PORT HADLOCK — Hookup Corner & Deli owner Barb Gillespie stood at the open doorway of her business Sunday, flashing a quick double thumbs up at a soldier driving a military green truck with a substantial cannon in tow.
Hundreds of military vehicles, including groups of 15-vehicle Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, have been rolling through Port Hadlock and Chimacum since Saturday as part of a military convoy from Naval Magazine Indian Island to Fort Lewis.
“Those Strykers look like every little boy’s dream,” Gillespie said with a smile, recalling the string of eight-wheel vehicles that rumbled through town Saturday. “I think it’s fun to watch them go by. It’s really exciting.”
The vehicles were offloaded at Navy Magazine Indian Island near Hadlock, then began rolling on to Fort Lewis by way of bridges at Hood Canal and the Tacoma Narrows.
The exercise, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore, started Saturday and lasts through July 1, Army officials said. The exercise includes Army personnel, and to lesser extents, Navy and Coast Guard support crews.
Convoy traffic had tapered off to trickles Sunday at the intersection of Oak Bay and Chimacum roads in the heart of Hadlock’s business district. Gillespie, however, was one of the several Port Hadlock business owners still set abuzz by a big boost in business, compliments of the U.S. armed services.
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