Tales from an 893rd Tank Destroyer Jeep Driver
Years ago while researching the military history of my relative who lost his life in Germany in December 1944, I happened to meet a member of his same unit, the 893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. This Veteran — now deceased — still had vivid memories to share of his wartime experiences as a jeep driver.
This soldier was a mechanic, a jeep driver and finally a gun crew member assigned to the 893rd Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalion as a replacement (for combat casualties) He saw action in Germany in late 1944. ln an exchange of email messages, I posed a question about how vehicle maintenance was accomplished during the war. I also asked if he had any combat experiences he would like to share. The following was his response, in his own words:
RECOLLECTIONS OF A WWII JEEP DRIVER
“At the company level, it is very much like how a filling station with a
