ABOUT US
The Georgia affiliated chapter of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) was established on January 1, 1996. The founding members, Mike Criscillis, Fred Cron, Richard Grace, Carl Harrison, Mark Niedbalski, and Cal Williams got to know each other during vehicle displays and patriotic events at Pearl Harbor Hobbies in Jonesboro, Georgia south of Atlanta. They met at the Shoney’s Restaurant in Morrow, Georgia in December 1995 and decided to organize a local MVPA chapter. Nearby members of the national MVPA were contacted and invited to a meeting in March 1996. Over 35 people attended that first meeting and the chapter now has about 140 members from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as Maryland, New York, and Virginia.
We are dedicated to the preservation and restoration of military transport of both domestic and foreign manufacture. Public service, honoring veterans, member education, and providing historical information are all a part of our mission. Our members own and operate a broad spectrum of historic military vehicles, including jeeps (MB, GPW, GPA, CJ-V35/U, M38, M38A1, M151), M-series cargo trucks and wreckers, M422 Mighty Mites, military mules, armor (Ferret, halftrack), and motorcycles (Harley WLA, BSA WM20, and BMW R75M). Extensive collections of military memorabilia from WW2, Korea, and Vietnam are displayed with the vehicles. Also, the GAMVPA is extremely fortunate in having some hardworking professional mechanics, vendors, and vehicle history experts on our roster.
Vehicles and drivers from our chapter support Memorial Day activities, Independence Day parades, and Veterans Day events. We have held an annual rally and swap meet since the chapter organized. From 1996 to 2001, it was “Helen On Wheels” around Oktoberfest in Helen, Georgia. We outgrew that site and moved to the American Legion fairground in Canton, Georgia for 2002. From 2003 to 2005, the Kennesaw, Georgia Army National Guard Armory became our rally site since all their units were deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since then, we have used sites at Falcon Field in Peachtree City (2006 and 2007) and American Legion Post 201 in Alpharetta (2008 and 2009).
GAMVPA members also participate in the vehicle shows and judging at the MVPA national conventions. We gained some renown with our group displays, particularly the “Jeep-in-a-Crate” at Memphis in 1997 and the “Bellyflopper” at Kansas City in 2000. See Jim Allen’s Jeep-in-a-Crate photo and Joe Wolf’s Bellyflopper photo.
A newsletter, “The Combat Wheel,” is sent to all members. Meetings are held on the third Saturday of every month in the Atlanta, GA area, usually in Marietta. For more information, contact Cal Williams at 770-719-0028. The mailing address is GAMVPA, P.O. Box 464206, Lawrenceville, GA 30042.
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