Petaluma hosting West Coast's largest rally of antique military vehicles

Vietnam War veteran Randy Parent was sitting Friday in a restored military jeep, a 1967 ?151 AI MUTT complete with an old pack of Lucky Stripes on display below the dashboard. But Parent, the jeep’s owner, was more eager to talk about his other ride.

On Saturday morning, the former helicopter gunship pilot will land a 1968 UH-H1 “Huey” helicopter at the KOA campground in Petaluma, in view of motorists on nearby Highway 101, as the weekend kickoff for the spring rally of the Military Vehicle Collectors of California. The club each year puts on the largest convergence of antique military equipment on the West Coast.

This year, it is marking its 40th anniversary, but aside from the helicopter overflight visible to many, the event is not open to the public.

“There are real helicopters and there are helicopters,” said Parent, a Danville resident who saw two years of heavy combat in Vietnam starting in 1968 and went on to fly rescue choppers for the East Bay Regional Parks District for 30 years. “God got it right with the Huey. It’s extremely low tech, but ?extremely capable.”

The restored Huey was purchased by EMU, Inc., a Redwood City-based nonprofit started by Vietnam vets, and is stored in Hayward. It costs $3,000 an hour to keep the aircraft aloft, Parent noted.

So the appearance at the campground Saturday will be short, while dozens of military jeeps, trucks and a tank have been on display for days.

MVCC members have rented out the entire facility since Tuesday, with a few thousand people turning the campground into what they call “Camp Petaluma.”

“It looks like MASH, doesn’t it?” said campground co-owner Pauline Wood while observing scores of aging men in military fatigues. “We get all kinds here. Some weekends it’s Girl Scouts, other weekends it’s eclectic army groups.”

The West Coast Military Vehicle Rally is part flea market and part car show, brought together with barbecue and beer. Some military vehicles are for sale, others just on display.

Around the campground tables, MVCC members hocking camouflage, canteens, parts for military equipment, bayonets, knives and replica rifles are set up.

Nearly all of the military vehicles, hardware and other equipment for sale and on display are from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars. Many people in attendance are not military veterans themselves, but all see their interest as an act of patriotism by honoring military history of the United States.

“My father was in World War II and he always had a military jeep when I was growing up,” said Mark Jones, a retired firefighter from St. Helena. “This is about remembering those who fought.”

Jones brought a restored World War II-era firetruck to the campground for more than show - it still functions and will be staged for fire suppression when the Huey helicopter lands Saturday morning.

John Yerry traveled from Bakersfield for the event and sat Friday on his Vietnam War-era vehicle: the M274 Mule, a four-wheeled, oversized wagon with a large engine underneath. A vehicle collector, Yerry started with hot rods and has ended up a fan of antique military vehicles. The hobby is addictive, Yerry said.

“We’re all into weird stuff,” Yerry said. “But how else could you drive down the road with a machine gun mounted on the back and no one will give you a hard time?”

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203 or nick.rahaim@pressdemocrat.com.