6 minute read
Driving the Deuce
WWII Army truck with mounted machine gun delivers thrills and curious looks
STORY & PHOTOS BY MARSHALL HUDSON
As we bounce down the road in his 1943 GMC U.S. Army truck, Steve Keith peppers me with tips about how to drive it.
“It has a five-speed manual transmission, but the gears are not synchromeshed so you have to double clutch every time you shift,” he says. “Start out in second gear. First is really low. You only use it when you are stuck in the mud or hauling a heavy load. Fifth gear is an overdrive.”
It’s nothing like driving a car or an SUV. And it nearly has a mind of its own.
“You have to be careful on corners because there are eight wheels in the back tracking straight ahead and only two in the front providing steering, so the truck has a natural tendency to plow straight ahead on slippery curves, even though you are turning the wheel,” he instructs me.
We stop for fuel and draw curious looks from the other customers, which really isn’t surprising. You don’t often see a WWII deuce and a half with a 50-caliber machine gun mounted above the passenger’s head at a gas station.
The gun is a replica weapon manufactured for training purposes and cannot be fired, but it adds restoration authenticity to the truck. Because these trucks were rated to haul 2 1⁄2 tons, soldiers nicknamed them “deuce and a half,” sometimes shortened to just “deuce.” Every soldier who ever rode on the wooden bench in the canvas-covered back of a deuce likely remembers the experience; they weren’t built for comfort.
We are on our way to the private garage owned by Steve and his wife, Jeanne, which they affectionately refer to as the “Pembroke Ordnance Depot” or POD. While some people collect spoons, coins or stamps, Steve and Jeanne collect WWII historic military vehicles or “HMVs.”
At the POD, I count a few more deuces, some restored, and some “ladies in waiting” needing to be worked on. These include a radio truck, bomb truck and a deuce-mounted crane. There are also Army trailers, water buffaloes, and an airborne bulldozer that was transported aboard cargo planes.
Army uniforms, mess kits, mobile kitchen cooking ranges, training bombs, radios, jerry cans and other items fill the garage along with spare parts and the tools needed to keep these HMVs running. Perhaps the most attention-grabbing item is a 1942 Ford Army jeep, which Jeanne drives in parades or exhibits at events.
Steve and Jeanne are WWII historians and reenactors as well as collectors of HMVs. Their vehicles are used for displays, parades, Memorial Day services, reenactments, and other occasions, such as centennial birthdays for WWII veterans. They do presentations at museums, historical societies and schools. Their trucks have also been leased to movie production companies making WWII films. Annually, they exhibit at the Statehouse in Concord to honor the service men and women who perished on Dec. 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
When I ask Steve and Jeanne why they chose this hobby, Steve answers that he is trying to preserve history and keep it alive. He enjoys engaging with young people and fostering interest in WWII history or military vehicles. He also enjoys conversation and camaraderie with veterans or other military collectors, and he willingly shares his knowledge with them. Steve is equally well-versed in automotive mechanics, WWII history and Pearl Harbor trivia.
Jeanne has a deep family connection to WWII. Her grandmother was a Red Cross volunteer during the war, and her mother was a riveter at a Grumman aircraft factory. Jeanne’s father was a WWII Army veteran assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit where he served under Capt. Ronald Reagan, a Hollywood actor who would go on to become president of the United States. The mission of the Motion Picture Unit was to develop realistic training films that were then used by pilots preparing to take the atomic bomb to Japan.
When WWII ended, there was a surplus of these Army trucks, and the government offered them to cities and towns at little or no cost. Towns converted the deuces into fire trucks and used them for off-road firefighting. Steve bought the 1943 deuce we are driving today at auction in 1980 from the Deerfield Fire Department for $525, and drove it home. Steve removed the water tank, found an original cargo body in France, married the two together and repainted the truck olive drab. I ask why the bumper is labeled, “1A 291E,” and Steve tells me that “the 1st Army 291st Combat Engineers were the best” and he wanted to honor them for their highly decorated service at the Battle of the Bulge and the Bridge at Remagen in Germany.
It takes a lot of dedicated labor to keep these 80-year-old trucks roadworthy, and I’ve volunteered to help out, so today I’m swapping a wheel off an old generator trailer with a flat tire. With an air impact wrench, I’m able to free the lug nuts, which haven’t been off in decades, but the steel rim is rusted stuck to the axel hub and won’t come off no matter how much I pry or thump on it. Steve heats it with a torch, and it finally releases, allowing me to remove and replace the heavy wheel with another salvaged from a trailer destined to be stripped for parts.
The HMVs are on the road often, so safety and reliability are paramount. Although the vehicles look original, the 1943 deuce we are driving today originally had a 270-cubic-inch straight-six engine. Steve replaced it with a 1956 GMC 302-cubic-inch straight-six which increased the horsepower from 94 to 160. This extra horsepower is useful when driving the hilly roads of New Hampshire, especially when towing a trailer or hauling Jeanne’s Jeep in the cargo bed.
“You still have to boot it when there’s a hill up ahead and get up some momentum or you’ll be downshifting and crawling up the hill in granny gear, and that irritates everyone behind you,” Steve tells me.
With a top speed of about 40 or 45 mph, the interstate highways are avoided, and we drive the back roads waving at curious onlookers, anticipating hills, trying not to frustrate the drivers tailgating us, and double clutching whenever we downshift.
