cmort666
Member
Was that a towed or a tank destroyer unit?
Tank destroyer duty was as much of a suicide mission as any airborne operation.
Band of Brothers
- Thread starter RonJ
- Start date
Tank destroyer duty was as much of a suicide mission as any airborne operation.
My dad was born in 1922 in Arkansas. He said that when he was around 6 years old his dad took him and his brothers down to the Veterans Home to see the few remaining Civil War Vets.
Said he was mainly scared speechless meeting these old gentleman and at that age was not quite sure of the significance. However one old gent shook his hand and said: Don't worry son, when I was your age my dad took me to meet the last veteran in our area of Yorktown, I didn't know what to say either. Frankly at that age dad didn't know what Yorktown was, but he remember the incident because his dad enlightened him latter.
Dad was Navy Air Corps in WW2 and Korea, being a crew member on torpedo bombers (Pacific) and air sea rescue during the two events respectively. Sometimes it strikes me as how young the country really is when I contemplate that I'm only a few acquaintances away from someone who was at Yorktown.
Good post. That's the same thought that came to mind when I got to the "Yorktown" part of your post.
Check this out:
http://www.detroityes.com/news/070208/601pics/201.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...g_(Detroit,_Michigan)
Another way to look at it from the pessimistic point of view is: "How did we get this screwed up so quick!"
To respond to CMORT666's question: they started out with the M10 TD, I believe, and never had the half-tracks or towed guns of some anti-tank units. During their time in combat they switched TDs at least once, to the M38, I think. Their web site is well worth a look.
My FIL is Danial Checchia, Alpha Company.
http://www.818tdbn.org/index.html
My FIL is Danial Checchia, Alpha Company.
http://www.818tdbn.org/index.html
reddogge
Member
When I watched the series for the first time I was drained after each episode. I'd sit listening to the music at the end with a big lump in my throat.
Remember this line? "Salute the rank, not the man!"
Remember this line? "Salute the rank, not the man!"
Clayton
Member
I gave "Beyond the Band of Brothers" as a karma on here a year or so ago. I wish I had another copy to send out. It was Dick Winters memoirs that Ambrose left out of his book.
Captain Crunch
Member
Excellent book. I really like Winters' quotes on leadership.
This is another good book.
Biggest Brother: The Life Of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led The Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander
billhud
US Veteran
Ambrose was known to steal from others' works.
Better wouild be to read Donald R. Burgett's works. Burgett actually fought in the 506th PIR.
Burgett's books of the 506th PIR:
Currahee!
The Road to Arnhem
Seven Roads to Hell
Beyond the Rhine
As Eagles Screamed
cmort666
Member
From what I understand, they had very high attrition. The tank destroyers had so-so guns (much better than the Shermans), but almost no armor, and no overhead armor. The Army took the Soviet approach almost until the end of the war, being willing to sacrifice large numbers of tanks and tank destroyers to numerically overwhelm a small and dwindling number of powerful but increasingly poorly supplied German tanks.
The half-tracks were a better fit in the Pacific, given the poor quality of the Japanese tanks and the poor Japanese armored doctrine. Had the Army in the Philippines been better supplied, the National Guard tankers probably would have wiped out the Japanese armor there in '42. As it was, they slapped them around pretty well until they ran out of ammunition. My last day on active duty, I met a National Guard tanker who'd fought the Japanese armored forces and survived the Bataan Death March.
The Preacher at the small church we attended while I was growing up had been a tanker during WW2. In fact, this was the early 60's so most of the founders of that church were WW2 vets. I remember one of the members, who had been in FA during the war, asking him if the Shermans had much trouble taking out the German tanks.
Not really, he replied, we used the 3-1 plan. Send two Shermans attacking the German tanks front and hope that the third could slip around and get in a flanking shot before both of the attacking Sermans were taken out.
Not really, he replied, we used the 3-1 plan. Send two Shermans attacking the German tanks front and hope that the third could slip around and get in a flanking shot before both of the attacking Sermans were taken out.
I was taking an accident report once and one of the parties involved had a Purple Heart plate. I asked him about it and he was a tank commander in the 2nd AD. They were attacking a German tank along with two other Shermans. They were firing at it and the rounds were bouncing off "like ping-pong balls". The Germans' turret swung around and "bang", killed one Sherman, swung around and "bang" killed another Sherman. Next they put a round through his tank that went right through the transmission, killing the driver, and out the other side of the tank. The guy I was talking to tried to get out the top turret and was shot across the legs by German infantry with a 9mm SMG. His legs were still messed up with scar tissue. He said the next thing he remembered was waking up days later in a French Hospital.
He was the only one of his crew to survive and was crying when he told me the story.
He was the only one of his crew to survive and was crying when he told me the story.
cmort666
Member
The United States didn't have a tank that could take on anything bigger than a Pzkpfw IV one on one until the Pershing. There weren't many of them before the war ended and they were initially underpowered for their weight.
The M1 Abrams series was the first time in the history of armored warfare that the United States Army had a tank better than everybody else's.
klondike
Member
Sgt Don Malarkey said that Ambrose wrote him out of the book (Band of Brothers) after he started arguing with him about our involvement in Vietnam. Ambrose was very much against the war and Malarkey wished that the politicians had not managed the war.
I asked him about Sobel and he thought that most of the guys realized after the first combat jump that Sobel's harsh methods served them well.
I asked him about Sobel and he thought that most of the guys realized after the first combat jump that Sobel's harsh methods served them well.
Now that the discussion has moved to armored vehicles, let me recommend, "Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in WW2" by Belton Y. Cooper. Cooper, who served as an officer in the 3rd Armored Division, had a very low opinion of U.S. armored vehicles.
klondike
Member
Sgt. Don Malarkey at the beginning and end of war.
Agent6-3/8
Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2008
- Messages
- 49
- Reaction score
- 5
One of my most prized possessions is a 101st patch given to me by a family friend when I was a kid. "Sarge" as everyone calls him was due to be discharged when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He stayed in and ended up becoming a "charter member" of the 101st. After WWII he decided to stay in the militay and went on to see combat in Korea and Vietnam. I can't think of another way to describe him other than to say he's one hell of a man.
klondike
Member
Here are some shots of a t-28. Designed by Patton to provide anti-tank and AAA for an armored unit.
Twin .50's with a 37mm gun. Served from Morocco throgh Austria.
The last photo is of my Father.
http://www.texasmilitaryforces...6division/443con.htm
Twin .50's with a 37mm gun. Served from Morocco throgh Austria.
The last photo is of my Father.
http://www.texasmilitaryforces...6division/443con.htm
Similar threads
- Locked
