Walter Chin, a U.S. Veteran and former director of business operations at the Air Force Institute of Technology, did the latter. A 24-year veteran of of the U.S. Air Force, Chin rolled up to Saturday’s gathering in a silver 1997 Porsche Targa.
“This is actually my first time bringing it to this show,” Chin said, adding that he’s prepared the car for presentation at the Beavercreek Popcorn Festival on Sunday. “I wanted to get out today and be with other vets.”
Originally from Watsonville, California, a small city located in the Monterey Bay Area of state’s central coast, Chin joined the Armed Forces in 1973, two years after graduating high school.
But before that, Chin worked at a local Watsonville supermarket. It was here, while washing the store’s windows out front, that a moment of happenstance sparked a lifelong love of Porsche cars.
“I saw these lights and cars and I heard a really nice rumble,” Chin recalls. “I saw this line of about 25 Porsches come driving down and they turned right in front of me into a Chevron station. When I saw that I thought, ‘I’m gonna have one of those some day.’”
Chin is one of about 50 car lovers who showcased their automobiles at Saturday’s event. Nearby, a band played a series of 70s rock hits while visitors perused the aisles of cars, browsed at vendor tables, and grabbed a bit to eat at food trucks.
“We’ve established ourselves as a good event to bring to the campus to allow the veterans and residents who are here on campus, and the employees, an opportunity to just celebrate and have a good time,” said Clinton Allen, board of trustee for the American Veterans Heritage Center.
Allen said the AVHC provided about 300 free meals to Dayton VA Medical Center employees who were working Saturday.
Former AVHC board trustee Cindy LaPointe-Dafler said the Patriot Salute, which is held annually on the second Saturday of September, offers an opportunity for the community to honor veterans in a more informal way.
“Veterans events can be very solemn and formal and that’s not what this is about, especially after the stress of Covid,” LaPointe-Dafler said. “Today is laidback and relaxed; we’ve got rock and roll and bluegrass music, the car show, and things that veterans can enjoy.”
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