A celebration at VFW Post 2550 on Friday was as much about celebrating the birth of a nation as it was marking Dunedin’s history and significance during World War II. And it all began with a vehicle called a landing vehicle tracked, or LVT.
Officials unveiled one of the rare amphibious vehicles on Friday in front of the post.
The first models were originally developed and built in Dunedin for the war. They were used to move thousands of Marines and Army soldiers in the Pacific and even the famous battle of the bulge in Europe.
“This vehicle here was one the vehicles that played a really important part in World War II,” said John Torniga of the LVT preservation group. “General Geiger wrote a letter from Okinawa where he stated that without the LVT, he doubted that we would've been able to accomplish the task in the Pacific. And he wrote that in 1945."
Modernized versions of the LVT are still in use today by the military. Some honored guests during today's dedication ceremony included some World War II vets.
Although more than 18,000 of the LVTs were produced during World War, II, most were left on the battlefield and only a handful remain in existence.