The Famous WW2
Army Jeep
December 1940.
America had not yet entered WW2.
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Fort Oglethorpe became one of the first proving grounds in the country to test the newly developed "Willys" jeep.
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The Army jeep would become the symbol of both America's manufacturing might
and of victory.
Library of Congress image
The Day the Jeep Arrived
The first Army jeeps arrived at Fort Oglethorpe late Thursday night, December 19, 1940. A ten-man detail had been dispatched to the Bantam Company plant in Butler, PA, where the new jeeps were manufactured, to pick up eight new jeeps and drive them back to Fort Oglethorpe. Leading the detail of eight privates and one mechanic was Lt. Glen Fant.
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The 6th Cavalry Regiment was the main garrison unit at Fort Oglethorpe when WW2 broke out. The regiment had been wrestling with the Army-wide mechanization transition from horses to vehicles. They had experimented with several combinations of horses, sidecar motorcycles, and armored scout cars. The jeep was the newest in the Army's mechanized inventory and the 6th Cavalry was charged with testing it in numerous configurations.
January 24, 1941, 6th Cavalry conducting a jeep "swimming test" at Harrison Bay State Park. Chattanooga Daily Times (left and below). Click on image to read.
December 31, 1940, 6th Cavalry experimenting with different armaments on or towed by jeep. Chattanooga Daily Times (below). Click on image to read.
April 11, 1941 - Chattanooga Lookouts season opener game, Fort Oglethorpe 6th Cavalry troops give jeep demonstration on the field.
February 11, 1942 - Lt. Sewell of the 6th Cavalry at Fort Oglethorpe giving his soon-to-be-bride a ride in the jeep. The 6th Cavalry would leave the post that year to join Gen. Patton's Army in Europe.
September 2, 1944 (below) - Sergeants Alvin York (left) and Paul Huff meet at Fort Oglethorpe on a recruitment event and ride in a jeep. Both men are Medal of Honor recipients from Tennessee- York in WW1, Huff in WW2.
June 26, 1942 (above) - During a Confederate Civil War reunion held in Chattanooga, three generals ride in an Army jeep. Imagine how these men felt when their wartime experience was on horseback.