Next summer, the Military Vehicle Preservation Association will recreate the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy, a grueling trip perhaps best known for including young Dwight Eisenhower. The Lincoln Highway Association is working with the group, and one of the stops will be the 2009 LHA conference in South Bend, Indiana—arriving on Thursday, June 18, and joining an LHA parade on Friday.
More than 60 participants hope to drive some of the route, many of them all the way coast-to-coast Departure from Washington DC is Saturday, June 13, with arrival in San Francisco on Saturday, July 4. Here’s a description from the site:
In 1919, the US Army’s Military Transportation Corps (MTC) undertook a transcontinental Convoy to demonstrate the need for a mechanized Army. This “hooves to wheels” plan to modernize America’s fighting force needed an attention-getting event to energize Congress and the citizenry, and parading the Army’s military might from coast-to-coast along the new Lincoln Highway was a great way to get demonstrate new vehicles. As part of its mission to honor our country’s military vehicle history, the MVPA has decided to recreate the famous 1919 convoy in 2009 as a 90th Anniversary celebration of the achievement and in conjunction with the nation’s President Lincoln Bicentennial celebration.
Click HERE for a PDF of the MVPA’s log of the route and overnight stops.
Tags: 1919, early truck transport, Military Vehicle Preservation Association, Transcontinental Motor Convoy, transportation history, US Army
Lincoln Highway News 
June 3, 2008 at 11:09 am |
That should be qute the thing to see at the conference.
Between seeing the sorry state of the Lincoln and seeing the autobahn in WWII, this convinced Eisenhower of the need for his interstate system.
Sure glad he did. Imagine how bad it would be on our old two-laners if they were still the main conveyance route for today’s traffic.
May 27, 2009 at 7:35 pm |
When will the convoy be passing thru Greensburg, PA and will there be any stops? I am a MVPA member and retired Marine. I still have one antique vehicle left, sold one to a local friend and shipped a M29 1944 Weasel to a museum. I would very much like to see the convoy and bring my youth group, the Westmoreland Couny Young Marines to see it.
Thanks
Ron