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Tanks as Monuments / Displays


sgtdorango
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This M60 is at the Sparta, Wisconson American Legion, just west of Fort MCoy. There is an AH-1 Cobra on stick next to it.

 

And for those of you concerned by what you see, no, there is no snow in Wisconsin just now, these were taken in December, I just did not remember to get them posted until now.

 

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  • 2 months later...

That's a nice one.

Any idea why it bears markings of the 4th Armored?

Was it repainted by the 4th AD Association maybe?

 

Erwin

 

Hi Erwin,

A local WWII veteran tanker was in the 4th. When they opened this park a few years ago he was one of the special guests for the event. I'm not sure that there were any other reasons.

 

Frank

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It isn't just painted for any 37th Tank Bn tank though, it's marked as "Cobra King". The real "Cobra King" is actually an M4A3E2 Jumbo, as opposed to this which is a late, wet stowage M4A3 75mm. Since that is a pretty unique tank, having broken the siege of Bastogne, there must be a reason they picked that tank, like maybe the local vet crewed it. Might be worth trying to find out.

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It isn't just painted for any 37th Tank Bn tank though, it's marked as "Cobra King". The real "Cobra King" is actually an M4A3E2 Jumbo, as opposed to this which is a late, wet stowage M4A3 75mm. Since that is a pretty unique tank, having broken the siege of Bastogne, there must be a reason they picked that tank, like maybe the local vet crewed it. Might be worth trying to find out.[/quote

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the comment. He was in the 4th Armored, 37th Tank Bn Co C. He didn't crew "Cobra King". I met him at the opening of the park in 2010. I spoke to him for a bit. He was a very nice gentleman. There were a lot of people and a few news reporters spending time with him and other vets. I've been meaning to take a few pics and post them here. I stopped there this past weekend. I had some other info but I'm not able to locate it now. I had forgotten his name but was able to find it online.

Here's some info from the "Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge" site.

 

Frank

 

http://www.veteransofthebattleofthebulge.org/2015/01/28/neil-french-4th-ad-to-be-on-tv/

 

 

Neil French, 4th AD to be on TV

Posted on January 28, 2015 by admin

My Dad, Neil French, was a WW2 replacement. After basic training at Fort Knox, he entered the war at Lowe with the 4th Armored Division, 37th Tank Battalion, C Company. He was a gunner in an M4 Sherman tank dozer and was the second tank into Bastogne led by the Cobra King, Boggess, then by Creighton Abrams, his immediate commander in a jeep. While Neil maintained rounds of firing as gunner, the crew cleared the corridor for 40 ambulances to get in to assist the injured 101st.

 

french

 

Submitted by his daughter Connie Rinker

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Not sure if anyone has posted these before, but they're in a small park in Bodfish, California. The only reason I was there was because had been stranded at work for several days and had to take backroads to get home. One of my employees had to make a pit stop and this park was the first place we could find to take care of that issue. We were trying to get home as quickly as possible, which is why I only got pictures of the DUKW and not the tank. Anyway...interesting...out in the middle of almost nowhere...

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Here's the DUKW...

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He was a gunner in an M4 Sherman tank dozer and was the second tank into Bastogne led by the Cobra King, Boggess, then by Creighton Abrams, his immediate commander in a jeep.

 

Okay, well that certainly explains it! Great info and great that you got to talk to him. Thanks for posting this!

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In front of the National Guard armory in Griffin, Georgia.

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The history of the unit; unfortunately, they didn't have the tank with them at Appomattox. The other unit that is mentioned, the Fannin Avengers, had an officer named Holliday whose son became famous as Doc Holliday.

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I don't know where this photo was taken. Some of the other pics I have of this guys were taken in Metz, France 1945 and Wasserkuppe, Germany June 1945. The plaque on the monument looks like Russian.

 

 

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I saw one of these posted earlier in this thread so I guess it's OK. If not, please remove.

 

 

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Here's a Sherman my platoon came across in Iraq in 2003, near Musayyib. This was in a large motor pool with hundreds of abandoned armored vehicles in all states of disrepair.

 

 

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I don't know where this photo was taken. Some of the other pics I have of this guys were taken in Metz, France 1945 and Wasserkuppe, Germany June 1945. The plaque on the monument looks like Russian.

 

 

 

Berlin maybe?

I think I saw a similar monument of (one of) the first tanks entering Berlin.

 

Erwin

 

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The first Russian tank to enter Berlin is immortalised by becoming part of a monument to commemorate that achievement. The tank was finished off with a coating of aluminium and placed on a brick pedestal faced with white marble. The monument was located on the Berlin inner ring road on the way to Templehof Airport.

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Here's a Sherman my platoon came across in Iraq in 2003, near Musayyib. This was in a large motor pool with hundreds of abandoned armored vehicles in all states of disrepair.

 

 

Its actually a quite rare M36B1 Tank Destroyer. a M4A3 hull mated to an M36 Jackson turret with 90mm maingun. IIRC some 187 were made in 1944

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Its actually a quite rare M36B1 Tank Destroyer. a M4A3 hull mated to an M36 Jackson turret with 90mm maingun. IIRC some 187 were made in 1944

 

Dang, beat me to it...... :)

 

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This is not a US tank but has a US soldier in the picture :)

 

This was taken near what was once a Soviet military base in the western outskirts of Kabul.

 

 

 

 

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This is not a US tank but has a US soldier in the picture :)

 

This was taken near what was once a Soviet military base in the western outskirts of Kabul.

 

Is it just me or is the hull machine gun mantlet upside down? Neat pic and thanks for posting.

Terry

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Is it just me or is the hull machine gun mantlet upside down? Neat pic and thanks for posting.

Terry

 

You're right! I just looked at some pics online and it is upside down.

 

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  • 2 months later...

Cool thread, I just saw this one. I have some from Texas to post.

 

Here is the first one. This is a rare M-103 Heavy Tank that is located at the city park in Sweetwater, TX. It's been there for many years, I always used to see kids crawling all over it. That all stopped since in 2008 or 2009, the city put a fence arounf it.

 

Here's the pics, before the fence:

 

 

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One more:

 

 

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And here is a photo from a few years ago with the fence now up :(

 

Also on display in the same park is a Lockheed T-33 and a US Army UH-1. Despite both birds being behind a fence, the Huey was heavily vandalized some years ago. Someone did some cosmetic repair to it but it looks pretty rough...

 

-Derek

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One more for now, but I'll post more soon.

 

Here is a n M-60 on display in Big Spring, TX. They have a nice Vietnam Memorial there with an F-4, UH-1, and AH-1 in addition to this M-60.

 

-Derek

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Is that gun mounted in the Sherman? If so, what the heck is it? It looks like a Soviet 76.2mm. Could Shermans even elevate the guns that far?

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Salvage Sailor

Is that gun mounted in the Sherman? If so, what the heck is it? It looks like a Soviet 76.2mm. Could Shermans even elevate the guns that far?

 

Not sure of the caliber of that gun, but the Canadian made Grizzly can elevate that high

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