True or not

[retired wrench]

It s my opinion that few if any military vehicles from WWII were ever shipped back to the states from overseas. Am I wrong?

 

[maddawg308]

A lot were shipped back, hundreds of thousands, but compared to the number of trucks and jeeps, and other MVs produced, many more were given to European nations, left in place (abandoned), or even wasted (like pushed into lakes, ocean, etc.).

 

[Coffey1]

I could be wrong as I was not there but I think they returned a lot of stuff due to a military video I watched.

It today that that they won't send stuff back cheaper to blow it up and leave it.

 

[zout]

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/archive/index.php/t-19264.html

 

[Coffey1]

Dave you can't be cold in that nice southern place you live.

 

[Al Harvey]

That is correct. It was considered to costly to ship them home and with the war over there was no longer a need the number of vehicles that were sent overseas. This true of most all of the wars we have been in as a country. My grandfather told me stories of them dropping deuces, jeeps, artillery, etc in the ocean after Vietnam because they weren't bring any of it home. Here are some pics of WWII equipment after the war.

 

[zout]

It was -1 windchill here this morning and I looked worse than that sissy in my avatar.

I found a link as well just how many aircraft came back and thousands of acres of them under the big knife to melt into ingots - just absolutely astounding numbers - jet engine made the change in history for these.

 

[Warthog]

I'm still looking for that Jeep in a crate for $50.

 

[NDT]

It has been my direct experience that most every WWII vehicle found here in the US in barns, under trees, abandoned in fields, etc never left the country during the war.

 

[Rmtaunton]

Ouch, Those pictures are painful to see.

 

[maddawg308]

I have seen documentation, both in photos and in print, that vehicles in theater in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm DID in fact come home. I started a thread on the rebuild of vehicles coming back from Vietnam, in Okinawa (search is your friend).

However, I have seen pics of junkyards the world over filled with our war detritus, I have seen pics of stuff pushed off freighters into the ocean, I have seen underwater pictures of lakes in Germany with our war materiel littering the bottom. The evidence is overwhelming.

Bottom line is, some DID come home from each war. But the overwhelming numbers stayed in place where they were deployed, as scrap, as leftovers; some would be utilized by other nations, some by farmers and regular citizens. But look at the numbers of trucks and trailers made during World War II alone, and you'll see that there were just FAR too many to bring them all back.

So the moral of the story is - there are fewer of them each year. Save what you can.

 

[retired wrench]

Warthog were jeeps ever crated?

 

[Another Ahab]

It has been my direct experience that most every WWII vehicle found here in the US in barns, under trees, abandoned in fields, etc never left the country during the war.

My grandfather served through WWII and had an old Willys on his farm after the war. It was accepted as being "his" while in theater, and that he brought it home with him (somehow).

I never heard any talk otherwise, but I really don't know HOW he got that thing. And everybody who might answer that just isn't available anymore (you could kick yourself for the questions you forgot to ask!).

I'm pretty sure that that Willys came back here from having been overseas originally (but I can't prove it).

Are you saying that anything here is (was) only here because it never left?

 

[emr]

madddog308 is correct. You can speculate as much as you want, even today the amount of vehicles brought back and forth and the amount left are staggering. Many units keep there vehicles, even then. Many do not, even then. For every article of an expert who knows all, and show a pic of a few thou vehicles and say " See they are all there, or here, " is well just a pic and an idea of what actually happened. You can dig an article up that will say the opposite also . To have more than an opinion, one must read a ton, watch a ton of documentary's, google and so on, And then use common sense to try to figure what is/was correct, but madddog is right here for sure.

 

[Another Ahab]

Warthog were jeeps ever crated?

No, they were Cre-ated.

And on the Seventh Day they rested.

 

[WRMorrison]

Ouch, Those pictures are painful to see.

Well, this will definitely bring a tear to your eye then (if you're a gun guy):
http://www.armoryblog.com/firearms/gun-graveyard/

-WRM

 

[NDT]

Are you saying that anything here is (was) only here because it never left?

Yes. The '42 closed cab GMCs, '42 GPW Jeeps, 1/2 ton and early 3/4 ton Dodges, and the 1 1/2 ton Chevys that are so commonly found stateside never went to war. I'm sure there are exceptions to this. Most of the '44 decked out open cab GMCs etc that we see so often at shows have come back via SECO or Army Cars.

 

[11Echo]

It has been my direct experience that most every WWII vehicle found here in the US in barns, under trees, abandoned in fields, etc never left the country during the war.

Seen this CCKW sold at an auction in PA.
It still had all the Norwegian data plates in it.

 

[Trailboss]

One of my first recollections of army vehicles was on the Ft Meade base in the late 1950's. They were lined up in motor pools along the roads, and I asked my Mom why some had stars and some didn't. She said those with stars had been used overseas and had come back to the US. If my Mom said it, I know it's true, so there!

 

[NDT]

Seen this CCKW sold at an auction in PA.
It still had all the Norwegian data plates in it.

View attachment 474278

That's one of the trucks re-imported by SECO et al. My take on the OP's question about re-importation was did the US Govt perform large quantities of re-importation to the US.