It was early in 1940 when the U.S. government approached Chrysler->ke21 with its need to build military equipment on a massive scale to help the war effort in Europe. Nazi Germany was growing more powerful and president Franklin D. Roosevelt challenged America to help its allies. He said in a poignant speech over radio broadcast that the U.S. should become the “arsenal of democracy.”

At first, Chrysler concentrated on tanks, namely the M3 Grant. The government helped build an assembly plant in Warren, Michigan just outside Detroit. The large facility soon began building a newer model of tank, the M4 Sherman, by 1942. Then other machinery including trucks,->ke1311 deck guns for ships, and airplane parts followed.

It’s important to remember that most of Chrysler’s build-up happened before the U.S. ever entered the war, prompted by Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Before that point, much of the U.S. wanted to remain neutral in the war, only agreeing to help its allies with supplies.

However, once fully engaged in war on two fronts, the U.S. pulled itself out of the Great Depression by mass production on a scale not seen before or since. Chrysler alone built 25 percent of America’s tanks for the war effort, pumping out more than 25,000 units by the war’s end in 1945.

This short documentary of Chrysler’s war efforts is a wonderful bit of history that’s definitely worth your time.

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