A rally of vintage military vehicles will be in Atlantic on May 16th. Steve Livengood, organizer of the “Badda-badda-bing-bang Rally” (Pronounced bah-duh bah-duh Bing Bang), says military vehicles and enthusiasts from all over will be coming to town on Armed Forces Day. Livengood says – as of May 1st – he anticipates 28 vehicles will be parked in the Atlantic Armory parking lot, including half-tracks, 10-jeeps and a motorcycle, to name a few.

Steve Livengood (right) talks with KJAN’s Jim Field about the rally.

Livengood is one of 16 Steel Soldiers members in Iowa (www.steelsoldiers.com). He volunteered to host the event in Atlantic, since there aren’t any rallies planned in the state. He says military vehicle collectors and enthusiasts love to show off their possessions and view others’ collections. As proof, several are coming from Des Moines, at least one will make the trip from Illinois, and a group based in Nebraska is planning on coming.

The event runs from 10-a.m. until 4-p.m., on the 16th, with the vehicles arriving the day before in preparation for the rally, and gathering at the American Legion Building. Livengood says the public can come to view the collection from 11-am until 3-pm., because of the influx of vehicles that will be moving around in the downtown area.

Rally participants will cruise the town beginning at 3:30-p.m. May 16th, with cannons signaling the start of the 5.6-mile cruise. There’s also a meal planned for the participants, as well as a scavenger hunt. For more information, go to www.atlanticiowa.com.

The Atlantic Police Department reports an Atlantic woman was arrested Thursday, on drug charges. 20-year old Leslie Paulsen was taken into custody for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Paulsen was booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Iowa Gold Star Museum unveiled its new Vietnam War exhibit Thursday, on the 40th anniversary of the end of the U-S involvement in the war.

Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA)

Former Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell flew helicopters in Vietnam during the war and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He talked about the feelings among soldiers as they watched the fall of Saigon and the war end.

“There was heavy thoughts and we found we were reflecting to start with on our comrades who had fallen in that conflict — that number was pretty large — and just wondered who makes the decisions about what was going on at times,” Boswell says. In remarks before the ribbon cutting for the exhibit, Boswell told the Vietnam veterans that they had never lost a battle, it was those back in Washington making the decisions who decided the fate of the U-S in the war. Boswell says the troops on the ground and in the air gave their best effort, but had to follow the orders from higher up.

“We’d be in a battle and we’d be getting the upper hand and we’d get called off because there was supposedly some border right below which we couldn’t see. It was frustrating,” according to Boswell. Boswell says the advent of television coverage of the war was part of the problem, as the commanding general in Vietnam, William Westmoreland, had a T-V camera over his shoulder all the time. He says he grew to understand some of those issue more after being elected to the U-S House and going to Washington, D-C.

“They could see what was going on every day. Now when the generals were conducting what was going on in World War Two and before that, and then in Korea, why it was the matter of waiting for a message to get back and forth,” Boswell says. “But every morning (during the Vietnam War) the White House, the Pentagon, they were getting briefed right then that day. I would guess there was a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking took place.” Boswell talked about what it was like to be involved in the war.

“There’s hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror,” Boswell says. “There was always shooting going on, it was very intense. You were always relieved when that moment was over with.” M

The exhibit at the Gold Start Museum includes a helicopter like the one Boswell flew in Vietnam. It also has displays of weapons that Booker recognized as the ones he trained on and then used once he got to Vietnam. The Gold Star Museum at Camp Dodge near Johnston is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a-m until 4:30 p-m and Saturday from 10:00 a-m until 4 p-m. It is free to the public.

(Radio Iowa)

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say flames from a northwest Iowa yard waste fire spread to a barn after the man tending the fire went inside for supper. Firefighters were sent to the Sergeant Bluff property a little before 7 p.m. Thursday. Crews from eight departments kept the blaze from igniting gasoline and other fuels inside the barn and spreading to a large propane tank nearby. Woodbury County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Benson says the firefighters’ teamwork also kept the blaze from reaching two nearby homes.

Boats, classic cars and tools inside the barn were damaged. No injuries have been reported. Benson says the man tending the fire didn’t need a permit to burn the yard waste and won’t be cited. But Benson says the man made a mistake by going inside to eat supper.