Meet America at 30 miles per hour - June 25, 2009

By Sgt. 1st Class Mark F. OunanJuly 1, 2009

The road has become kind of a home away from home for those of us on the convoy. We find interestign ways of staying ocmfortable. And thanks to the guys at the Hormel Factory in Fremont, Neb., we now have enough Spam to last for awhile - great...
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The road has become kind of a home away from home for those of us on the convoy. We find interestign ways of staying ocmfortable. And thanks to the guys at the Hormel Factory in Fremont, Neb., we now have enough Spam to last for awhile - great surviv... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
A Nebraska Army National Guard recruiter talks with a pair of visitors to the Gretna Middle School Parking lot, June 24, as the Military Vehicle Preservation Association makes a stop in Gretna, Neb. The MVPA is retracing the route of the U.S....
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A Nebraska Army National Guard recruiter talks with a pair of visitors to the Gretna Middle School Parking lot, June 24, as the Military Vehicle Preservation Association makes a stop in Gretna, Neb. The MVPA is retracing the route of the U.S. Army's ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Don Chew, Brighton, Colo., talks to a group of visitors while making repairs to a canvas tarp on his 1917 Four Wheel Drive truck in the Gretna Middle School Parking lot, June 24. Chew is a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association...
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Don Chew, Brighton, Colo., talks to a group of visitors while making repairs to a canvas tarp on his 1917 Four Wheel Drive truck in the Gretna Middle School Parking lot, June 24. Chew is a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association that ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The following was written by Sgt. 1st Class Mark F. Ounan, an Active/ Guard infantry Soldier currently assigned to the 324th Military Police Btn., Chambersburg, Pa. Ounan is also the only current Soldier and Military Vehicle Preservation Association member taking place in the 2009 MVPA Convoy. Here's an exert from the journal he's keeping as he travels cross-country.

We left Gretna, Neb., this morning and continued on the Lincoln Highway toward Schuyler, Neb. Along the route we made a stop at the Hormel Factory, Fremont, Neb. There we were presented with 20 cases of Spam as well as official Spamgear hats.

We then continued on to Schuyler, Neb., for our lunch stop, and finally to Grand Island, Neb.

We were hosted by the Grand Island Veteran's Home there. This was a real treat because we were able to park our vehicles on the grounds close enough so that residents, many of whom were in wheelchairs, all came out and reminisced with us about driving these classic kinds of military vehicles.

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