Heavy Metal

38 Pages·2011·30.673 MB·English

by  Jack Marquez and Jonah Davis

Heavy metal
Designed, edited, written and photgraphed
by Jack Marquez and Jonah Davis
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Dedicated to the hardworking
volunteers at the Military Vehicle
Technology Foundation for their
efforts towards preserving history,
and to the men and women of our
military who write it every day.
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Acknowledgements
A special thanks to Kaaren Marquez, Ms. Parkinson,
and Mike Brandt, Phil Hatcher, Vladamir Yakubov,
Ming Wu, and the entire staff of the Military Vehicle
Technology Foundation for all of their cooperation
and support during the making of this book.
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table of contents
Foreword ----------------------------------- p. 9
Introduction ------------------------------ p. 10
I. From Hobby to Historical Treasure --- p. 12
II. Through a Century of Conflict ------- p. 20
III. Regaining Our Grip on Military History -- p. 26
IV. Looking Back, Moving Forward ----- p. 32
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“We can tell the story of men and
machines.”
-Vladimir Yakubov, Military Vehicle Technology Foundation
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Foreword
Let’s be honest: the first reason we chose to cover the Military Vehicle Technology Founda-
tion wasn’t to reflect on mankind’s legacy of conflict, or the importance of preserving history, or
even the evolution of technology through a decade of war. We really just wanted to look at tanks.
As we wandered through rows upon rows of those behemoths, though, we couldn’t help
but be awed by the sheer amount of military hardware one man had accumulated, that hundreds
of scientists had pored over, that countless assembly lines had churned out, and that scores of
countries had mobilized and ordered to blast each other into flaming hulks. There’s a reason
beyond big guns and thick armor that tanks capture our imagination the way that they do. They
represent a part of human history we try to forget, but are reminded of every time we turn on the
news. They simultaneously symbolize freedom and oppression, pain and patriotism, and inspire
respect for the soldiers on either end of the cannon.
But beyond these grand ideas, we found a smaller, but nevertheless fascinating story of a
man named Jacques Littlefield, who spent millions collecting and restoring these relics, and of a
small group of hardworking and knowledgeable volunteers dedicated to keeping this part of his-
tory meticulously restored and operational. Be it engineering curiosity, a fascination with history,
or a personal connection to the veterans that drove them, each one of these volunteers had their
own story to tell, and their own perspectives on the bigger picture.
Though we tried as best as we could to fit all of these stories and ideas into one book, the
only way one can truly experience them is by visiting MVTF in person. As we found out, the
museum doesn’t just tell us about engine size or muzzle velocity, but a much larger narrative of a
century of innovation and conflict.
As tour guide Vladimir Yakubov put it, “[It’s] the story of men and machines.”
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Introduction
In the scenic hills of Portola Valley, not far from Palo Alto and Stanford University, almost
300 of the world’s most infamous killing machines sit in garages on Jacques Littlefield’s 400-acre
ranch. The battlefield relics have been meticulously restored--fully driveable and historically ac-
curate down the last nut, bolt, and dab of olive drab paint.
Mr. Littlefield wasn’t as much of a history buff as he was an engineer, fascinated by the
rugged yet precise inner workings of each of his vehicles. He recognized, though, that his collec-
tion held enormous historical significance, and before losing a hard-fought battle with cancer,
Mr. Littlefield founded the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF), an organization
of volunteer mechanics, historians, and tour guides to care for his collection. Since his passing,
MVTF has opened its doors to weekly tours, hoping to gather funds to keep the museum open
and keep military history alive.
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