UPDATE: Charles mentioned the story of his father’s drive from Florida to Ohio in a post two days ago. Yesterday, he sent me a photo and article related to that adventure. I’ve typed out the article, as it is a little hard to read.
2,000 Miles And 38 Quarts of Oil Later
MARILYN CARLTON (Medina County Gazette)
December 21, 1970.
“Ohio or Bust” is what the sign on the back of the age Jeep (1942) said when two young men on leave left Jacksonville, Fla.
Airman Steve Brookover, 20, who has been in the Navy two and one-half years, and Airman Denny Kellham, 19, stationed at Cecil Field, took a lot of ribbing when they decided to come home on leave in the jeep.
Steve said “The guys started betting right away that we would never make it.”
“They called it ‘Kell-Brook Folly'” he added.
The four cylinder jeep has no heater, only half a canvas top and no back at all. It took 38 quarts of oil to make the trip and averaged only 35 miles per hour.
It was 57 hours after they left Jacksonville before they arrived at Hinckley, where Brookover’s parents live. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roland Joy.
The airman spent 42 hours of the 51 driving, 15 hours in a steady rain. “I think it must ahve been the Monsoon season in Georgia,” Brookover joked.
The men admitted to some trouble with a slipping clutch when coming over the mountains and they ran out of gas on Interstate 71 — just nine miles from the Medina exit.
Brookover said they bought the Jeep about six months ago “just to run around in.”
“They wouldn’t let us bring it on the base, so we worked on it in town on our time off. I guess they thought it might be a hazard at Cecil,” Kellham added.
Future plans of the two Navy men do not call for a trip back in the kell-Brook Folly — they plan to fly back Jan. 3. They leave Jan. 5 on a Meditarranean cruise aboard the USS Forrestal for six months. They are in Attack Squadron 81.
Airman Kellham has been in the Navy a year and a half and hails from Toledo. His mother, Mr. Evelyn Kellman presently lives in Indiana.
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Original post Aug 6, 2018 – Charles is looking for his Dad’s 1942 GPW. He writes, “My dad had a 42 gpw he bought during his time in the navy in the Vietnam years. He actually drove it from Florida to ohio during leave with my future moms cousin (also in the navy)and on that trip he met my mom for the first time. A jeep brought them together. He let it go sometime in the 70s but still always talks about it.”
He provided me with a serial number of GPW535301. That number has not been registered on the G-503 Database, but it appears higher than it should be, especially for a 1942. If anyone has any additional insights, he would welcome them. I suggested he add a post over at the G-503 site.
