Vietnam Troop Ship Bunk Canvas

[mvmhm]

After reading the post from one of our forum members about the bunk canvases removed from former troop ships being scrapped, I contacted the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech and applied for three of them. I selected ones with graffiti relating to Ohio, and found several that have Dayton on them. One also has my home town (Cape Girardeau, MO)...what's neat about these is they came off the USNS John Pope, a General in the Civil War, who also happened to be my CW grandfather's Commander...I'm going to get gray PVC pipe to recreate the bunk frame and display them that way...here's the first one:

 

 

Mark sends

[mvmhm]

...and number 2:

[mvmhm]

...and the third one.....

[m1ashooter]

Prertty neat. Did Tech give them to you?

[BOLO]

I think it would also look nice just hanging on the wall and it would take up less space

 

the grey pvc pipe idea would look good too, maybe use some white marine cord or para-cord to tie it on the pipes

[mvmhm]

The PVC frame won't take up much additional space...here's a picture from one of the groups that has one on display....the PVC is slightly large than the original metal frames, but it's close enough to give a viewer the idea of what they looked like in use.

 

 

Mark sends

[mvmhm]

Prertty neat. Did Tech give them to you?

 

 

Nope...two year renewable loans...

 

Mark sends

[mvmhm]

Here's the "rough draft" of the frame...I need to do a little fine tuning when I make the next two.....

 

Mark sends

[Jack's Son]

An excellent addition to the displays. These are small parts of the war that average never know about. In some cases, this would be the last "footprint" the young soldier may leave behind.

[mvmhm]

After I put it up, one of the volunteers came in and made a beeline to it..he told me that he remembers sleeping on one very well..he also said he had a good time on the ship, although the bunk above was only a foot above his face...

 

 

Mark sends

[mvmhm]

Finished getting things put together this morning, deciding to go with a free-standing triangle...here's the signage;

 

 

 

Mark sends

[mvmhm]

The first side...

[mvmhm]

...side 2....

[mvmhm]

...and the last side...now to find a new project.....