The Little Vehicle That Could

Jeeps play a big part in war history

BY BILL QUEHRN

Airbase Arizona Flying Museum Docent

If the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber is the aerial icon of World War II, at least the war in Europe, the venerable four-wheel drive Jeep is surely the overland equivalent in every theater of the war.

And like so many WWII products the Jeep was born of an immediate need to face a seemingly impossible task.

In 1940, the U.S. Army went shopping for a fourwheel drive reconnaissance car capable of driving through rugged terrain. The specifications stipulated that this new vehicle weigh no more than 1,300 pounds, have a 2-meter wheelbase and four-wheel drive. It should be able to carry 600 pounds — about

SEE COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE PAGE 14

The Jeep has played a big part in war history and is credited with giving birth to the sport-utility vehicle industry.

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COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE FROM PAGE 12

three men — and a 30-caliber machine gun. And the Army wanted a working prototype in 49 days.

A Willis-Overland vehicle was soon accepted with the understanding that more vehicles would be needed than Willis could deliver. Ford Motor Co. was tasked to produce the rest.

Initial testing of the new general-purpose vehicle included over 5,000 miles of highway driving towing a trailer with a full payload. Weeks of grueling punishment at the Army’s test track at Camp Holabird in Maryland followed.

This severe trial included going through mud holes, up hills with grades of 65%, over large ditches, and around small twisting hills followed by 500 miles on a sand course. The last step was 10 hours of driving up a sand grade so steep that the vehicle had to travel in its lowest gear at no more than 2 mph.

It could be compared to running a tough guy through a murderous gauntlet and when he reached the end he looked around, shrugged, and asked, ‘OK, what’s next? The Jeeps passed every test!’

Willis produced over 300,000 Jeeps with Ford adding another 250 thousand. However, it was Ford engineers who designed the iconic slotted Jeep grill that was finally accepted by the Army.

The Jeep won praise and affection everywhere it carried its occupants.

Well-known WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote, “Good Lord, I don’t think we could continue the war without the Jeep. It does everything. It goes everywhere. It’s as faithful as a dog, as strong as a mule, and as agile as a goat. It constantly carries twice what it was designed for, and still keeps going. It doesn’t even ride so badly after you get used to it. … The Jeep is a divine instrument of wartime locomotion.”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower called it “one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII.” Gen. George Marshall, the war’s U.S. Army chief of staff, called the Jeep “America’s greatest contribution to modern warfare.”

After the war, the Jeep is credited with giving birth to the sport-utility vehicle industry and keeping it alive today. Jeep has had a revolving group of owners, but one thing hasn’t changed: the vehicle’s distinctive slotted grill.

By the way, the name “Jeep” wasn’t submitted to the Army by Willis. In the finest of Army tradition, acronyms are assigned to everything, and the new four-wheel drive car was a general purpose — or “G-P” vehicle — which, when phoneticized, is pronounced Jeep.

At the Airbase Arizona Flying Museum, warbird airplanes are the primary focus. However, a Jeep is prominently displayed on the floor, recalling the countless number of young Americans rushed in the vehicles from their briefing rooms to their awaiting aircraft during the war.

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Airbase Arizona Flying Museum at Falcon Field 2017 N. Greenfield Road, Mesa For museum/PX store: 480-924-1940 For rides/flights: 480-462-2992 azcaf.org 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays

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