When World War II drew to a close in 1945, the Allies had a massive surplus of military vehicles on their hands. The United States alone had manufactured approximately 294,000 aircraft for the war.

Many of the aircraft that survived the war were not worth the expense of transportation back to the States, and were dumped or destroyed in their theatre of operation.

Of the planes that did return, many were stripped of valuable components and melted down for their aluminum.

At Kingman Air Force Base in Arizona, an estimated 5,500 aircraft were stored and scrapped in 1945 and 1946. While many vehicles were sold for metal and parts, others were repurposed for civilian use. Tanks and half-tracks were disarmed and reformatted as tractors and bulldozers.

Americans were so eager to get their hands on cheap surplus Jeeps that auto companies urged the government to leave them overseas, fearing they would cut into new car sales.

Unused Navy ships were held in reserve, disassembled for parts, scuttled to form artificial reefs, and even used as targets for nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean.

And still they remain. Thousands of World War II era vehicles are still mothballed today at “boneyards” throughout the southwestern United States.