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FREEDOM TRAIN
10/21/04
Tom Pry
MAN WITH A MISSION
Johnny VonRuedgisch --better known, understandably, as just "Johnny V" to one and all -is a man with a mission, and a rather strange one it is for a retired
U. S. Air Force type: he wants to build a train.
On the other hand, it's a rather unusual train, albeit with a highly-laudable purpose: to both remember and remind the public of this country's veterans, "Past, Present, and Future,"
and to let the public know that just because these veterans are no longer in uniform does NOT mean they've stopped working for their communities.
What does this have to do with trains?
It sounds simple. Get a motor home and make it up as a railroad locomotive and passenger car, then attach a trailer that looks like a caboose. Enter that Freedom Train in every parade in the state you can find and, when it's not parading, park it outside of military installations and other places that serve veterans, like V. A. facilities, to remind people that, in the words on their official patch, "The nation that forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten."
"Trains have been the main source of transportation in just about every conflict we've
had since the Civil War ," says Johnny, "it just seems like the right kind of symbol."
Freedom Train grew out of an early morning coffee shop conversation between Johnny and his friend, Harvey Powell. They originally envisioned just putting a boiler template and side panels on a small pickup truck -only to find out that the locomotive boiler simulation would itself weigh 300 pounds, which would mean it would be necessary to beef up the suspension AND put a counterweight on the back ...well, by the time the preliminary planning was done, the pickup idea had been scrapped, leaving only a motor home with the muscle needed for the job.
Johnny started enlisting help, soliciting money, and getting the surprising amount of legalities taken care of before Freedom Train could become a recognizable entity .Just getting Freedom Train recognized as a non-profit (501c3) corporation has been a daunting task. Fortunately, Days Inn of Arkansas-Arkansas Alliance coughed up the $4,000 necessary to prepare the filing papers and such needed for non-profit status. A four grand contribution is admirable at any time, but especially so when you consider that it is NOT tax-deductible, at
least not right now. The necessary papers for that are being prepared by local tax expert Van Chapman (himself a retired Lieutenant Colonel).
The next step is to find the motor home at a price the group can afford. So far, the search has run far afield, from Searcy to Benton to Russellville to even near Johnny's old home grounds around Poplar Bluff, MO. Because of the lack of 501c3 status, no one is giving them a break on motor homes. It's also making it difficult to raise the estimated :!:$35,000 necessary
to buy it and its caboose/trailer, build it into a train, and get it around to various public events. Johnny and his friends are not daunted. They've already set a target for completion that
is NO LATER than the 4th of July Parade in 2005 to have it up and running; "Early spring would be even better ," says Johnny. Already, both Searcy and White County have issued resolutions of support, and Representative Mark Pate (0) is beating the bushes at the State Capitol to get a State resolution passed.
One of the more interesting things about Freedom Train to date is that, of the group's 45 members, not all of them are veterans. Johnny V is PresidentjCEO, and served "20 years and
28 days" in the Air Force, and Charley Taylor is First VP/Senior Engineer, retired from u. S.
Army Special Forces. The membership includes Medal of Honor winner Nick Bacon, a charter member, and Jonesboro newspaperman Naz Kazi, Freedom Train's PR man, but the group's Service Officer, Kerry Byrd, has never been in the military: a childhood accident cut the tendons in one hand, leaving him medically excluded from military service. Yet, Mr. Byrd has paid his dues to Freedom Train and joined up. When asked why, he'll tell you "I like what it stands for . It seems like the honorable thing to do."
The Freedom Train should be something to behold. After getting a 27-30 foot motor home, Johnny and his train crew will modify the large vehicle to so that it looks like a red, white and blue locomotive pulling a people-carrying passenger car. Hitched behind it will be a large trailer done up as a similarly-bright caboose, complete with a kitchenette and sanitary facilities for the train's crew. Besides the patriotic paint job, the mated vehicles will have the logos of all branches of U. S. military service, plus those of the various participating veterans' organizations, like The American legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, AmVets and, of course, the VFW, the local post of which serves as the group's meeting place and unofficial headquarters right now.
Additionally, there'll be a logo telling onlookers that the Freedom Train is headquartered in Searcy.
Why go to all this effort? Johnny V tells us, "When most people think of veterans, they think of a bunch of guys sitting around all day, drinking and telling 'war stories."' The truth,
says Johnny, is something else. "We raise money and serve the needy. Statewide, in 2003 and so far this year, veterans' groups have distributed three-quarters of a million dollars in rent payments, made a quarter-of-a-million dollars' worth of utility payments, another quarter-million to help in natural disasters and, at Christmas, distributed $1,244,675 in aid; that's about $250 per family, including here in White County , for Christmas. It makes a difference in peoples' lives." The purpose of the train, he says, is to be "an attention-grabber" to let people know
how veterans of all branches are still serving their communities, and make easier their community-serving fundraising.
Freedom Train meets on the first Tuesday of each month, at the Searcy VFW. Membership dues are a modest $10, with a Lifetime Membership a reasonable $100. If you'd like to join, or become a corporate supporter, you can send a check, made out to Freedom Train, to p, 0. Box 521, Searcy 72145-0521. If you have questions, Johnny V would love to talk to you. He may be reached weekdays
9am-9pm at (501) 368-5115.
As Johnny would say, "Allllllll ...a-BOARD! Freedom train's a-comin'!"
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