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Monday, November 12, 2001
Business booms for roadside store
Wild Man's Army Surplus captures the attention of patriotic consumers
By Venessa Santos-Garza
Caller-Times
Contact Venessa Santos-Garza at 886-3752 or santosv@caller.com

David Adame/Caller-Times

Jeremy Mull (left) and Hayley Freasier look through military surplus at Wild Man's Army Surplus, a roadside stand at South Padre Island Drive and Everhart Road Sunday. Owner Harold Godwin expects sales to top $6,000 by this afternoon.

   Veterans Day weekend was a busy one for Wild Man's Army Surplus. The roadside business, based out of Killeen, set up shop at the corner of Everhart Road and South Padre Island Drive, selling everything from combat boots to body bags.
   "We got the stuff," owner Harold Godwin said while referring to one of his top selling items - an Army-issued gas mask. "We don't fool around."
   Elsewhere in the city it was hard to find a roadside vendor, perhaps because of Veterans Day, but it appeared the cravings for anything military or patriotic since the Sept. 11 attacks has captured the interest of people of all ages.
   Judy Cromwell said she stopped at the stand because her son Welder and his best friend, Michael Knowles, both 11, begged to see Godwin's goods.
   Sifting through used combat boots and old hand grenades was not Cromwell's idea of a leisurely Sunday afternoon, but she said the boys were insistent.
   Cromwell said that the boys are very aware of what is going on and even spent the morning drawing her a map detailing how military forces in Afghanistan have moved from one location to another.

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   "They are really staying on top of things," Cromwell said. "They are fascinated by anything camouflage right now."
   Military gear is big business for Godwin, who expects sales to top $6,000 by this afternoon when he packs up and heads home to restock. When he set up shop on Friday, he had 22 gas masks on hand and was selling them for about $75 each. By Sunday evening, he had sold all but three.
   "Right now everything is a best seller," Godwin said. "And $6,000 is not bad for three days worth of work."
   Welder and Michael wandered from table to table, checking out military-issued winter underwear, old Vietnam helmets and jackets.
   "The gas masks smell kind of funny," Michael laughed.
   It was not the flags or the flak jackets that drew Del Mar student Jeremy Mull. Mull, whose alternative style of dress includes spiked hair, baggy pants and a wallet secured by a chain, couldn't resist the shoes.
   "I was driving and saw all the combat boots," Mull said while perched on the grass trying on a pair of heavy winter boots.

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