JEEP'S JOURNEY INTO HISTORY
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 James Hartman of Butler. Some of my most memorable experiences with Jeeps were at communication specialist training at Camp Forrest, Tenn., during World War II.One of our training maneuvers was to learn how to get the Jeeps from one side of the river to the other by extraordinary means. This training prepared us for any situation we may encounter.A rope was first strung across the river. A tarp was put down and the jeep was driven onto it.Four soldiers, one at each corner, would wrap the jeep in the tarp. The Jeep would be floated on the water and the soldiers holding onto the rope would either pull the jeep across or use round-pointed, short-handled shovels as oars and row it across.Sometimes a trailer was attached to the Jeep and would float behind.
The Jeep carried me more than 350 miles to various towns in Tennessee, and I participated in the Tennessee Fourth War Loan Driver.As a technical corporal from Company A, 98th Signal Battalion from Camp Forrest, I was in charge of a contingent convoying a captured German aircraft and accessories to be displayed in the towns we visited. Army jeeps and other military equipment were also exhibited along with this Nazi plane to promote the selling of war bonds.Each purchaser of a bond was given a free ride in an Army Jeep.Many people lined up to wait their turn and waved their war bonds as they took their rides.Thousands of dollars in war bonds were sold, and the Jeep was a valuable part in the selling of those bonds.
