The National Museum of the Army

August 31, 2015 by
The Nat. Museum of the Army will break ground at Fort Belvoir Virginia later this year.  US Wings is proud to be a Grassroots Volunteer as an advocate for the National Army Museum.  US Wings will assist in the Museums mission to reach millions of citizens and Army veterans to share the good news about the Museum and ask for support to make the Museum a reality.    The Foundation needs to reach or exceed $200 million to ensure the Museum is fully funded.
Individuals, organizations and corporations across America can help generate funds to build the Museum.  “We are growing a network of grassroots volunteers and each volunteer has found his or her own way to advocate for the National Army Museum,” explains Beth Schultz Seaman, Director of Grassroots Development.
The National Museum of the United States Army will celebrate the selfless service and sacrifice of over 30 million men and women who have worn the Army uniform since 1775. The Museum will be a technological marvel incorporating the latest advances in Museum exhibitions while providing advanced educational opportunities that will capture the attention of visitors, old and young. As the Army’s national landmark, the Museum will honor the American Soldier; past, present, and future, and will provide an interactive educational experience explaining the Army’s role in creating and defending our nation, as well as the Army’s social initiatives and contributions to society for more than 200 years. The Museum will also provide one special and central place where Soldiers and Army veterans and their families can reflect, remember, and enjoy the enduring spirit of Army camaraderie.
The National Army Museum will be located on 40 acres on the grounds of beautiful Fort Belvoir, Va., less than 30 minutes south of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C. The main building will be approximately 175,000 square feet and display selections from 16,000 pieces from the Army Art Collection and 50,000 artifacts, documents, and images. The vast majority of these rare and priceless artifacts have never been seen by the American people. Outside this facility will be a park with a memorial garden and parade ground. Space is being planned to accommodate ceremonies, reenactments, lectures, educational programs, conferences and reunions. The Museum will welcome an estimated 750,000 visitors every year.
Please join US Wings in becoming a Grassroot  Volunteer to help promote the National Army Museum.  You can host fundraising events such as barbecues, raffles, auctions, and carnivals.  Use the Museum brochure to encourage any who have Army family, to honor those Soldiers through the Registry of the American Soldier. If you would like to donate to the museum you can click on: Campaign for the National Museum of the Army.
If you’d like to read more, the link is here.
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Sgt. Hack & The Light Pole at Portage and Northampton Roads

August 25, 2015 by

The Light Pole at Portage and Northampton Roads

Sgt. Hack Recruiter 1970

One method he tried remains  44 years later to this day, on display for thousands of commuters that travel daily on the Portage Trail West extension.  Below is a photo of the poster taken April 18th, 2014 with Sergeant David Hack at the Light Pole on the southeastern corner of Northampton and Portage Trail Roads. Working with the Bob King Sign Company of Akron Ohio, Sergeant Hack, using his own funds created a poster which he glued to this light pole in July 1970.

Sgt Hack 44 Years Later
Sgt. David Hack, a young maverick Army Recruiter, opened a new recruiting office in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio in July 1970.  Eager to continue his success as the #1 Recruiter in the United States, Sgt. David Hack created many new untried methods of reaching potential enlistee’s.
The poster is still visible. This novel approach coupled with “ Sgt. Hack Wants You for the US Army” T shirts, custom painted vehicles: a 1960 Corvette and a M151 US Army Jeep, and NHRA and AHRA affiliations, Sgt Hack maintained his position as the # 1 Recruiter in the country until his retirement as SFC David Hack.
The M151 Army Jeep, affectionately known as the HACKMOBILE, can be seen at the Don F. Pratt Museum at Ft. Campbell Kentucky.  Sgt. Hack was the Recruiter of Choice for the 101st Airborne and the HACKMOBILE was designed after their representations.
If you’d like to read more, you can check out the original blog post on Sgt. Hack’s newest blog!
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The Hackmobile, the U.S. Military’s first Custom Vehicle

August 20, 2015 by

The Hackmobile was the U.S. Military’s first custom painted vehicle. Today all branches of service have highly decorated vehicles they use in their recruiting.  In 1970 that was not the case.

                                    Still Hacking It
Story by SSgt. Cecil Stack
(reprinted from Soldiers Magazine, February 1986)
In 1970, an olive-drab Army jeep cruising Akron, Ohio, highways probably turned few youngsters’ heads. However, an Army jeep painted red, white and blue, sporting fluorescent “U.S. Army” letters and serial numbers, chrome rims, 16-inch tires, red vinyl seats and paratroopers silhouetted against a sunburst snapped those heads right around.
“I got a lot of slack-jaw stares, laughs, and oohs and aahs,” said retired Army SFC David D. Hack. “I took the jeep to fairs, schools, drag races and any other place with crowds.”
As an Army recruiter in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, an Akron suburb, Hack used the jeep as a way to meet young people. “As a recruiting tool the jeep was fantastic,” Hack recalled. “It broke down the communication barrier between me and the young men. They wanted to see me, and during the Vietnam War not many young men wanted to see an Army recruiter. We talked about cars, girls, school activities and, of course, the Army.”
The “Hackmobile” worked. His recruiting station’s enlistments jumped from 13 in five months to 62 in the following four months. The jeep and Hack were a twosome for two years. However, the 101st Airborne Division broke up the team in 1972 when it wanted its jeep back.
About a year later, the team’s other half left the recruiting business. Hack was medically retired from the Army because of problems with a Vietnam War wound. Hack never saw the jeep again, until he visited the Fort Campbell, Ky., museum last year — 13 years later.
“The jeep basically looked the same, but over the years the paint had chipped and the top had rotted and become tattered,” Hack said. “I asked the museum’s curator about refurbishing it. After a few months and several letters, I received permission to do it.
“So I returned to Fort Campbell and took it back to Ohio. Because of the jeep’s historical value, it couldn’t get a quick repaint. So what could have taken several days took a couple of months. The body shop had to match the colors and then paint and repaint until the chips were flush with the original paint. We also replaced the top.”
Hack paid for the 1970 customizing and the recent refurbishing. Now that the restoration is finished, the jeep is back on display at the post’s Pratt Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing the jeep again brought back a lot of memories for Hack, especially the adventure of how he got the jeep the first time. “I thought it would be neat to customize an Army jeep and use it as a sales tool,” Hack recalled, his blue eyes growing larger and his face widening into a smile. His look had just enough tease to make any young person want to take the Army challenge. “I remember calling Fort Campbell’s post sergeant major and asking for a jeep. His first response was ‘No way, Jose.’ A couple of weeks later I called again and asked if he had changed his mind. He hadn’t. I called a third time and asked when I could have my jeep.”
The sergeant major must have either thought Hack would keep asking until one of them PCSed, or he liked the idea of the division’s name being seen by thousands of people. Hack got his jeep.
“A captain and sergeant drove the jeep to a Colorado, Ohio, inn. The captain told me: ‘I’m not supposed to ask any questions. I’m only to give you the jeep and not know anything about this.’
“Everything was fine until the division commander saw the jeep on a newsreel about two years later. The problem was he liked the idea and wanted a similar jeep to help recruit soldiers into the 101st. The sergeant major told him the jeep was his, so he took it back.
For the next three years, the jeep toured Kentucky and surrounding states promoting the 101st Airborne Div. In 1975, the Hackmobile was finally retired from the recruiting business. The jeep was returned to the division’s Company D, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry.
“The jeep was almost lost forever,” said Paul Lawson of the post museum. “The company commander had the jeep in his inventory, but couldn’t drive it because of the customizing. He needed the jeep, so he was going to restore it to its olive-drab paint and standard equipment.
“We found out about the problem and got him to transfer it from his inventory to the division’s S-4 shop,” Lawson continued. “They in turn transferred the jeep to the post’s headquarters company who declared it excess and donated it to us, and we declared it historical property.
“The jeep stayed in the museum on exhibition and left here only a couple of times for exhibits until Dave asked to take it back to Ohio.”

Please help US Wings support the new US Army Museum at :  www.armyhistory.org.

If you’d like to read more, check out the post on Sgt. Hack’s newest blog here!

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