Mark your calendars now for June 17 – when you will see something quite rare come through the middle of Galion.  The following press release was recently received from the Ohio Lincoln Highway Historic Byway, describing the historic miliary convoy that will be heading across north central Ohio that day.

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA), with over 9,000 members globally, is creating a 90th year re-enactment of the US Army’s first transcontinental motor convoy across the U.S. This occurred in 1919 along the newly formed Lincoln Highway, partly to support the need for good roads, to test the various vehicles of the military in many different conditions, and also to honor the World War I veterans. This trip inspired one of the participants, then- Leutenant Col. Dwight Eisenhower, to later establish the Federal Highway Administration after he became president.

America’s first-ever convoy event traveled from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco –some 3,250 miles in 62 days. The MVPA re-enactment will involve up to 150 historic military vehicles from all eras that will retrace the route, beginning on June 13 in Washington, D. C. and arriving in San Francisco 26 days later on July 8, 2009. The event will teach the history of the Lincoln Highway and the military to young and old.

In Ohio, the convoy will take a rest day in Wooster on June 16, and proceed through Ashland, Mansfield, Ontario, Galion and Bucyrus, Nevada, stopping only for lunch in Upper Sandusky on June 17. The convoy will involve about 45 to 50 vehicles and about 85 persons through Ohio, as it picks up more along the way. It will overnight in Delphos, then proceed to a special appearance in South Bend for the national Lincoln Highway Association’s Annual Conference.

Plans are now being made by various community veterans groups to welcome this event.  More information is available at: www.mvpa.org

Photo: dayglowill/Creative Commons License

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