MVPA Drives Historic Military Vehicles on Yellowstone Trail Convoy

Route of the 2021 MVPA Convoy

Members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) are traveling the historic Yellowstone Trail National Highway (YTH) route in historic military vehicles.

The Yellowstone Trail was created in the late 1900s and was in use until World War II.

The MVPA Yellowstone Trail Convoy is made up of privately-owned historic military vehicles that range in era from WWII up to the Iraq War. It includes Jeeps, Dodges, deuce-and-a-halfs, 5-tons, and an assortment of “Heavies” from the 1950s-1990s. About 120 owners and support drivers will participate with between 50 and 75 trucks over the entire route with some driving all of the 2,000 plus miles and some driving a section of the route.

The 2021 Convoy is retracing the YTH from Aberdeen, South Dakota to Conneaut, Ohio, including a two day rest stop at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds and a three day stop at the MVPA National Convention in South Bend, Indiana. The convoy will take 25 days to complete.

The Convoy organizers decided to depart from the original YTH route at Fond du Lac and circumnavigate Lake Michigan to fully enjoy the beauty of the coastline before arriving in South Bend, IN.

This is the 7th cross-country convoy sponsored by the MVPA. Other past cross- country convoys have included two Lincoln Highway crossings from Washington DC to San Francisco, the Bankhead transcontinental Highway convoy from Virginia to San Diego, the famous Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, and two adventures up the Alaskan Highway.

The following photos were taken during the Convoy's stop in Hudson, Wisconsin, July 30, 2021:

Convoy Commander Terry Shelswell's M38A1.

1941 Packard Model 160 Touring Sedan

Lamar Rowland's 5-ton

Mark Ounan's 1918 Dodge staff car.

Morris and Donna Waid's 1972 deuce

Bill Nutting's 5-ton

Kenny Adams' 1951 Reo deuce

Lamar Rowland is a veteran of MANY MVPA Convoys!

Ken Field's convoying setup.

Jeff and Wendy Rowsam's F-100. This was a Military Vehicles Magazine cover truck (June 2021)

Daryll and Lida Bensinger's WC-51

Gil Snyder's M37B1 (with M42 radio set-up)

Growler drive by New Zealanders

Mike O'Sullivan with his Dodge

Johnny Rossman's 1943 G-503

[laimage id="4886" url="https://www.militarytrader.com/uploads/MTgyODkzMDgxNzIzNDc5NDU5/dsc_0144.jpg" alt="dsc_0144.jpg" caption="V29ya2luZyBvbiBKb2huIFZhcm5lcidzIE00Mw--" height="575" width="876"]

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association’s mission is to provide an international organization for military vehicle enthusiasts, historians, preservationists and collectors interested in the acquisition, restoration, preservation, safe operation and public education of historic military transport. The association has over several thousand members worldwide and over 44 years as an organization.