Patriotism is alive and well down here in South Texas...............

[Kelley (Texas)]

Took a short bike ride before it got too hot and came across a small VFW on Fm78 near Cibilo, Texas. I could not believe what I saw...quickly made a u-turn and pulled off the road. This tank was parked in the parking lot...that's right, the parking lot. I figured that my friends on the Forum would like to see it, so I took a picture of it. Kelley (Texas)

[attachment 132677 VFWTank_2.jpg]

[attachment 132678 VFWTank_1.jpg]

 

[TexasCharley]

And every member of that organization, the American Legion, the American GI Forum, any other vets' org., & vets who aren't part of those orgs but who go to church & own firearms, are considered 'potential domestic terrorists' by the Obamanation.
TexasCharley

 

[Royal]

n/t

 

[Micheal_R]

n/t

 

[WillyP]

n/t

 

[Paul (AR)]

n/t

 

[TexasCharley]

That's an M60, the tank that preceded the Abrams. That thing was a death trap! It had an electrically-operated turret & the thing would short out & catch fire. The only way out for the TC, the loader, & the gunner was through the turret hatch--which is where the fire was. The driver had a front hatch he could get out of, but there was no way anybody more than about 5' tall & weighing more than about 90 lbs could crawl into the driver's compartment from inside the tank & escape that way. It had a great main gun--105mm high-vel, shooting a saboted 90mm high-carbon steel slug--& wonderful fire control equipment, but that turret was a b...h! The whole Armor Corps breathed a sigh of relief when the Abrams replaced it. At one time they had 9 burned-out M60s in a deadline motor pool at FT Hood & at least 2 guys died in each one. That was back in the early '70s when 2/131 FA was doing summer training at North Hood. I was an FO with B2/131 at the time, later Fire Control Officer with the same outfit.,

The Israelis took our old M48 Pattons, retrofitted them with the same gun & fc equipment as we had in the M60, & tore the Egyptians a new one with them. According to one Israeli tanker I talked to, they'd hit a Russian-built T-55 in the bow & you'd see pieces fly out the stern. That 90mm slug went through 'em like a hot knife through soft butter. It came out at about 4500 fps--the Abrams MV is classified, but I've heard rumors of well over 5000 fps--& it looked like a huge wadcutter.

Texas Charley

 

[George-CT]

World War 1. I need to get a picture of it. Tough way to make a living for sure. No bargain side that unit. Geo

 

[TexasCharley]

The Army donates a lot of surplus equipment to American Legion & VFW halls. I've seen pigs--155mm towed howitzers--& tanks going all the way back to the Sherman, WW II. I've even seen a priest--the WW II tank destroyer with the 105mm howitzer in it & the TC's cupola out front looking like a priest's umbo beside the altar. We didn't have any tanks in WW I. The Brits had the old Betty, that used to be the US Armor Corps' lapel insignia before they put a front view of an M48 backed by crossed sabers as the insignia. The Germans also had a tank in WW I, but I've only seen a couple of picture of it.

Between the wars we had a bunch of French Renault-built tanks. About '35 they built the first Stuarts--light tank, 20mm gun later upgraded to 37mm, coaxial & turret-mounted MGs, used an air-cooled radial engine which didn't work too well in North Africa. Then the Lee, which was a med tank, 75mm gun, co-ax & turret MGs, better engine.

The Sherman was another death trap. It had a gasoline engine & a low-velocity 75mm gun. The Brits called 'em Ronsons & the krauts called 'em Tommycookers. Any good hit and the thing went up like a torch. That low-vel 75 just bounced off Panthers & Tigers. 4" of frontal armor was like tissue paper to the high-vel 88s the Germans were using. The only thing good about 'em was the fact that we could build 'em faster'n they could blow 'em up. If a Sherman could catch a German tank from the flank or rear it had a chance. Head on--scratch the Sherman. The problem was, even if you caught one from the flank & blew a track off, the gun still worked & the kraut knew where you were, so the best thing to do was skedaddle. The best way to fight the WW II German tanks was by ambushing them from the flank or rear, shooting as fast as you could, & then getting the hell out of the area. That or get in amongst 'em, where they risked hitting their own tanks by shooting at you. I had a cousin who was a WW II tanker. He survived, but he had 3 tanks blown out from under him & lost some buddies in the process.

TexasCharley