The picture above was taken in Southern France. That's my jeep and my driver, PFC Norman Steele. Jeeps carried only one spare wheel and tire.

Razor sharp shell fragments, particularly at road junctions, were plentiful and unavoidable. They cut the tires up and if you didn't have a second spare, you were in trouble. There was no room for another inside the jeep. Some drivers hung a spare wheel & tire over the angle iron wire cutter welded to the front bumper.

Notice the French flag wired to the wire cutter and my carbine lying on the hood.

Russ Cloer

Russ, congrats on getting picture and verbage together.

Why were you flying the French flag?

Marilyn

Marilyn,

I don't know if this reply will make much sense to you, but here goes.

The drivers were a happy go lucky lot and they enjoyed decorating their jeeps.

We were in So France at the time and the French people lined the roads in their villages to welcome us and they were overjoyed to see the French flag on our recon jeep as we liberated their town even though they well knew that we were Americans. In addition, seeing the French flag on our vehicle may have caused the pretty young ladies to climb aboard and give us a hug and kiss and maybe a bottle of vino! They had seen enough swastikas!

Russ - 3_7_I_Recon

Yes, that makes perfect sense to me - never underestimate the ability of an American soldier to maximize his options/opportunities no matter where or what his surroundings may be.

Marilyn