The capital campaign set out to raise $15,000 through individual, business and corporate donations to purchase the vehicle for the organization’s award-winning color guard unit.

City of Oconomowoc resident Vern Larsen chaired the fundraising campaign along with Jim Fulmer, who served as treasurer.

” ‘Welcome home!’ It’s a greeting from one Vietnam veteran to another acknowledging the service that Vietnam veterans gave to their country with the brotherly welcoming that didn’t exist for returning Vietnam vets,” Larsen explained.

“This greeting is given each time new Vietnam vets come into a chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). Oconomowoc Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 635 is no exception. The chapter is composed of more than 60 Vietnam veterans and associate members.

“This week Chapter 635 is giving a ‘welcome home’ to a Vietnam-era jeep that was popular during the many campaigns during the Vietnam War. The jeep’s nomenclature is M151A2. The jeep was originally manufactured in the early ’50s, but modifications during the ’60s made it the most popular individual transport vehicle during the war,” he said.

The impetus for the project was the pride the color guard unit has in its abilities.

“We’ve taken first place in every parade we’ve been in,” he said.

“St. John’s Military Academy has been gracious enough to allow us to borrow theirs (Vietnam-era jeep), but we felt we needed to get our own,” Larsen said. The Oconomowoc unit had helped restore that vehicle many years ago.

M151a2 similar to the one resdtored

The capital campaign kicked off in March 2005 with a $15,000 goal.

“I believed there were businesses and individuals in Oconomowoc who would support that,” he said.

“We exceeded that. We made enough to buy the jeep and an official military trailer that goes behind it that will carry a plaque with the names of the major donors,” he explained.

“I expected there was a patriotic fervor with Iraqi Freedom going on, but I didn’t expect so many people to step forward,” Larsen said.

He said the successful outcome is due to the hard work of many people.

“Mac Dorn of First Bank Financial Centre served as honorary chair and was instrumental in helping get gifts for us,” Larsen said.

“I was overwhelmed by the generosity of people,” in response to the campaign, Larsen said.

If raising the necessary money was a challenge, locating the appropriate kind of jeep proved to be more so.

“It was very difficult, finding this kind of jeep,” he said.

Because of safety concerns about the vehicle’s independent suspension system that made it appropriate for off-road riding, it was deemed unsafe for on-road travel, and obsolete vehicles were crushed.