World War II era trucks rescued for restoration at Long Island’s Armor Museum

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, two World War II Army utility vehicles have been rescued from the threat of being scrapped thanks to the cooperative efforts of the City of Stamford in Connecticut and the Museum of American Armor on Long Island.

Thomas Turk, Manager of Stamford’s Road Maintenance Division, stated, “While these trucks are historic, they were never part of our fleet, although many of them were used by civilian contractors after the war. We knew it would be a shame to consign them to scrap, because they help tell a story of a nation mobilized to defend freedom. The challenge was what to do with them that would protect their heritage and who would have the resources to restore them.”

Richard Olson, a member of the American Legion Post 12 in Norwalk, quickly saw the historic nature of the trucks but was equally quick to identify a potential lifeline for them: the Museum of American Armor across the Sound.

“This museum had acquired many of the artifacts from the long-closed military museum in Danbury, and their collection is based on presenting operational vehicles to the public, so it was obvious they would know the significance of these trucks and have the skill to restore at least one of them,” observed Olson.

Vehicle historians believe the two trucks were manufactured by Dodge prior to the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941.

“Even before that Sunday morning attack, America was already becoming the `Arsenal of Democracy.’ Dodge had begun to manufacture thousands of these trucks in recognition of the fact that the U.S. Army would need to move men and material quickly when war finally came,” explained Kevin Carroll, the Public Affairs Director at the Museum of American Armor.

Modifications and design changes would take place as the harsh lessons of combat dictated the need to modify these utility trucks. Surprisingly, soldiers would sometimes call these vehicles 'jeeps' before the term was applied to what we now consider the legendary jeeps built by Willys and Ford.

“While our museum has iconic vehicles such as the Sherman tank, and a number of armor vehicles that were transferred when the Danbury collection closed, we also spotlight utility vehicles such as the trucks donated by the City of Stamford because they all contributed to the ultimate victory some eighty years ago,” offered Carroll.

This spring, the Armor Museum will undertake a bumper-to-bumper inventory of the trucks’ conditions to determine how best to stabilize and restore at least one of them.

“When completed, the operational Dodge will proudly have the name "City of Stamford” stenciled on its cab,” concluded Carroll.