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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2018)
6A | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS Siuslaw News Community Voices Military Heritage Chronicles — Cal Applebee Special to Siuslaw News I t has been almost eight years since I first wrote an edition of the Chronicles on the develop- ment of the iconic jeep vehicle. With our recent second annual Jeep Junction event with an increased crowd learning about Jeeps, I thought it might be time to revisit that topic. Back in the late 1930s, as war clouds from across the pond were moving towards America, military leaders were already in the process of seeking options for replacing the tried & true cavalry horse as a means for transporting troops. It was time to mechanize the “modern army.” After experimenting with a variety of other platforms, the Army Quartermaster Corps set- tled on a concept they thought would do the job, and developed specifications and put out an invitation to 135 different auto- motive manufacturers to submit bids and prototypes. Out of that effort, only two auto manufac- turers responded: American Bantam Car Company in Butler Pennsylvania and Willys- Overland in Toledo Ohio. Eventually, the Army realized that Bantam’s production capa- bilities would not be able to keep up with the anticipated volumes of vehicles they would be order- ing, so Willys continued with its prototype, and the Army even- tually talked Ford Motor Company into also participating With the production con- straints of Bantam, they were eventually dropped from the contracts after delivering just shy of 3,000 vehicles. Both Willys-Overland and Ford Motor Company went on to produce jeeps for the military thru mid-1945, with Willys pro- ducing approximately 348,849 units and Ford producing approximately 277,878 units. After the war, American The Iconic Jeep Bantam Car Company went on to manufac- ture a variety of other steel prod- ucts, but never entered the auto- motive industry again, and even- tually faded into oblivion in the mid-1950s. Ford Motor Oregon Coast Military Museum Company wasn’t hosted its second annual Jeep interested, at the Junction at Johnston Motor time, in continu- Company in Florence on Saturday. ing jeep produc- tion, and went back to their own passenger car tary use initially, the civilian and truck efforts in the post war models would go on to unprece- years. Willys-Overland realized dented success for nearly 80 the importance of the jeep vehi- years, at current production. cle that came out of the collabo- Not only does the original Jeep rative effort during the war, and platform still exist, albeit consid- even before war’s end, had start- erably more refined from its ori- ed re-designing both the vehicle gins, the Jeep has spawned a as well as uses for marketing, whole new genre of vehicles that and in late 1945 and into 1946 evolved over time to the SUV began manufacturing the now market, with multiple clones fol- famous CJ2A, both for the lowing suit. American market as well as In addition to the significant overseas, where the jeep vehicle impact this little vehicle has had already had a lot of acceptance on automotive heritage, it also and credibility had an impact in the medical Though developed for mili- field. According to an article which ran in the Feb. 28, 1944, edition of Time magazine, “Jeep Disease” was the name given by doctors for a disorder resulting in a congenital cist on a man’s spine — caused by the harsh ride of a military jeep! They don’t ride much differ- ent today. We had over two-dozen Jeeps ranging from 1942 through 2015 make an appearance at the Oregon Coast Military Museum’s recent annual event. There were pristine restored military as well as early civilian jeeps, as well as a bevy of mod- ern Wranglers, some with con- siderable modifications and a lot of personality — maybe even attitude! In the military category, five different Ford-built jeeps were in attendance, as well as the iconic 1942 “slat grill” manufac- tured by Willys/Overland, which is now on display in the museum. We expanded the award cate- gories this year to include People’s Choice Awards for both military and civilian. Traci Kelley from Coos Bay with her 1943 Ford GPW won for military, and civil- ian went to Scott Ryland’s 1984 CJ-8 Scrambler. Ryland also took home the Newest Award with his 2015 Wrangler JKU, and Oldest Award went to Jim May of Eugene with that awesome 1942 slat grill. You can learn more about military jeep heritage (as well as other military vehicles) by visit- ing the website for Military Ve h i c l e P r e s e r v a t i o n Association at www.mvpa.org, and you can learn more about the Oregon Coast Military Museum by visiting 2145 Kingwood St. or www.oregon coastmilitarymuseum.com. Local Eats Your guide to great locally owned restaurants. Handcrafted Sandwiches Created to mouthwatering perfection! All of our fresh menu items are made to order, so exactly what you want is exactly what you get. Open Daily for Lunch menu offered from 11-6pm Homemade Soup Daily Beer, Wine, Cocktails Mo’s Restaurant Daily Happy Hour 3-6pm PARMESAN PETRALE SOLE $14.95 and for dessert... SNICKER OR PEANUT BUTTER PIE FOR $5.95 Mo’s Old Town, Florence • Daily 11 am - 8 pm Serving Bowls of comfort for Over 50 Years Driftwood Shores BEER GARDEN FOOD VENDORS SOCCER Free Event! June 23rd & 24th The Grill Restaurant & Lounge at Fl oren ce G olf L inks 1201 35th Street at Kingwood, Florence Highway 101 & 35 St. 541-997-4623 Enjoy great food and good times. Summer is here, stop in today. Where good friends & great food come together! Steak Seafood Pasta Brick Oven Pizza Monday-Sunday 11am to Close Happy Hour Monday-Friday 3:00pm to 5:00pm - 7 201 - F E BEST O F LO E N C R Reservations • Take Out 1297 Bay Street Florence • 541-997-1133 1285 Bay Street in Old Town, Florence www.bridgewaterfi shhouse.com (541) 902-8338