An Old Soldier's Story

[Ajax]

Well... under the slapped on, NJ Army National Guard paint, I found some older markings which I deciphered. I'm committed to keeping the truck and doing my best to clean it up and give it a dignified retirement.

Some of you may have seen the big NJ Army National Guard "You can too!" sign on the back of my truck. The rear bumpers also show NJ-41. Well, the NJ Guard painted over the previous assignment quick and dirty, so I was able to read what lies beneath.

There's a spray painted stencil on the passenger's windshield that says "DASB." Some numbers on the passenger front bumper under the NJ paint say 642 DASB so, 642nd Aviation Support Battalion out of Brooklyn, NY with the NY Army National Guard. There's also an 2-I-042, I believe, along with a small triangle sitting on its base (as opposed to upside down). The driver's front bumper appears to have HQ-53 but that's more difficult to make out because the paint is thicker.

My research shows that the 642nd was stood up on Sept. 1st 2000. The truck is a '71 so it probably had a long career before that, but get this-

On Sept. 12th, 2001, LTC Bosco was directed to deploy the unit around the WTC as perimeter security for several weeks and was one of the first units to respond. I suspect this truck was part of this effort. This unit was the ONLY traffic allowed over the bridge, to get to the WTC site after the attacks.

In 2004, the 642nd was deployed to Kuwait and then Tikrit, manning several forward refueling and rearming points. I realize that this doesn't necessarily mean that my truck was deployed, but I guess it's a possibility.

In 2005, the unit was further reorganized and I lose the trail.

https://dmna.ny.gov/arng/42div/42cab/?nav=642history

[BeauV]

That's really cool history. Even if your truck wasn't in all those places for sure, it'll make a great history board that can go with the trucks at parades and shows. Well done!!

[Ajax]

I've found photos of the M809 series trucks being used by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as late as 2006, which surprised me.

It is possible or even likely that my truck did NOT go overseas to Kuwait or Iraq but based on the markings, I do think it's highly likely that the truck mustered with the entire battalion at the Marcy Street Armory on September 11th and then drove over the Brooklyn Bridge to the WTC site that night. Since the entire battalion mobilized, the only reason for the truck not to go, was if it was down for repairs.

[Ajax]

Ok, based on photos from the seller's website, back when the most recent set of markings were more clear, I have figured out where the truck's final assignment was-

Regional Training Site - Maintenance (Ordinance Training Company), Fort Dix, New Jersey. It was truck #41. RTS-M, Ft. Dix provided a wide variety of training and the truck could have been used for literally, anything. Driver training, engine maintenance and repair training, transporting ordinance...who knows.

The M939 series trucks (the successor to my truck, the M809 series) went into production in 1982 so there was considerable overlap but you can bet that the active duty units got the 939's first, and reserve and guard units made do with the older trucks until enough 939's were fed into the system to get handed down to the reserve and guard units.

Based on the markings, unit history, etc, I'm making an educated guess that my truck was transferred to RTS-M Ft. Dix sometime around 2005 and was mustered out into the gov't auction pool anytime between 2008 and 2010 where it was purchased at auction in February 2011, somewhere in New Jersey.