John Deere Battalion

Referring to John Deere nowadays inevitably brings to mind the company that gave its name to the imposing tractors and other agricultural machines that we encounter on our roads or in our fields. Indeed, the leaping deer, famous emblem of the Deere & Company, whose headquarters is located in Moline, Illinois in the United States, now adorns agricultural equipment (tractors, combine harvesters, etc...) but also forestry and public works equipment in more than 28 countries around the world. The John Deere Company is proud to be one of the oldest American companies, founded in 1868 by John Deere in the small state of Vermont. Afterwards, the brand spread and reached Europe from 1956. What is less known is that during World War II, one of the most precious goods exported across the Atlantic by the company was highly skilled manpower. Thus was born, in August 1942, the 608th Ordnance Base Armament Maintenance Battalion, more commonly known as the John Deere Battalion. Ordnance being the branch in the US Army that supplies, tests, maintains, and repairs all vehicles and armaments. This book pays tribute to the men who worked, sometimes at the risk of their lives, for our freedom.