We think of recycling as something new, but it was heavily practiced during the war.

Three companies submitted test vehicles and specs to the Army in the 1940s for an all-terrain vehicle: Bantam, Ford, and Willys. Plans and specs were shared so all the vehicles were similar and prototypes were tested. In 1941, the War Dept. approved production of the Willys MB and the Ford GPW (W was for the Willys engine). About 1000 of the Bantam's BRC were supplied to Russia.

The name Jeep is purported to have come from the initials of the Ford model, GP. The War Office bought more than 350,000 of them during the 19040s at a cost of $738.74 per vehicle.

The 2nd Armored Division was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia on July 15, 1940 and originally commanded by Major General Charles L. Scott until he was promoted. His second in command, now Brigadier General George S. Patton,Jr then assumed command. Through World War II, the 2nd Armored's core units included the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, the 66th Armored Regiment, the 67th Armored Regiment, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 142nd Armored Signal Company. It served with the First , Seventh and Ninth Armies. Some of the division participated in Operation Torch, landing at Casablanca on November 8, 1942, but the first fighting for the whole division was with Operation Husky in Sicily in 1943 where they eventually broke through to Palermo. The 2nd landed in Normandy and raced across France, Belgium, and into Germany. In April, orders halted their progress at the Elbe in Germany until July when it was the first American unit to enter the German capital city. The division returned to Camp Hood (later Fort Hood) in Texas in 1946 and was disbanded in 1991.

Patton graduated from West Point and represented the US in the 5th Olympic Games, competing in the first Pentathlon, held in Stockholm in 1912. Here, he met and competed against Alois Podjahsky, whom he would meet again in 1945 when Patton's army moved into Austria. Head of the famed Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Podjahsky Lipizzan stallions were on the verge of starvation and all the mares and younger stock were in German hands. With the help of the War Office and Gen. Patton, these magnificent animals were saved. Their descendants can be seen in tours around the US.

Patton is shown here with the 2nd Armored Division Patch--Hell On Wheels.

The caption on this photo reads, "Snuggled up against the belongings of his late master, General Patton's dog Willie waits to be shipped home." Patton bought William The Conqueror, a white bull terrier in 1944 and he went everywhere with Patton. A cartoonist for the Army paper, "Stars and Stripes" once wrote about walking into a room and seeing Patton and Willie looking at him. "If ever dog was suited to the master this one was. Willie had his beloved boss's expression and lacked only the ribbons and stars. I stood in that door staring into the four meanest eyes I'd ever seen." Patton died as the result of a car wreck on his way to a hunting trip in Mannheim, German. A truck turned in front of the car he was in, and his driver was killed in the wreck. Patton's neck broke from flying about in the collision. After a grueling 12 days in an Army hospital, he died on Dec. 21, 1945. In accordance with his wishes, Patton was buried with his men in the Hamm, Luxembourg American Cemetery, his graved marked with a simple cross. Willie returned home to live out his life with Patton's family.

The siege of Bastogne is the stuff of legends. While Patton was further south, the 101st Airborne was ordered to hold a crossroad city called Bastogne in Belgium. Their commander, Brig Gen Anthony McAuliffe's refusal to surrender by telling the Germans, "Nuts" is one of the most famous military replies to such a demand, and they held on valiantly from Dec. 9 until they were relieved by the 3rd Army under Patton's command on Dec. 26. Ordered to "drive like hell" by Patton, the combined divisions fought all the way to Bastogne to end the German besiegement.

Patton's troops liberated Buchenwald. American Command Officers were overwhelmed by the atrocities. Eisenhower said that if America's soldiers didn't know before what they were fighting for, at least now they knew what they were fighting against. US soliders were sent into the towns to round up civilians and compel them to walk through the camps to see the full horror of what they had done.

Not only was Patton an accomplished rider and swordsman, he was also a pilot and routinely used recon planes to get accurate intelligence during battle.

This relief map was constructed for the Colorado Aqueduct project by the California Water Development Authority. It was given to the museum and helps visitors understand the scope of the training grounds as well as the difficult terrain the soldiers encountered.

In this section of the Sonoran Desert is the Salton Sea. From 1905 to 1907, irrigation control levees south of Yuma, Az, broke and water from the Colorado flooded the entire basin seen on this map. Finally, the breaches were filled with boulder-filled boxcars from the Southern Pacific Railroad, whose main line had been flooded as well. The sink formed by prehistoric Lake Cahuilla remained filled with weather, creating a salt lake about 35 miles long and 15 miles wide. It's deepest point at 51 feet is only 5 feet higher than the lowest spot in Death Valley. Called the Salton Sea, the lake supports a thriving fishery industry.

Various tanks and transport vehicles are scattered about the museum in the baking hot desert sand.