Military vehicle collectors are preserving the artifacts of America’s Greatest Generation during a time when we are unfortunately saying goodbye to many of its members.

Jim Thorpe has become a destination for collectors from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and beyond, with the Red Ball Military Transport’s annual swap meet.This year’s event was held March 5 at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall.The show includes some weaponry, but mostly rare parts for the classic military vehicles that the group is known for.Today’s military vehicles are pretty austere. Collectors say they prefer the old equipment. It usually has more character than modern vehicles, hearkening back to the equipment many collectors saw not only in pictures from World War II, but the TV shows they grew up watching.“The vehicles coming out of there today aren’t collectible, you’ll probably never see a military Humvee on the road,” said Dave McBride, who traveled from Massachusetts for the show.McBride said he got drawn to Jeeps after watching TV shows like “12 O’Clock High” -- and many collectors have similar stories.The equipment also requires a knowledge of technologies that would have been the cutting edge more than 50 years ago. It’s not unlike restoring classic cars, except the military collectors vastly prefer to use original parts as opposed to new reproductions.“A lot of people don’t realize that the military has guys who are trained, their only job is to work on military vehicles with military parts,” Dan Werner of Reeders said.Not every history buff can afford a truck, let alone know how to keep one on the road. The spring swap meet has plenty of other military surplus items -- from antique helmets and uniforms to modern cold-weather gear.Cassie Giunta’s collection shows that women can be just as interested in preserving military history as men are. She and her husband both recreate what they imagine their role would have been in WWII.“People say ‘you’re organized military.’ No, it’s just fun. My husband and I are living historians,” she said.Giunta recreates a Red Cross outpost at military events, complete with period-correct medical equipment and other items that they would have used at that time. She draws attention to the work that the Red Cross did, folding 3.5 million bandages and knitting 60 million garments during WWII.She even did re-enactments while pregnant with her son, who now attends the events with the family.“It literally is a family affair. We like to say, If you aren’t having fun, why do it,” Giunta said.The Spring swap meet is one of the highlights of Red Ball’s annual calendar, but they bring their military equipment to plenty of events throughout the year.They’ll be appearing at the Pocono St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Stroudsburg on March 20. After that, their trucks can be seen at Memorial Day and other parades.Finally, they will return to the area for their annual Fall Rally and swap meet held at the West End Fairgrounds in Gilbert, Monroe County. For more information about Red Ball Military Transport, visit redballonline.org.