Steve Black

Why had I not heard of this before? Thanks for sharing and it was interesting read. Steve

I have bought quite a bit from them over the years and never had any trouble with any of it. Steve

Threads like these just leave me in a state of wonder. The things you are able to do are beyond what I think I could ever do. Please keep us informed of your progress, it has been incredible to read so far. Steve

Why is there never cool stuff sitting around my town? Someone need to invent the time machine and soon.

We used to build the Airfix ship models all the time. We would make all kinds of modifications though. The hull in certain places would be thinned out so you could almost see through it and then we would build a little plastic box and place a Lady Finger firecracker inside the box, add an extra long fuse that came out the stack. We would then put in bulk heads that rose almost to the top of the hull. The rest of the ship was built normally and painted the best we could following the instructions. A small hole was placed on each side of the stern and fishing line was fed through the holes. We would get an older brother to drive us to a pond and light the fuses push the ships out into the pond and wait for the explosion, well pop. The hull would crack or a small hole would be blown in the hull and the ship would start taking on water. They looked like a ship sinking and once it went under we would pull them up, take them home, do damage control, and load them back up and head back out to the pond. It was great fun. Of course we started with Black Cat firecrackers and that blew the hell of the model so they were a one time deal, no salvaging those. Many of our airplanes ended up in lots of pieces from firecrackers. Oh to be young again and to have cheap models to blow up. Steve

I have been lucky to work in a few parks where Mr Adams took photos. In fact I work with one person now whose mom was photographed by Ansel in the early 1940's. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4309795734_40af277513.jpg He is quite proud of the photo and took him mom out there when she was quite old and photographed her in the same place. He has both photos side by side so all can see. Steve

For almost my entire adult life I have worked for Uncle Sam. First as a Huey mechanic, which was fun for a while, then and for the last 24 years I have been working for these guys http://www.nps.gov/index.htm. I started off at almost the bottom of the ladder and have worked my way up to being the superintendent of a few different parks. I absolutely love it as it has taken me around the country and back again. I get to meet people from around the world and work in places people take vacations in. I truly can't think of a better job for me. Steve

I too look forward to seeing it, don't know when it will be, but hopefully soon. I have not been to the Tank Museum since 2001 and it was an incredible day for me and seeing this will make for another special day. Steve

Just curious, but what is it made of and what type of engine does it have? Steve

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I wonder how this museum is faring with the war crashing all around it? I do hope it had not been looted. Steve

Archaeology has been used to disprove so many myths about what happened on the field of battle or to reaffirm oral histories. Little Big Horn is a prime example of that. It is a wonderful tool when under taken by trained professionals and it is something us amateurs can help in. Being part of a survey crew under the guidance of an archaeologist can be very rewarding in helping to understand, retell or confirm history. At one battlefield I worked in a James Rifle shell was found. It had been fired but did explode. That gave us all a lot to ponder. It was taken back to the lab and x-rayed and it was found to have no charge inside. It was either a case of a manufacturer defrauding the government or very lazy employees circa 1861, but it helped us develop a new story to tell and showed that some things never change. For me as a historian by training and fortunately by trade I have had a wonderful career so far telling the stories the archaeology has brought into the light. Steve

An opinion on this topic from the other side of the pond: Having worked at three protected battlefields as either law enforcement or as a manger, here in the States, I have a view on picking up items that I would like to share. This also may be comparing apples and oranges, but they are my thoughts gathered over a life time of working at and visiting battlefields in North America and Europe. The United States has not fought any modern wars within its boundaries. Yes, there was action in the Aleutian Islands and Hawaii in World War II, but for the most part our battlefields are from the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War and the Indian Wars and are older than the general tenor of this thread. The battlefields here are like the ones anywhere else in the world. People fought and died. Equipment was left behind and generally the land was returned to what it was used for before the battle took place. What makes the site now special is what happened there. It is no longer just the Jones farm, it is now where people gathered and fought for something that they believed in. There were thousands of battles, skirmishes, clashes and engagements fought here in the 18th and 19th century. The overwhelming majority of these are small and not protected by the community, state or federal governments and some have had all traces of the action that took place there removed by urbanization or other means. Most are in the hands of average citizens who may or may not know what happened on the land that they own. Some go through great lengths to protect what they have there; others will let anyone in with a metal detector to scavenge. Some sites, like the three that I have worked at are important enough or were scenes of large battles that they warrant federal protection, but that also makes them targets of people wanting to either make some money or have their own personal collection of artifacts. For years I have people call up and say “I just got a metal detector, can I come out to the park to use it?” At least they would ask and I would explain why they could not come to the park to do that. The ones who did not ask were the ones we have to watch for. I worked in a park where we caught one person, in camouflage, digging at night because he knew it was illegal. His pits and dig spots covered a wide area causing a lot of damage and he ended up going to prison for three years. The reason we do not let people dig on federal lands here is that history is taken out of context when it is done. We learn so much about how a battle moved and progressed from where we find items in the ground. I find it fascinating that you can tract a person around a battle by the spent cartridges that are left on the ground. Allowing people picking up cartridge cases, bullets and other debris of war take away that part of the story. Of course, the huge 20th century battles in Europe where millions of rounds were expended would make something like we do here much more difficult, but who is to say that future generations will not have better techniques for archaeology and they will be able to learn from what was left behind and make new discoveries. To me is does not matter if the skirmish had only a few dead or the battle had tens of thousands killed, leave it where it lay. Steve

I'll have to see if the wife is up for a road trip. Seven hours in not that far away. Steve

Both your uniform collection and your Ford are very impressive. I would love to see them in person. Steve

Believe it or not we still have a CJ-3B where I work. We can only use it in the summer as it is usually below freezing here until late May. Steve

I have not been there in ten years but I do hope to go next year (planning a trip with a bunch of friends). I was just in awe with the whole place. I had never seen a WWI tank before and to see one and then another left me in a state of wonderment for the rest of the afternoon that we were there. I do hope my trip goes through and this time I will bring my camera. Steve

I was there about 7 years ago and loved it. If they have changed it as much as everyone says they have I will not be headed back. Shame. Steve

My name is Steve, I don't own any MV's but have wanted one as long as I can remember. My wife even supports me getting one as soon as we get enough land. I live in Arkansas (now) but I have moved much for work. Looking forward to reading post and working for the day that I can actually say, I own that. Steve Black