I love a good 4th of July Parade

Watchin' the Mini do her thang...

You see some crazy stuff!

And sometimes Elvis!

I don't know what some of it is

Last week we went to a War Museum that is fairly new and still setting up areas for displays. A lot of the artifacts were donated (or loaned) with no description or info about them. We saw a lot of signs like this:


If you know what any of this stuff is, post in the comments and tell me. I'm curious! You can click on the pics to make them bigger.
Like this, which reminds me of my grandpa's pipe stand:


What's this stuff? Particularly the thing that looks like a sushi tray and those metallic things on the far left back corner:


What are these:





And what does the last marking here mean? The first ones are pretty obvious, but I have no idea what the last is:


I liked all the tank stuff, the jeeps, and the amphibians:




I hope this was a "close call" instead of the alternative:


This too:


Check out the manufacturer's label. Go Hoosiers!


Now here's the part where I got really stoopid, but to my credit...I caught myself!
I took a picture of this Omaha Beach exhibit with my flash turned on:


Then I realized that the flash popped the reflector, and I actually got halfway through my stupid statement of the year before I caught myself. I actually started to say, "Do you think that reflector was added after? Or else no wonder they knew where we were..." DERRRR

Anyhow, here are some neat old bike pics:




Hey Sophia! Didn't you drive one of these??


There was also an area for old media venues...radios, televisions, two-way radio:














All in all, most of the vehicles, firepower, and displays in the Normandy area really reminded me of Band of Brothers. It just made something so far removed from me (except in imagination) very real and tangible.
Here are some of the things that brought that home for me:




And this amazed me...I've seen pics similar to it before, but it never dawned on me that in relation to the planes and other parachutes and their proximity, this photo had to be taken by one of the airborne jumpers:


Among other things, here are some models used in the movies:




And finally on a lighter note, some fun stuff.
I give you...the BATMOBILE! (And Robin's bike)



The A-Team Van!


The General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard (complete with cast autographs)!

And Speaking of "Games"...

2:34.

Two minutes and thirty-four of the most boring seconds on the net.
But when I was 9 or 10 years old, this was major excitement!
Like the 4th of July on crack.


It wouldn't be long after this time that the industry would boom with this sort of stuff...
and I would be Queen of Centipede and Ruler of all that was Pac-Manian.
No power in the 'verse could stop me!
Except running out of quarters. And...well...curfew. :p