Jump to content
American Road Magazine
Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

3d Wwii C-47 Paratroopers & Motorized Equipment Camp Blanding, Fl


Recommended Posts

Sheila and I want to try a little different approach to a post or two to see how it is received. We spent two weeks traveling the two lane roads of the northern half of Florida and returned a week ago. It was a wonderful trip, we even extended it by six days, we were having so much fun.

 

We are going to post two perspectives on the same site. I'll start this one.

 

My Cousin, Doug was a paratrooper in WWII, in the Pacific theater. the only story I recall him telling was of being hung by his parachute up in a tree after a night drop, and hearing voices below speaking in a foreign tongue, and of course wondering whether the voices were locals or Japanese.

 

He added that a knife was visible in the dark, but he wasn't sure whether it was going to be used to cut him up, or cut him down. I suspect this was a bit of an embellishment, but he earned the right to tell the story anyway he liked.

 

Anyway, I thought it worthwhile to stop at Camp Blanding, a WWII paratrooper training base, and site of a terrific WWII museum.

 

Outside the museum is an excellent display of WWII military equipment, with a C-47 as the centerpiece. It was a great opportunity for me to practice using my new 3D camera, so I have prepared a video, which can be viewed in 3D or in 2D, as you prefer.

 

You can reach Camp Blanding by two lane road (see map) or by parachute, but not by interstate!

 

David and I stopped at the Camp Blanding Joint training Center. It also serves as a WWII museum. There are exhibits outside as well as in. Ordinarily, this would not be my cup of tea. Here is the “she said” side.

 

Walking outside through what could be called garden art from WWII; a plane, an ambulance, cannons, and other machines of destruction, a lump began to form in my throat. WWII is not new to me. As a small child, I lived through part of it. I remember the things a child would remember, parties when my uncles would get leave, their imposing figures in uniform, and sporting one of their army hats, and even ration stamps.

 

As an adult, I have seen television programs depicting the horrors told by those who were there, but I admit I avoid these whenever I can. I was drawn to the plane because of the pin-up painted on its side. But unexpectedly, standing there close enough to touch it, seeing the cross hatches painted on its side to indelibly mark its strikes against the enemy, the impact of what war does to our young men and women grabbed hold of my heart and squeezed. It made me think not only of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but of those men and women that return scared for life. Suddenly, it was all too real to me. So there it is, the age old question; why?

 

The inside of the museum held surprises as well. Chronicles of daily life for our military men were everywhere. But also, things like a newspaper article that told of a bread company that was being fined for price fixing. Profiteers are always present, but I never thought of them as being a natural part of WWII.

 

All in all, I’m glad we stopped!

 

 

The You Tube Movie will give you 90 seconds of close up images of WWII motorized equipment, in 3D if you choose, and a few shots of the famed C-47. The images below are ticklers, in universal free view parallel or crosseyed, as you prefer, and for those who prefer flash, an autimated gif.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARCamp14lrl.jpg

 

 

 

 

ARCamp14l.gif

 

 

 

ARCamp0.jpg

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good stuff. I knew nothing of Camp Blanding but it looks like it might be worth a stop. I hope Sheila continues to contribute. Reading both views provides a sort of "3D" verbal impression -- without glasses.

 

As for the real 3D goodies: The movie is great. Our shared investment (a couple hundred dollar camera for you and a couple dollar viewer for me;-) is paying off. Since I see 3 pictures when looking at the previous dual panel posts, I guess I should have expected to see more than 3 pictures with the triple panel post. I didn't and was surprised to see 4 pictures. The 3D view comes from the second from the right. The wiggling airplane is just weird. :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good stuff. I knew nothing of Camp Blanding but it looks like it might be worth a stop. I hope Sheila continues to contribute. Reading both views provides a sort of "3D" verbal impression -- without glasses.

 

As for the real 3D goodies: The movie is great. Our shared investment (a couple hundred dollar camera for you and a couple dollar viewer for me;-) is paying off. Since I see 3 pictures when looking at the previous dual panel posts, I guess I should have expected to see more than 3 pictures with the triple panel post. I didn't and was surprised to see 4 pictures. The 3D view comes from the second from the right. The wiggling airplane is just weird. :blink:

 

Denny,

 

I am still trying to get a 3D presentation layout that works for most viewers. The LRL (3 images) is a free-view model that uses cross eyed on the left and parallel on the right, and can be viewed by some without glasses, or with your kind of glasses looking at the right hand two. And of course you can see it in 2D.

 

The wiggle or flash format works to provide some 3D effect using a 2D layout. For example, if you look at the engine on the C-47 it appears to stand out from the fuselage.

 

Beside the 3D effect, Camp Blanding was a worthwhile stop, and I'm glad you appreciated Sheila's addition to the post. I think we will do that again when I post the 1928 Hillman steel truss bridge across the Suwanee River on the Old Spanish Trail. We both enjoyed the site, but we had totally different "takes" as to why.

 

I always appreciate your comments!

 

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...