May 2, 2010
Marine Corp author Ed Gilbert spoke about the early mechanization in WWI and the interwar years (e.g., King armored cars, improvised armored Jeffrey Quads, Marmon-Herrington tanks); a bit on evolution of landing craft (BuShips “beetle boats”, etc); how lessons learned impacted mechanization in WWII; and the changing mechanization during the war years (changing types of tanks, trucks and amtracs). He also presented a slide show with many photos of Marine Corp vehicles in WWII and autographed copies of his book, “Marine Corp Tank Battles in the Pacific”.
Tim Weitz brought a USMC jeep and Ward Boyce brought a ’42 Willy’s MB.