If you dont mind, please ask him if he has any pictures of the crate, the
Jeep in the crate or coming out of the crate.
Thanks,
JP
----------
> From: Jason Caniglia <caniglia@saintmarys.edu>
> To: Jeep Listserve <JEEP-L@Knuth.mtsu.edu>; Military Vehicle List
<mil-veh@skylee.com>
> Subject: [MV] My Obsession/Jeep War Stories - Long
> Date: Monday, June 09, 1997 5:05 PM
>
>
> For months now, I have been trying to hunt down the owner of a great
> little flat-fender that I have seen driving through my neighborhood. I
> thought you might get a good laugh about how far my obsession went and
> the great story I learned about this Jeep.
>
> I had only had short glances at this Jeep but I knew it was pretty
> special and I had to find out more. Since I only saw it when I was
> driving to work (running late as usual), I wasn't sure if it was a CJ2A,
> CJ3B, or an MB. What I did know was that I was interested in tracking the
> owner down to see it and to see if he would be interested in selling it.
>
> I finally got the license place number off the back of it last month and
> sent off to the state office to get the owner information. Well, on
> Friday I received the information to find out that the owner only lives
> four blocks away from me. Since I had already driven up and down my block
> for the past four months looking for it, I knew it had to have been
> garage kept.
>
> Well, Saturday morning my wife and I drove over in the '97 TJ to speak
> with this guy. We walked up to the door and told him that I was a HUGE
> Jeep fan and I really wanted to see his Jeep. Without hesitation, the guy
> jumps off his porch and tells us to follow him. His garage was a "Jeep
> Mecca." I know there has been some discussion on both lists about how
> many original military Jeeps might be out there, well add another one to
> the list. This guy owns a "STOCK" 1943 MB. It gets even better when you
> hear how he got it.
>
> He was a pilot in WWII. Toward the end of the war, they had tons of Jeeps
> still in the crates. He offered his commander $300 for a Jeep and asked
> if he could fly it home with him. His commander didn't think it would
look
> good if he was flying property out of Europe, so he told him that he
> would have it shipped to his house here in Indiana, the very same house
> he still lives in today. Sure enough, after he finished his commission
> and flew home after the war, the Jeep crate was in his garage. He didn't
> bother unpacking it because he didn't have much use for it at the time.
> He had just become a Sheriff and they let him drive his patrol car home.
> This Jeep sat in the crate, in his garage for another 25 years!
>
> In 1969, he unpacked the Jeep and took it down to the city office to
> register it, only to find out he couldn't because it didn't have a metal
> top or roll bars. So, he fabricated his own metal top and put it on the
> MB. That is THE ONLY MODIFICATION he has ever made to this Jeep. He is
> running the same engine, with all original transmission and parts from
> the day he bought it. The only item he has replaced other than fluids and
> spark plugs, has been the U-joints. Otherwise, this Jeep is running just
> as it did the first day he started it. After 25 years as Sheriff, he is
> now retired and uses the Jeep everyday for his recycling business
(pulling
> pop cans out of the dumpster). He drives around with a latter and bags of
> cans strapped to it every day.
>
> Unfortunately or fortunately, he knows exactly what he has and says he
> will never sell it. It was really moving to hear him talk about the war,
> his Jeep and his country. He has put it in his will that his grandson
> will get the Jeep and since he also is a Jeep fan, I don't think it
> will be sold anytime soon.
>
> The good news is that I have met a REALLY interesting vet who has now
> offered to teach me about the "L-Head" engines in the MB and how to
> maintain them. You know I will gladly walk a few blocks to hear these war
> stories and to play with this piece of history. I told him that this is a
> great story and someone should write it up but he just shrugged an said
> he's a simple man who doesn't like a lot of attention. Well, he
> definitely has mine whenever he wants it!
>
> Jason (who has been humbled by being in the presence of a "true Jeeper")
> 97 TJ Sport
>
>
> ===
> To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
> UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.
===
To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.