well, jacques littlefield is born in 1949, the son of edmund wattis littlefield, heir to a prosperousining and land-development company called utah construction. at an early age, jacques develops a strong interest in all things mechanical. >> this is him as a young boy, playing with his model train set. >> he looks almost like he could be in an ad for trains. >> i know. it's such a sweet picture. [ gunfire ] >> in the late '60s, the vietnam war is raging, but jacques is never drafted, due to hearing loss from a childhood bout with encephalitis. he attends stanford university. after majoring in economics, he goes to b-school, then takes a job at hewlett-packard. that's where the 23-year old littlefield meets his new boss, bill boller, who becomes a lifelong friend. he shares with bill his latest passion -- tanks. where did it begin? >> he checked a book out of the library called "american tanks and tank destroyers." and that book attracted his attention so much that he said it all started there. >> jacques' first military purchase -- in 1976, for $3,500 -- is this m3a1 world war ii whe