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Saluting A Bivouac Of WWII Vintage

Tribune photo by Christine Delessio

Dressed as Gen. George S. Patton, Wayne Dennis, a snowbird from Toledo, Ohio, checks one of his guns during the Zephyrhills Barracks Museum's special bivouac event.

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By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Wayne Dennis doesn't have the military credentials to match legendary Gen. George S. Patton. Judging by the authoritative figure he cut Friday morning, though, Dennis probably could play the World War II hero on TV.

Dennis and his wife, Shirley, were among a handful of people mingling amid a collection of World War II vehicles, weapons and other artifacts outside the Zephyrhills Barracks Museum on Friday afternoon.

"I had the pants and someone said I looked like Patton," said Dennis, who lives in Zephyrhills and Toledo, Ohio.

His uniform was replete with a helmet that had a pair of unopened, green-label Lucky Strike cigarettes strapped to it, Army shirt with medals, pants and boots. In one holster he wore a Franklin Mint replica pistol. In the other was an actual weapon.

Dennis said he purchased his uniform "piece by piece" at various events in Findlay, Ohio.

Beneath a cloudless blue sky, Dennis surveyed his surroundings.

"That's quite a machine there," he said, waving his Patton-like pointer at an armored vehicle.

Admission is free to Bivouac and Barracks, hosted by the Zephyrhills Historical Association and Disabled American Veterans Post 65.

The three-day event also features World War II re-enactments at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. today and 11:30 a.m. Sunday, as well as a reunion of the 10th Fighter Squadron and a 1940s-style dancing and dining party from 6-10 p.m. today; the dinner and dance cost $15.

Event coordinator John Bolender stood next to a pair of World War II motorcycles and a collection of guns. He said he bought many of the artifacts himself, mostly at flea markets, auctions and on eBay.

Besides the weapons and vehicles was a 1945 tent that was unopened when he bought it.

"FEMA had bought a bunch of them and they didn't know what to do with" the surplus, Bolender said. "Basically, you just hunt and peck and spend a lot of money your wife doesn't know about."

Armored vehicles at the event cost between $35,000 and $75,000. One was a halftrack model with wheels in the front, while another, an M-8 high-speed reconnaissance car, featured an imposing-looking tank turret.

"A lot of vets come here on Friday," Bolender said. "They'll sit and talk together for hours."

Joseph Bolivard of Zephyrhills and New York was one of them. A Navy veteran, Bolivard wore a baseball cap commemorating the USS Midway, which he served on. He said he was commissioned shortly before the war ended.

"Some of these fellows, you can pick the World War II vintage in their walk," he said. "I was fortunate to have spent my time between World War II and Korea."

Bolivard's forearms were decorated with tattoos made long before they became a national fad. One was a skull with a knife through it. Over his heart was a message to physicians: No Life Support To Be Used.

"Back then, it was a young kid's way of saying, 'I'm no longer a kid,'" he said. "One time, I went to a psychiatrist for an important job. The guy asked me about the tattoos and that's what I told him. He asked if they made me grown up."

Smiling, Bolivard shook his head no. Military service alone would have sufficed.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Event featuring World War II vehicles, weapons and other artifacts

WHERE: Zephyrhills Barracks Museum, 39444 South Ave., near Zephyrhills Municipal Airport

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday

FOR INFORMATION: Call the museum at (813) 780-0067

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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