BUTLER (KDKA) — More than 1,000 Jeeps will find their way to Butler this weekend.

The Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival honors the first one of all. It was built in Butler on the cusp of World War II.

Friday morning, a convoy of vintage Army Jeeps rumbled from Pittsburgh to the Butler County Fairgrounds.

“This vehicle that we’re in is a 1942 Willys.” Pat Nicholson’s jeep served in Italy during World War II. A member of the Air Force Auxiliary, he says owning such a vehicle has been a dream since childhood.

“There’s a thing about Jeep people,” he says. “If you want a Jeep, like a Jeep, you want to be part of the Jeep. And you don’t have to have a World War II Jeeps to want a Jeep, but I always wanted to own a World War II Jeep.”

The final stop for the convoy is a bivuoac at the Fairgrounds. They’ll be joined by hundreds of other Jeeps, new and old.

World War II re-enactor Linda Kline says her colleagues claim she stepped right out of a scene from MASH.

“They do call me Hot Lips. And even the people who come to the visit call me Hot Lips, so, I enjoy it. I have a blast.”

It’s a blast for every participant on this weekend of the Jeep.

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