Coast to Coast Convoy of WWII Vehicles!

I just received notification about this and I'm excited!

A group called the "Spirit of 45" along with the Military Vehicle Preservation Society is sponsoring a coast to coast convoy of up to 60 WWII vehicles which will travel the old Bankhead Highway from Virginia to San Diego. The Bankhead Highway no longer exists as a single entity (like old Route 66, it has been replaced by the Interstate system), but all the stretches are still there as local roads. Here in Arizona, it's state route 80 which passes through the bottom of the valley below me. The convoy will start on September 19th in the the east, coming through here about noon on October 12th and ending in San Diego on the October 18th.

If you live in the south they should pass near enough for to you to make the drive and see this. This link gives you a starting point to jump around and see when they'll be passing your area. http://www.spiritof45.org/70th_anniversary_website.aspx

 

This a better map to determine where the old Highway is in your area. In some places it divides and is two routes, you'll have to figure out which leg they are taking in some areas like Texas.

And a better link to download schedules and route info: http://www.mvpa.org/2015/09/08/convoy-getting-ready-to-roll/

 

Oh, there will be pictures! I want to catch them a bit north in a scenic mountain pass (Granite Pass) for a better backdrop. I hope some of our other members catch them in other places.

 

Keep us posted KB.

 

Jeff, you'll probably get more scenic pix out in the country east or west of Birmingham. It would be kind of neat if we can get our members along the route to take pix and make comments all the way across the country.

 

I caught them in a place called Antelope Pass. Just think Kasserine Pass, but without any artillery landing on them.

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Then the arrival in Rodeo, a patriotic American town!

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The Kiwis, Canadians, Aussies and Brits were represented by various flags and memorabilia on some of the vehicles. A thoughtful touch!

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This rig had a moose on the hood and a Yukon license plate.

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And a halftrack. That must really wear out some treads on a 3,500 mile trip!

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They had a couple of short speeches and a local WWII vet told an interesting story about Okinawa. He was in charge of a .50 Caliber MG crew and they were put on a ridge opposite the Japanese on the next ridge, exchanging sporadic fire. On some days chickens would show up 60 or 70 yards out in front of them and they'd run out at dusk and grab them, risking sniper fire just because they were so sick of the rations.
When the next ridge was finally cleared of Japanese and it was safe, they went out on a chicken hunt during daylight and realized the chickens were drawn there to feed on maggots. Whoever had cleared the ridge of Japanese before they got there, had dumped the bodies out there and just threw a few spades of dirt over them. The ground was crawling with maggots. He said it was many years before he ate chicken again.

 

I guess he never liked the term "tastes like chicken" either.

 

Great photos KB. Good you got to see them.

 

Great pics, KB.

 

Some nut showed up going for the Soviet Partisan look, complete with Mosin Nagant. Yeah... It's me.

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Dude, smile....

You should've been carrying some cans of Spam in your pockets, you know, the "Roosevelt's Sausage" they loved so much.