwo Jima. We
expect that many veterans of that battle will be with us on June 3.

1345 Firepower Demonstration by the USMC Historical Company.
The climax of the VMMV Open House will be a simulated assault by
Marines on a bunker complex using WWII small arms, mortars, flame
thrower and armored vehicles that were used in the filming of Flags of
Our Fathers. This Clint Eastwood film that will be released later this
year.

More info has been posted on the open house, looks like it will be a big Iwo Jima tribute - although I'm sure they will have all kinds of other armored vehicles running around:

www.vmmv.org/ohinfo.htm

"The battle for Iwo Jima will be the focus of the day. The principal speaker is Navy Cross recipient, Col. John W. Ripley (USMC), the former Director of USMC History and Museums. Our distinguish speakers will be Sen. Charles S. Robb and Medal of Honor recipient H.C. "Barney" Barnum, Jr., master of ceremonies. We expect that many veterans of the battle on Iwo Jima will be in attendance.

"Guests will begin to arrive after 10 AM; a narrated demonstration of armored vehicles will begin at 11:00 AM and the formal program begins at 12:15. After an intermission, we will conclude the program with a demonstration of an assault on an Iwo Jima bunker by the USMC Historical Company."

They freaked me out with this "Aden Field" bit, until I discovered thats apparently the name of the airstrip onsite at the museum...

Neil