Defense Dept. may confiscate WWI cannon

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By CHERYL HIGGINSONDaily News Staff WriterA World War I vintage cannon that has become something of a landmark in Mason County could be in danger of disappearing for good.The cannon, which has sat in the front yard of Henry and Marge Marek's home on East U.S. 10 since 1947, may be confiscated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).Henry Marek was more than a little surprised when a special agent from the DOD knocked on his door Tuesday afternoon."I didn't know what was going on," Marek said. "Just all of a sudden this guy is standing at the door waving his badge, telling me that the cannon was government property and he wanted to talk to me."Henry said Special Agent Thomas O'Conner told him the cannon could be taken by the DOD and destroyed."I asked him if it could be donated to a museum instead, but he really never did give me an answer," Henry added."I just think it's all a lot of malarkey," he continued. "I think the people in this community have enjoyed the cannon. I can't tell you how many parents have stopped by with their kids and taken pictures. The kids walk around and play on it and I think they are just in awe."We've painted it several times and kept it up," Henry added. "I just can't believe this whole thing."Henry said he told O'Conner that the cannon's breech was welded shut and the barrel has been cut, so it could never fire again."I even had an FBI agent stop here in the 1960s," he continued. "He inspected the cannon and the shell and determined it was safe for display. I asked O'Conner several times if he wanted to inspect the cannon, but he declined."Calls to the Department of Defense by the Daily News were not returned today.O'Conner took a file of papers Henry had on the cannon back with him to his DOD office in Chicago so he could look them over."We gave them to him and I got them back Thursday," said the Mareks' son Tim. "But there was no letter or anything telling us what is going on. For all we know they could pull up with a truck and take it away today."Tim said that O'Conner had noticed the cannon when he was on his way back to the Manistee airport to catch a 7 p.m. flight to Chicago. O'Conner had been in town Tuesday for the sentencing hearing of Tobias John Maxwell Deatrick who was arrested last fall on the charge of being in possession of a disabled missile launcher. The DOD had been involved in that investigation.O'Conner, who was being given a ride from the Michigan State Police to the airport, told the trooper to pull into Marek's residence because he wanted to investigate the cannon sitting in the yard, according to Tim.Henry obtained the cannon in 1942 from the Work Projects Administration as part of the many tons of scrap that he processed for the war effort through his scrap metal business. The WPA organized scrap drives in Ludington and Scottville and Henry would buy the scrap from the Scottville drives. He then would process that scrap along with his own for the war effort and sell it to foundries under the directives from the government. He shipped the scrap to the foundries at his expense.When he got the cannon the material in it was too thick and hard to cut with the equipment Henry had. The government agent who was in charge of the local scrap drives was to supply Henry with the equipment to process the cannon, but never did."And the war ended and I never did hear from the agent again," Henry added.When the war with Germany ended, Henry was drafted and told to be prepared for duty within three months. As part of that preparation he sold the remaining scrap he had, including the cannon, to Harry Soule. The war ended before Henry was called to duty and he resumed his scrap-processing business. Soule, in the meantime, had sold the cannon to Frank Kimball.In 1947 Henry bought the cannon back for $25 and towed it home. He painted it and put in on display in the front yard where it has sat ever since. Ludington Daily News

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8 years of Clinton must have really taken its toll.