From: Sonny Heath (sonny@defuniak.com)
Date: Mon Mar 21 2005 - 05:11:28 PST
Good post, Thanks Everette,
Sonny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Everette" <194cbteng@bellsouth.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 5:58 AM
Subject: [MV] 1,000,000 jeeps
>
> 1952 One Million Jeeps
> In 1939, the American Bantam Car Company submitted its original design for
> an all-terrain troop transport vehicle--featuring four-wheel drive, masked
> fender-mount headlights, and a rifle rack under the dash--to the U.S.
Armed
> Forces. The Army loved Bantam's design, but the development contract for
the
> vehicle was ultimately awarded to the Willys-Overland Company for its
> superior production capabilities. Bantam wound up fulfilling a government
> contract for 3,000 vehicles during the war; but the Jeep, as designed by
> Willys-Overland, would become the primary troop transport of the U.S.
Army.
> Mass production of the Willys Jeep began after the U.S. declaration of war
> in 1941. The name "Jeep" is reportedly derived from the Army's request
that
> car manufacturers develop a "General Purpose" vehicle. "Gee Pee" turned to
> "Jeep" somewhere along the battle lines. Another story maintains that the
> name came from a character in the Popeye cartoon who, like the vehicle,
was
> capable of incredible feats. The Willys Jeep became a cultural icon in the
> U.S. during World War II, as images of G.I.'s in "Gee Pees," liberating
> Europe, saturated newsreels in movie theaters across the country. Unlike
the
> Hummer of recent years, the Jeep was not a symbol of technological
> superiority but rather of the courage of the American spirit--a symbol
> cartoonist Bill Mauldin captured when he drew a weeping soldier firing a
> bullet into his broken down Willys Jeep. By 1945, 660,000 Jeeps had rolled
> off the assembly lines and onto battlefields in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
> Many remained abroad after the war, where their parts were integrated into
> other vehicles or their broken bodies were mended with colorful impromptu
> repairs. Wherever the Jeep roamed, it lived up to its design as a vehicle
> for general use. During the war, Jeep hoods were used as altars for field
> burials. Jeeps were also used as ambulances, tractors, and scout cars.
After
> the war, surplus Jeeps found their way into civilian life as snowplows,
> field plows, and mail carriers. Willys-Overland released its first
civilian
> Jeep model, called the CJ (Civilian Jeep) in 1945. On this day in 1952,
the
> 1,000,000th Jeep was produced.
>
>
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