TIFTON — Tifton native Buddy Bryan, along with Tom Skinner of Sparks and Alton Holloway of Adel, turned the Adel Piggly-Wiggly parking lot into a museum of history for the day on Monday, in honor of the 67th anniversary of World War II’s D-Day. Each man owns an extensive collection of war memorabilia and enjoys bringing those collections out to share with the public. They are members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA), an “international organization for military vehicle enthusiasts, historians, preservationists and collectors interested in the acquisition, restoration, preservation, safe operation and public education of historic military transport.”

Skinner estimates his collection of war memorabilia to contain approximately 1,500 pieces at this time. He became a collector when he purchased a 1963 M151 jeep used in Vietnam. “That was the kind of jeep I rode in, and jumped out of to run for cover when I was in Vietnam, so I wanted it," he says. Skinner is a member of the Tifton VFW. When asked to choose one piece from his collection as his favorite, Skinner had a very difficult time making a decision, but finally settled on the M1 Gurand battle rifle of WWII. “That rifle saved a lot of American lives. It put our men at an advantage over the other troops. You have to love this rifle,” says Skinner. One very interesting item in Skinner’s collection is a medical kit. Well- known makeup mogul Elizabeth Arden had the kits made and donated them to the troops in WWII. Inside the lid, along with a listing of the contents, is the elegant signature of Elizabeth Arden seen today on high-end cosmetics.

Raymond Fiveash walked across the parking lot to admire the vehicles and weapons, with a particular eye towards the 1944 CCKW 2 1/2 ton truck commonly referred to as “a deuce and a half,” owned by Bryan. Fiveash is a WWII veteran who drove deuce and a half trucks over many countries in Europe during the war transporting supplies. “I drove trucks just like that. It really stirs up memories to look at it,” said Fiveash.

Bryan said, “I’m not a veteran. I fell in between Korea and Vietnam. I just love military things.” Bryan also owns a M3 half-track, a 1942 Stewart M5A1 tank and a 1942 MB Jeep with a mounted machine gun.

Holloway, a Korean war veteran, estimates his collection to exceed a thousand pieces at this time and plans to keep collecting. Perhaps the most striking of the many items Holloway brought for the D-Day remembrance was his 1942 WC52 Jeep draped with all manner of military gear. “These things are hard to find, but it’s worth it. We find things through the MVPA and auctions. Today we want everybody to remember D-Day,” said Holloway. Skinner added, “We’re here to honor the 7,000 men and women who would wind up dead at the end of the day, 67 years ago. We want to remember those that survived, and those who didn’t.” The men stood vigil at their day-long museum from 8:30 until 5:00, patiently answering questions from visitors of all ages on the parking lot pavement in the south Georgia heat. “We go to parades, we go to shows, we do lots of things to give people a chance to see our collections. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s important for people to look at these things and remember,” said Bryan.