The Boot

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT

Parris Island, South Carolina

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’

BY LANCE CPL. PAUL WHIRSEMAN III
STAFF WRITER
     1930s-era men and teens line up for
hundreds of feet in snaking columns to
sign up for the service that is "first to
fight." The bright red 1937 Ford Panel
Delivery truck, emblazoned with Marine
Corps logos and recruiting posters sits on
the grass of yet another Midwestern
town's town hall as Marine recruiters furiously
scribble names and ages for enlistment
into the Corps.
     While that story sounds legitimate,
especially in today's times of mobile
recruitment tools and TV ads, the truth
is it is only the imagination of one
Marine with an affinity for restoring
older vehicles.
     "This truck is really just something I
came up with, it looks authentic down to
the vintage recruiting posters," said Tom
Torget, a Marine who served in the
Marine Corps from 1965-1975. "The truth
is the story about this truck, the
'Leatherneck Express', is just a figment of
my imagination."
     Torget spent two years restoring the
"Leatherneck Express" from its initial,
rusted condition when it was discovered
on a Colorado farm. The truck was completely
reassembled from authentic
parts, or faithful reproductions, given a
new paint job and covered in logos and
Marine memorabilia.