On Sat, 27 Dec 2014 18:02:37 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 27 Dec 2014 09:56:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
He took me on a lot of his trips around the state to visit his local
state park and ski resort managers, compliment them on their good
work, get in some fishing (and observing) and by the way show that
he
was always paying attention to detail, like if a vehicle
suspiciously
needed tires too often.

You got the talk, eh?

"Son, just because my GTO has a 389cid with a six-pack on top, a
Borg
Warner T-10 close-ratio gearbox, and a 4.11 posi rear end, =doesn't=
mean that when you borrow it..."

Dad never owned anything like that. My high school buddies, the sons
of doctors and lawyers, had the hot cars.

Oh, I thought you were referring to his catching you doing burnouts
with his car. g (Mine, either, BTW. His hottest was an Austin
Healey 100-4 he raced in Autocrosses and Gymkhanas, and it's on that
very vehicle which I honed my auto-mechanic's eye teeth.) My hottest
was a 1970 AMC Javelin w/ a 390cid putting out 400+hp and 425+ft/lb
after rebuilding with a mild cam. That was a very, very fun car.


He was watching the purchase records for state-owned vehicles to catch
people selling the tires. Corruption was very limited in NH, the
ambitious crooks just moved to Massachusetts.

OK, got it. Good for your dad!


He knew the tricks because his Air Corps company had been in the South
Pacific where "repurposing" government equipment without authorization
was standard practice, to gain an edge on the Japs and improve the
primitive living conditions. The natives in New Guinea had no money to
buy stolen goods so MacArthur looked the other way and sent
complaining supply officers home for "combat fatigue".

Way to go, Mac!


Their Officers' Club had a beer chiller made from a misplaced Jeep
engine. His first mission on arriving in the Phillipines was to drive
his Jeep onto an 'available' cargo plane for a two-barrel booze run to
Manila.

Ingenious!


http://wargamer.com/article/3437/his...-5th-air-force
Accounts vary on whether the Dutch B-25 bombers were reassigned or
stolen.

Good story/great man! Was this your dad (wrong name), or did he just
know him, or what? He sounds a lot like Pappy Boyington. (loved that
TV series, ya darned college kid.)

My dad flew a Mitchell in several missions over Germany and France,
then was shot down over France and held in a stalag for 10 months,
'til the Russian tanks rolled over the fences.

--
Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they
become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety,
fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, de-
cisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.
--Brian Adams