This is another entry I wanted to build for the KW group. It also happens to be one of the types of tanks that my Dad served in as a crewman when he was in the Korean War. This is another tribute build I am doing for my Dad. We lost him over 10 years ago, and there's not a day goes by that I don't think about him, some way or another.
Miss you pop.
My Dad served in the Sherman's, the M-26 Pershing's and the M-46 Patton's while he was in Korea. Out of these three types, he said the older Sherman was better suited for driving on what were actually Ox cart paths and supposed ... read here supposed to be roads going through the mountains of Korea.
Dad would occasionally joke with me about the poor tank terrain in Korea. He said if you could somehow flatten out the Korean Taeback mountains, the accumulated land size there would be bigger than the State of Texas ! Dad also said that since the Sherman was not as wide as the Pershing or Patton tanks, it could drive on roads that were more narrow, which was another plus. It would also climb a higher grade incline than the newer M-26 and M-46 could.
On the down side though, Dad said that if the Sherman was ever hit by anti tank gunfire, you had seconds to get out before it started burning fiercely. This is something I have heard from other veterans who served in the Sherman's during WW2.
It also had a smaller main gun, sporting a 76 MM high velocity main gun, where the Pershing and Patton both had a 90 MM which were very affective against the T-34/85.
I joined the US Army and became a tanker because I wanted to be just like my Dad. Dad served in the Infantry as well as Armor units in Korea during the war. He remained in the Army until the early 1960's, when they were going to send him to a little place called Vietnam as an advisor.
He was going to be teaching the South Vietnamese how to fight.
Dad saw the writing on the wall and refused to re enlist, because he said he did his time in Korea, and he thought Vietnam was going to be as he put it bluntly ... and I quote, "another $hit $how." Had my Dad re enlisted, he might not have made it home this time... and I would not be here either.
This Sherman has had a lot of work done on it already. The hull and turret have been assembled.
I will be finishing it up, with markings for one of the tanks from "Rice's Red Devils".
Please follow along as I finish this one up. Hopefully this one will not take too long.
