World War II-era tanks do 'battle' during Volusia Valor Days at county fairgrounds
It was a blast from the past: World War II-era tanks, tank killers, and infantry battled on the fields of the Volusia County fairgrounds this past weekend to the crackle and boom of explosions and gunfire.
They were re-enacting the battle of Biazza Ridge in Sicily in 1943 as part of Volusia Valor Days, an event put on by ww2armor.org, a not-for-profit group whose staff and volunteers stage reenactments of World War II battles. It was the first time the group has held an event in Volusia County.
Besides the battle - no live ammunition was used - the free event which ran Saturday and Sunday, featured a large display of military items, including tanks, jeeps and machine guns. Re-enactors walked around dressed in uniforms American, Japanese, German and Russian soldiers would have worn in World War II.
The battle pitted the U.S. Sherman tank versus the German Tiger tank. Other military vehicles fired back and forth at one another. The Americans ultimately prevailed.
The day was made possible by Rabbi Rob Thomas of Lake Mary, who returned triumphant from the battle atop his M4 Sherman tank which rumbled back to its parking space. Thomas said he is not a “pulpit rabbi.”
He said that through his ordination he does events for unaffiliated Jews, like if they don’t have a synagogue and they need someone to read a ceremony at a wedding. Thomas also counsels Jewish combat veterans. He is also a businessman and investor.
When he is not at his day work as an investor he might be found tending to his tanks and artillery pieces and other World War II gear he collects. While Thomas lives in Lake Mary, he keeps his tanks and other military pieces in Volusia County, where his group can maintain them and train on them.
“I’ve got about 130 acres where I raise free-range armor. It’s much happier that way,” Thomas said.
Thomas served in the Navy and was attached to the U.S. Marines as a combat medic. He said he started his collection small.
“I started collecting machine guns and then one day I collected a machine gun too big to carry, so I had to buy a jeep and once you start a jeep, as my wife said, it was downhill from there.”
Thomas owned the line of tanks, and tank killers parked along one end of the “battlefield” on the fairgrounds. And he also owned a row of military vehicles, including an artillery piece, parked a row behind them.
When asked about the money he has spent on the collection, he said a "princely sum."
He said he buys them from museums that are closing or collectors who have grown old and their kids don’t want them. People know him now and will call to see if he is interested in buying a piece of military hardware.
Among that hardware is a movie star: a replica of a World War II German Tiger tank.
“It had two starring roles. It was in Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers,” Thomas said.
Mark Kovacs of DeBary was on board the Tiger tank during the re-enactment. He says he does it for the history.
"I'm a big history buff. And I like passing on history to other people, kind of keeping it alive, especially the World War II era. The Greatest Generation is dying out. So I like being able to do this: educate the public and respect our past."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: World War II-era tanks "battle" at Volusia Valor Days on fairgrounds
