Vets ‘n Vettes Event

National Corvette Museum 2014

By Steve Monroe

“Vets ‘n Vettes” is an event held by the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green KY for the past few years. It’s an event for Veterans with Corvettes. Even though last year I didn’t have a Corvette I had planned to go anyway but I was sidelined due to a ruptured appendix which required taking part of my colon and 12” of my intestine so needless to say I was in no shape to attend.

This year however I have recovered from all of my health problems from last year, and, since I am a Vietnam Veteran and own a new Corvette Stingray, I put going to the event as a priority.

I left home on Wednesday morning from Conover, NC and drove west on I-40 into Tennessee where the sprinkle I was driving in turned into heavy rain. I drove for five hours in that rain and most of the time I couldn’t even see the road but just followed the brightest taillights I could find. I arrived at my hotel just north of Bowling Green which was within sight of the Corvette Museum.

Early Thursday morning I ate a quick breakfast and headed for the Museum where I had already registered for the event and picked up my agenda. I went straight for the office of the Museum Director, Wendell Strode, and met with him. We were in the same Americal Division in Vietnam although he was there after I had already returned to the states.

First on the agenda was a drivers meeting for those going to the NCM Motorsports Park track which is located across I-65 from the Museum. We then had about 80 Corvettes meet over at the track in four rows of 20 Corvettes each.

A chartered bus full of soldiers from Fort Campbell and another bus full of soldiers from Fort Knox arrived at the track, members of the Army’s Transition battalion Each soldier got to pick a Corvette that they wanted to ride around the track in. There was no limit set on how fast we could drive as long as we didn’t run unto the Corvette in front of us and we weren’t allowed to pass. I don’t know if the drivers or the soldiers had more fun but I know I was impressed of how well my Stingray handled and I know the three soldiers that rode with me felt the same way.

At noon we had a nice lunch and the Museum gave each soldier a $50 gift certificate that they could use in the Museum store. After lunch we all took a tour of the Corvette assembly plant. One lucky soldier was picked to start a new Corvette for the first time and he was then honored with a birth certificate. The soldiers left for their Forts at 5 pm and the rest of us had dinner.

Friday we had several pictures taken. One was a group picture of all who attended the event. Another was a picture taken of our Corvettes one at a time in front of the Museum with the Vietnam era helicopters brought from North Carolina by the North Carolina Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association. A third picture was taken for the Corvette Quarterly Magazine. We then had a road trip through the Kentucky countryside to a restaurant called Earl G. Dumplin’s. Then back to the Museum where a retired FBI man by the name of Wes Wong talked about his 911 World Trade Center experience. He was in the south tower when it collapsed. After that, then we had a talk by Wil Cooksey who retired as Corvette Plant Manager and is in the Corvette Museum Hall of Fame. He also was a Vietnam Veteran spending his tour on the DMZ and a Bronze Star winner who wrote a book about his life experiences called “No Time to Cry”.

Saturday all of those that attended the event drove to Bowling Green where we were part of the Veterans Day Parade. We had over 100 Corvettes which was an impressive site. As soon as the parade was over I headed for the interstate and drove the seven hour trip back to Conover, NC. It was a great event and I met a lot of veterans that now I can call my friends.