Got an old, dusty memento of Jeep culture from the past, snapshots of Granny and Grandpa picnicking in the shade of their CJ-2A, or a relative in uniform with their trusty gas-horse? Scan 'em and send 'em to Sideways, Vintage Edition, christian.hazel@jpmagazine.com and we'll be proud to share 'em.
Home Front Sacrifices
Here are some family pictures of my great aunt, Mildred Susan "Aunt Susie" Schmideke. She served as a mechanic in the WACs during WWII. There are shots of her with a GPW; I'm sure someone can narrow down what year and model it is. And also one of her with a WC56 Dodge command car (yeah, I know, it's not a Jeep, but there's still a cool factor there). A Jeep transmission/transfer case fell on her abdomen, rendering her unable to bear children.
She married after the war, and she and Uncle Jules were stereotypical snowbirds of the '50s and '60s, migrating back and forth between Missouri and Florida with the seasons, a travel trailer in tow. In their twilight years they settled near my family. They spoiled my brothers and me unapologetically-it was like having an extra set of grandparents!
Kenny Sherrill
Via email
Old Blood 'N' Guts
Check out this vintage Jeep picture. As far as I know, it is a copy of an original I bought from the veteran who took it and lived it! About ten years ago I met an old man at a gun show while shopping for diff cover testers. He had a lot of stories and I listened to a few. He was selling copies of this photo, along with several others. I bought one and blew it up, framed it, and hung it on my wall. Is it real? I think so. The man seemed well into his eighties and had a lot of WW II stories and photos. The writing on the photo appears to be written at two different times, and I assume that he added the "Patton" part later for clarification. I do know that General Patton was a tank commander and that the crossing of the Rhine River was an integral event in the fall of Germany. The Jeep has some neat horns on the hood and some sort of safety glass around the passenger door. The people in the background seem to be standing at attention. Don't forget the machine gunner. Sounds important right? Can anybody decipher any of the numbers on the hood or even the passenger's (Patton's) uniform?
Josh Jamieson|
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
And Mud 'N' Ruts
Here is a photo of my dad, Pvt. Samuel J. Messmore, 74th Engineer Light Pontoon Co. It was taken in 1942 during the road construction of the ALCAN (Alaska) Highway somewhere between Fort Nelson, B.C. and Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. Pvt. Messamore was from Heiskell, Tennessee.
WIlliam D. Messamore
Via email