A love of military hardware and his family’s military roots inspired longtime kamaaina and former County Councilman J. Curtis Tyler III to own historic military vehicles. A love of military hardware and his family’s military roots inspired longtime kamaaina and
A love of military hardware and his family’s military roots inspired longtime kamaaina and former County Councilman J. Curtis Tyler III to own historic military vehicles.
His father, Joseph Curtis Tyler Jr., was a pioneer in the design of the first completely automated coffee-processing facility and a Navy officer who survived the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Tyler, 66, followed in his father’s footsteps by voluntarily serving in the Navy during the Vietnam War. His great-great-grandfather fought alongside Revolutionary War patriot Ethan Allen for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, one of the first American victories.
Tyler was born in 1946 and lived in Keauhou before his family moved to a home in Kailua-Kona, where Uncle Billy’s Kona Bay Hotel now stands. At age 9, he learned to drive in the backyard and his first vehicle was an M38 jeep. Tyler fondly recalled off-roading through the coffee lands and to beaches, a tradition he has carried on with his own family.
As a Hawaii Preparatory Academy student, Tyler was fascinated by the convoy of military vehicles that regularly rolled through Waimea from Kawaihae. Ex-military vehicles were present throughout his childhood because for a considerable period following World War II, weapons carriers, jeeps and half-tracks were knocked around on farms, in forestry, on construction sites and used for hauling, he said.
“OD, olive drab, runs in my blood, and my son has inherited it,” Tyler said. “My wife also appreciates the military vehicles. In fact, she owned the first civilian V6 Jeep, yellow, complete with large tires and roll bar, in Kona during the late 1960s.”
Tyler owns two jeeps: a Korean War-era M38 and a Vietnam War-era M151A2. He is one of the roughly dozen military vehicle enthusiasts in West Hawaii.
While there’s no official Big Island club, this informal group regularly participates in parades, community events, dedications and veterans ceremonies, where they voluntarily drive veterans, active-duty servicemen and distinguished commanders or set up educational displays for the public.
“We do it to honor the sacrifices of veterans, including those who were killed in the line of duty, and the men and women now serving,” Tyler said. “We owe a debt of gratitude for their selflessness. They served with tremendous courage, pride and honor, protecting this country and the freedoms we hold dear. Participating in these events is a way to say thank you.”
Several enthusiasts belong to international groups like the Military Vehicle Preservation Association or International Military Vehicles Collectors Club. A more formal organization could be created locally if someone volunteered to do the paperwork and serve as secretary, Tyler said.
Still, the group is looking for more members interested in preserving history through the preservation and restoration of military vehicles. Benefits include enjoying camaraderie through convoys, trail rides, camp outs, parades, shows, community service and events, as well as introduction to people who share similar interests and assistance in finding and restoring vehicles. The group is also planning an event in commemoration of Memorial Day, said Kona resident and fellow enthusiast Henry Williams.
“We hope to inspire others, especially the next generation and veterans coming home, to carry on this tradition,” Tyler said.
People get interested in historic military vehicles in different ways, Williams said. For some, it’s because of their experiences in the Armed Forces or their childhood. Others always dreamed of buying and driving a military vehicle or just like the challenge of restoring antique, unique vehicles.
Williams, 68, never served in the military, but he has collected military surplus items for most of his life. His collecting career began at age 12 when he purchased a vinyl canopy cover for a World War II-era F4U Corsair fighter. In 2000, he went online, usually to Government Liquidation’s auction site, for pumps, generators and tractors to run his Seven Stars Kona Coffee farm.
His passion for military vehicles likely started at age 9, when he learned to drive an old jeep on his family’s ranch in Corning, Calif. He owns four military jeeps: a 1942 Ford GPW, a 1964 M151A1, a 1961 Russian-made East German GAZ, and a Vietnam War-era M151. He also has a rare High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV, that was sold as surplus in the early 1980s.
When Kona resident Gage Allen was 6 years old, his father, Doug, presented him with his first vehicle: a 1951 M37 weapons carrier.
“It was in really bad shape; basically all that was left was the shell,” he said. “My dad told me very seriously that we were going to restore it, this was not going to be an easy task and that I was going to learn a lot, not just about vehicles and mechanics, but also myself. In the end, he promised, it would be all worth it.”
For 10 years, Gage and his father restored the truck every weekend, and an occasional weekday when he was allowed to skip school. Gage said his father served in the Coast Guard for four years when he was assigned isolated duty on Kure Atoll. A crane operator and marine diesel mechanic, Doug owns roughly a handful of historic military vehicles.
Now an 18-year-old Makua Lani Christian School senior, Gage described the experience as “very rewarding.” It united him and his father, bringing them even closer together. Wherever it goes, Gage said the truck is a magnet for veterans, who often share their moving, personal stories, something that brings him “satisfaction and honor.”
“Historic military vehicles are a piece of history that not just preserve, but give back in so many ways,” he said.
To get involved with the group or for more information, call Williams at 937-6574 or email haftrk@aol.com.
