Many soldiers tested the off-road capabilities of the BRC-40 Jeep and rode it throughout their service. In the photograph at left, the Jeep is put through its paces at Haley, Tenn., in 1941.

The Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau asked county veterans to recall their memories of the Jeep during military service.Here is one of those letters written by Frank John of Butler. I was involved with the Jeep from Oct. 13, 1944, to Oct. 10, 1945, during World War II.I landed on a personnel craft at our staging area in Fowey, England, for duty in Europe. Our LST landed at the Port of LeHarvre, France, on Oct. 12, 1944.It took five days to cross the English Channel from Plymouth, England, because of bad storms. Our group of 20, along with our gear, were loaded onto two 2½ ton trucks for Rouen, France, which is an inland port on the Seine River. It is half way from LeHarvre to Paris.Our barracks were 10 to 12 blocks from the naval headquarters in downtown Rouen. Needless to say, we traveled by Jeep morning, noon and night.On Oct. 14, 1944, I was down on the docks, when another sailor asked if I would like a ride to see what a Jeep was capable of doing. We went down into a gravel pit 15 to 20 fee below the surface with gravel that was 2 to 6 inches in diameter. I was sure we would have to be rescued by a tow truck.He put the Jeep in 4-wheel drive and had no trouble climbing out of the pit.Within three days of our arrival in Rouen, two of us were assigned to the POL officer. He was in charge of getting the tankers, which were bringing fuel from England, up river to the tank farm. He also had charge of the water boat.The water boat visited all ships coming into the port to give them fresh water, not only for drinking but for the ship's boilers. The water for the boiler had to be more pure than what was required for drinking.It was our job to get the river pilots on board the ships, up river and back down again. The tank farm was six miles down river from the city. We would make two or more round trips per day by jeep, riding beside the river.The winter of 1944-1945 was the coldest winter some natives had ever experienced. After dropping a buddy at the water boat, we would proceed down river by jeep.Though I was dressed in winter clothing, riding in the open Jeep was still darned cold.On Victory in Europe day, May 12, 1945, our office began phasing out.On June 6, 1945, three of us closed the operation and traveled by Jeep to Paris. From there we were assigned to the U.S. Technological Mission in Europe, which was headquartered in Paris.It was there that we turned the Jeep into the motor pool.

I was assigned to the store room of office supplies and Army clothing. Officers and technical people would fly in from the states. Our department would outfit them with army items and some supplies. Other departments equipped them with photography equipment and side arms.No one was allowed to go into a former combat zone unless they were in Army dress. I am proud to say I equipped Charles Lindbergh on two trips.The men I equipped would go into underground factories in Germany, get all the books and data, and bring it back to Paris to be put on microfilm. This information was then sent back to the states to be analyzed.In July of 1945, two of us were assigned to take photographic supplies, by Jeep and trailer, from Paris to Wiesbaden in Germany.We delivered the supplies late Friday afternoon. The officer in charge wanted us to stay over the weekend to pick up additional supplies in Frankfurt on Monday, which we did.As a bribe to get us to stay, he assigned us his Jeep for the weekend. We took a trip through the Ruhr industrial sections. Oh my, what devastation and ruins.We got the supplies on Monday and then returned to Paris.The Victory in Japan parade was in Paris in August 1945. The French always were ready for any parade, but they were not too involved with the war in Japan. Therefore, it was mostly an American GI victory parade.I was one of the people on the sidelines. One group of participants was made up of 23 GIs and WACs. They had one Jeep parading down the Champs Elysees, a famous boulevard in Paris. They were riding on the hood and front fenders of the Jeep.They were also packed into both the front and the back seating areas.Later in September 1945, two of us took a Jeep and trailer, loaded with office supplies, on a five-day trip from Paris to Copenhagen, Denmark.When we arrived back in Paris, I had accumulated enough points to return home. I went from Paris to LeHarvre by Jeep, and then shipped out for the United States on Oct. 12, 1945.

Frank John