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32nd Tank Bn -- The Elvis Bn??????????


all-bull
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Hello,

Got this patch the other day, and my father did some research on it and found out that it was the same battalion that Elvis Presley was a part of. I seriously doubt that he was in the support platoon, but I can't find out anything about it either. Does anyone have any research on this support platoon patch. I might be wrong, but it feels and looks German made to me.

 

Also, when dealing with Tank "platoons", what size element would a platoon be? Were they the same size of a infantry line company's platoon, or would a tank platoon be more comparable to a separate company?

post-2063-1333323046.jpg

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back. Interestingly enough, I have at least a dozen of our Vietnam patches also marked to this "Burns" man. He must have quite a collection during the time. Does anyone know who he is?? Thanks a lot!

post-2063-1333323125.jpg

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US Army Tank Platoons have customarily had FIVE tanks -- two Sections of two tanks each and a tank for the Platoon Leader.

Occasionally they have, on the ground, had only four or even three tanks, due to shortages in equipment/crews or combat losses (another form of shortage). Sometimes, in peacetime, a platoon would own five tanks but one or two would be "held in reserve" in the motor pool or Equipment Storage Site, with no assigned crew.

 

Foreign armies often have fewer tanks at each echelon -- the "Americans are fat" thing. The USSR often had three or four in a platoon, and a five-tank platoon was considered by them "Reinforced".

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Hunter-ask Bob Chatt about Burns. He was a big part of the Southern California military collecting circles.

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lamarhooten

Hey!! A BURNS patch! Have afew of those in my collection! That man had one heck of a collection! :thumbsup:

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Hey!! A BURNS patch! Have afew of those in my collection! That man had one heck of a collection! :thumbsup:

 

Son of a gun ! I think I have one too, a early U.S. Made Full Colour Flat edge 18th Military Police Brigade patch circe late 1966-1967, it has BURNS writen on the the back along with 18 MP BDE. you believe that this and the one in the post was part of a collection owned by a fella named Burns, who wrote his last name on the patches he had ?

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US Army Tank Platoons have customarily had FIVE tanks -- two Sections of two tanks each and a tank for the Platoon Leader.

Occasionally they have, on the ground, had only four or even three tanks, due to shortages in equipment/crews or combat losses (another form of shortage). Sometimes, in peacetime, a platoon would own five tanks but one or two would be "held in reserve" in the motor pool or Equipment Storage Site, with no assigned crew.

 

Foreign armies often have fewer tanks at each echelon -- the "Americans are fat" thing. The USSR often had three or four in a platoon, and a five-tank platoon was considered by them "Reinforced".

 

J,I would think that the Support Platoon was in the Headquarters Headquaters Company of the Battalion would it not. Also this would have to be a pre CARS 1957 pocket patch, for after that date the Tank Battalions were reorganized under CARS to the Armor Battalions, note it says TKBN on this patch.

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DwightPruitt
US Army Tank Platoons have customarily had FIVE tanks -- two Sections of two tanks each and a tank for the Platoon Leader.

Occasionally they have, on the ground, had only four or even three tanks, due to shortages in equipment/crews or combat losses (another form of shortage). Sometimes, in peacetime, a platoon would own five tanks but one or two would be "held in reserve" in the motor pool or Equipment Storage Site, with no assigned crew.

 

Foreign armies often have fewer tanks at each echelon -- the "Americans are fat" thing. The USSR often had three or four in a platoon, and a five-tank platoon was considered by them "Reinforced".

 

The U.S. Army went to a four tank platoon in the late 1980's. A four tank platoon is less cumbersome than the old five tank platoon.

 

Elvis was in the scout platoon, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion 32nd Armor at Ray Barracks, Friedberg West Germany.

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The U.S. Army went to a four tank platoon in the late 1980's.

Rick Burns was a WWII vet who was a Long Beach (?) firefighter for many, many years. He was the ASMIC Area VI Vice President prior to Bob Chatt. He started (I think) and he ran the Bellflower show in SoCal for several decades. A great man and very genrous with his knowledge and duplicates. He wrote "Burns" on every patch in his collection. He passed away several years ago.

 

Patch Johnson

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Rick Burns was a WWII vet who was a Long Beach (?) firefighter for many, many years. He was the ASMIC Area VI Vice President prior to Bob Chatt. He started (I think) and he ran the Bellflower show in SoCal for several decades. A great man and very genrous with his knowledge and duplicates. He wrote "Burns" on every patch in his collection. He passed away several years ago.

 

Patch Johnson

 

 

Fascinating story Patch, I am soorry to here of Mr Burns passing, but he lives on with the many patches he owed that apparently are showing up in collections nationwide, I'm from NYC and I got this one 18th MP Bde 66-67 Flat edge at a surplus store on Canal Street here in NYC.

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THe 32nd Tank BN was only active for about two yrs, 1955-1957. As if they stood it up just for Elvis. When it came back, in the 1960s, CARS had kicked in and it was reinvented as the 32nd Armor (Regiment).

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Ian do you carry a photo of the KING in your wallet, :lol: one of Bilko Too :w00t: Where do you find all these differant pics of Elvis in the Army ?

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Ian do you carry a photo of the KING in your wallet, :lol: one of Bilko Too :w00t: Where do you find all these differant pics of Elvis in the Army ?

 

 

Hey Patches...no and no! :lol: 1000s of images of Elvis available at the click of a mouse! ;)

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