VIEWFINDER: Military Jeep Collectors Keep History Alive

Art Baker, his son Bob and their friend Don Marshall collect jeeps—World War II, military issue jeeps to be exact.

These three collectors met up again this year at the 38th Annual East Coast Military Vehicle Rally and Militaria Flea Market held last weekend at Ripken Stadium to network, reminisce and look toward the future.

Proceeds from this annual nonprofit event support the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground Military Museum. This is the largest fundraiser for the APG Museum.

The more than 650 all-weather display spaces at the flea market featured vehicles, tents, military, insignia, collectibles, knives, bayonets, electronics, surplus, uniforms, models, parts and books. Visitors could even get their own dog tags made on-site. 

“It gives you a sense of history,”Art Baker said. “I enjoy this because I do it with my son and there are a lot of father-and-sons in this hobby.”

The elder Baker, 74,and his son Bob, 49, both live in Catonsville and Marshall, 45,  lives in nearby Abingdon.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Bob Baker said. “We have a similar temperament so we enjoy the same hobby.”

Bob has been collecting war memorabilia with his father for 22 years. And some years ago, they met Marshall at a vintage Ford show. The three have been friends ever since. And they don’t just collect military jeeps and other items. They are part of a sub-culture of military enthusiasts who have taken their hobby to the next level to become re-enactors.

“I started doing Civil War re-enactments as a union solider,” Bob Baker said.

Now they all have moved on to World War II era re-enactments. In the fall they will visit Dwight Eisenhower’s farm in Pennsylvania where they will re-enact liberating a French village.

For the festivities, Art Baker becomes a civilian photographer for the Washington Daily News. His son, transforms himself into a member of the Military Police and Marshall pays tribute to his father who served with the 148th Combat Engineers battalion.

Their vehicles reflect their respective roles.

“I try to make it look like it was right out of the European theater,” Marshall said. “It runs good and it’s set up as a radio jeep.”

Marshall said that when they go to car shows, they  often get “oooh’s and ahhhs” even from people with shiny classic vehicles.

Marshall has driven his jeep in parades on Memorial Day and other holidays and often gets cheers and salutes from the crowd.

The vehicles sometimes elicit more somber, personal responses from veterans, Bob Baker said.

“We have WWII vets and they come up and thank you,” Bob Baker said.

On one occasion a World War II veteran approached him with his family and began to talk about the war for the first time in more than 50 years.

On another, a veteran wrote down Baker's phone number and made arrangements to give him his own collection of war relics because he knew it would be maintained and appreciated. And once a veteran offered him a bit of constructive criticism on how to look more authentic before teaching him how to tie his boots for combat.

Marshall and the Bakers take pride in their hobby because, in their own way, they help keep the memory of WWII veterans' sacrifice from being forgotten.

“We’re sort of frustrated history tellers,” Art Baker said.