The history of the park
How it started
In 2015 we began work on a park that would be dedicated to American veterans who honorably wore the uniform of the United States military. It was to be a private park, but open to the public. The park was to be built without government funding or private donations, other than those of our company and family.
By building the park this way, there were no committee meetings, unless you count the many hot tub meetings Joynell and I had almost every winter evening!
I knew I had to obtain a major military vehicle in order to attract visitors to the park and to encourage them to return. I always thought it should be a tank, perhaps a Sherman tank, and spent years contacting people around the country who privately owned tanks. You see, that was the catch. Most of the military vehicles you see displayed around the country are owned by the United States government. The government just loans them to public entities for display but those entities never own them nor can they sell them. I needed a de-commissioned vehicle that was privately owned because I was putting it on private (not publicly owned) property. I will tell you more about that in a moment.
The park was constructed over six years and opened July 27, 2021. The park features all limestone buildings including an open air pavilion, rest rooms and a dedication plaza with flag poles. It also has lighted walkways, a paved street, a parking lot and a display building which is the conditioned home of an M110A2 self-propelled howitzer.
A Howitzer
A howitzer, is far different from a tank. A tank is an armored fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line combat. A self-propelled howitzer, like the one we have, is used well behind the front lines. It can stop quickly, begin firing almost immediately and then quickly move to a new position.
An earlier model of the gun we have was used extensively in the Vietnam War. At that time, it was the largest self-propelled howitzer in the Army inventory. The gun weighs over 60,000 pounds and can shoot accurately up to 19 miles. Our gun came from the Jacque Littlefield collection located near San Francisco, CA. The collection was one of the largest private assemblies of military vehicles in the world. There were 240 vehicles of all descriptions. Mr. Littlefield died in 2009 and over the next several years, many of the vehicles were sold off or moved to a new museum in Stow, MA.
