U.S. Marines Own a Piece of Route 66-- Part 2: An Important Part of U.S. World War II Effort

Also called the "Mother Road," Route 66 was the first all-weather highway from Chicago to Los Angeles, wending its way for some 2,400 miles.

While it may evoke thoughts of  scenic road trips and kitschy  roadside attractions from America's postwar economic boom, it  also played a major role in America's efforts during World War II.

During the unprecedented U.S. mobilization for the war, it served as an artery for the movement of troops, gear and supplies between bases..  It also carried job-seekers west for jobs in war industry plants.

To put its supply depot for the Pacific Theater out of range of Japanese naval gunfire, Marines moved it from San Francisco to a spot the Navy gave it along the desert highway  northeast of Los Angeles in December 1942.

Go Navy.  Beat Army.

--RoadDog