If anyone has access to spare heavy military vehicle parts...memorial vandalized

[Manedwolf]

This guy needs help, at least a mirror and window for a Gulf War minesweeper/recovery vehicle, not sure of the designation. Someone vandalized it and scratched "Death to America" and anti-semitic things on it. 

Military Vehicle At Museum Vandalized
Museum Owner Says Vehicle Was Thank-You To Fallen

MONT VERNON, N.H. -- A military vehicle on display at a Mont Vernon museum was targeted with rocks and racial graffiti twice this week, police said.

The vehicle is on loan to the Beaver Brook Farm and Transportation Museum, and museum owners Eddie and Beth Gilbert said that they wanted it to be a message of thanks to those who have given their lives for the country.

"Sadness. Disappointment," Eddie Gilbert said. "I just thought this would never happen."

The Gilberts said that they weren't trying to make a political statement, but whoever defaced the vehicle scratched anti-American and anti-Semitic messages on the door and smashed a window and mirror.

"I'm just so upset, so angry, and I just don't understand it," Beth Gilbert said.

Eddie Gilbert said that what makes the vandalism more difficult to bear is that he recently found out he has cancer, and he doesn't have the time or the energy to repair the damage. He also lost an older brother in Vietnam.

"During his second tour of duty, we lost him," he said. "Anyway, you can't understand that if you don't experience it."

Eddie Gilbert said he's already forgiven whoever committed the vandalism, and he's asking that they understand his message and not do it again. He said he wants the exhibit to be something people can enjoy and not a source of controversy.

The memorial, a military recovery vehicle and mine sweeper used in Operation Desert Storm, was parked on the edge of Gilbert's museum on Brook Road. Inside was a military uniform, and atop the large machine were military flags. Gilbert said the display was his way of honoring soldiers who fought in wars both past and present.

But on Sunday, and again on Monday, someone tried to destroy the memorial, first by stealing the flags and the uniform, then by smashing windows in the vehicle, peeling off the U.S. sticker, and scratching anti-Semitic slurs and the message "Death to America" into the door.

http://www.wmur.com/news/13859138/detail.html

[wmenorr67]

The mirror looks to be a generic mirror found on multiple vehicle types.  Shouldn't be a problem finding a replacement. 

As for the ahole(s) that did this, if and when they find them, I hope the judge sentences them to clean a couple of memorials with a toothbrush and wearing a t-shirt stating that they dishonered the USofA.

[Thor]

You MIGHT be able to get  free (or cheap) replacement parts from DRMO.

[Manedwolf]

You MIGHT be able to get  free (or cheap) replacement parts from DRMO.

That's an idea...I just noticed it said it was "on loan", too, so if it's on loan from the government, someone might be able to pull the parts to fix it.

Window would probably be the most complex thing to replace, I'd think. Don't know if the person who broke it is just a brat teen or a real radical islamist, but either way, I hope they're caught AND have to pay restitution of the full original government purchase price for the parts.

If it's regular safety glass, knowing this area, one of the small glass repair shops will likely offer to cut them a new window and silicone it in.

[Stickjockey]

http://www.mvpa.org