LZ Lakehawk: Packwood gifts Combat Café with original Dickson art

UMATILLA – Korean War veteran Gene Packwood of Dona Vista gifted Combat Café owners Bruce and Beth Chambers with a vintage piece of Marine Corps artwork during an informal presentation earlier this month.

Packwood, profiled on the Daily Commercial's SALUTE page in the July 6, 2019 edition, once worked for the artist — WWII Marine Col. Donald L. Dickson — whose rendering he graciously passed along.

Dickson became publisher of the Marines' Leatherneck magazine in the early 1950s and hired Packwood as art director when Gene returned from his combat artist service "over there."

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Those crafty Marines! They were big on documenting their feats under fire — and they still are, keeping artists' sketchbooks in their inventory as well as the sharpest still cameras and video gear that money can buy.

Truth to tell, the Corps has no problem going to war with loaned, cutting-edge equipment from Hollywood's top studios, an industry relationship begun not long after Pearl Harbor and one which quietly continues to this day.

"We never let anything go to waste in the Corps," former Tech. Sgt. Packwood told us, "and that extends to corporate friendships , used but serviceable field gear, jeeps that can still run or be restored and made ideal for museum display … you name it.

"At Leatherneck," Gene said, "we would store our original 'flats' in large, portfolio-sized drawers that were the premier design feature of that wonderful, battleship-gray, metal cabinetry we used.

"The artwork itself had served its purpose, helping us produce a crisp, colorful magazine. So, at the end of each year, we emptied those drawers, laid out the pre-publication pages on a large table. Anything in the pile was 'fair game' for members of the staff," he explained.

"Simply throw out a Dickson original?" he asked. "No way! I don't care if he sketched the picture on a cocktail napkin or a piece of torn cardboard from a box of C-rats!"

"That's history, man," said Packwood who, at 94, recently took his periodic driving test, passing with flying colors per usual. "And now Bruce and Beth have one more piece of it for their restaurant's eclectic, military décor.

"The Combat Café has been looking more and more like a museum, anyway," Gene said.  "And the most beautiful part, I think, is how the place serves up classic American fare across so many generations."

"Veterans from every era," he pointed out, smiling, "and those that love 'em."

SAVED ROUNDS

- Next month, a group of Gene Packwood's story-telling colleagues — the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association — will gather at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center at 1500 Sand Lake Road, Orlando on August 22-27 for their national conference, an annual event that includes Corpswide awards presented to today's photographers, writers, motion picture specialists and, yes, combat artists, among a dozen other categories.

Former Marines who served in media-related fields are invited to register electronically for both membership and conference attendance via www.usmcccaonline.com.

They can also contact the Florida Hotel to take advantage of a special $117 room rate which expires July 21.

This year's Guest of Honor is retired Marine Gen. Pete Pace, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

- The most prestigious award among members is named after Packwood's old boss.  The Donald L. Dickson Memorial Award is presented to an active member of the USMCCCA for "immeasurable contributions to the organization."

Since the Association's congressionally-endorsed founding in 1947, a bevy of Floridians have received "The Dickson," including Jack Paxton (Wildwood), Tom Kerr (Niceville), Kate Stark (Gainesville), Gene Smith (Ocoee), Bob McEwen (Indian Shores), Red Carpenter (Spring Hill) and Bob Jordan (Longwood).

- Leesburg's "Airman Bob" Peters of YouTube Central Florida Salute and WQBQ fame, was unanimously voted-in by the Marines as an affiliate member of the "CC's" during their conclave in Atlanta two years ago.

- BRAVO ZULU to Bob, by the way (and to his lovely bride, Deb, who supports his frenetic pace!) for the Lifetime Achievement Award presented him two weeks ago by Commander Les Moreland on behalf of AMVETS Post 2006 (headquartered on Canal Street in Leesburg).

Peters was lauded for "sustained, energetic support to the veteran's population and to the community at-large."

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Korean War veteran gifts Combat Café with original Donald Dickson art