Driver's of the War

The Model T, and vehicles in general, made a big impact on the war. As a matter of fact, the American Expeditionary Force possessed 60,000 vehicles at one point in the war. Who drove these vehicles? As one could imagine, recruiting men to drive these vehicles and perform maintenance in the field was a difficult task. Promotional posters targeted at persuading viewers to take up training in driving vehicles appeared. These advertisements requested the skills of drivers and mechanics. With Ford sending more and more of the vehicles across the seas after the United States entered the war, drivers and mechanics were needed more than ever. Posters such as the one below perhaps suggests that drivers or mechanics were not abundant and much needed across the Atlantic. The poster persuades with a patriotic image of lady liberty holding off death for the wounded American soldier in the back of a Model T field ambulance. 

At this point in history, cars were not popular among the masses and relatively new to common people. Drivers were very valuable and very much needed in the war. Not very many people knew how to drive, let alone drive through land riddled with craters and rubble. Below, U.S. soldier Gustav Starkenman proudly poses for a picture in the Model T ambulance (top) and another soldier does the same (bottom). The men who drove these vehicles can be viewed as an undervalued and overlooked part of the war.