The National Museum of Military Vehicles Trip: Day Two/Part One

by vols4everus · Published 12/07/2020 · Updated 01/08/2021

The newly opened National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Wyoming

The M60 MBT (Main Battle Tank), although a Cold War-era tank, never saw service in Vietnam. This was the standard main battle tank of the United States from 1960 until it was replaced by the M1 Abrams in 1991. Although many have called it a Patton, this was not an official member of the Patton tank family.

Day Two / Part One: The National Museum of Military Vehicles

A giant statue of an elk in the Dubois KOA!

There were a couple of teepees on the property of the KOA Campground!

I woke early on Tuesday, the 15^th of September, and after a quick shower I found myself headed back down the road to the Museum of Military Vehicles. However, I took a couple quick pictures before I left the KOA in Dubois. It’s a nice place and I intend to stay there anytime I am in the area.

I had passed the museum, on my way into Dubois, the previous day, so I knew where it was. Unfortunately, there was ongoing construction in the area so I wanted to allow plenty of time. As it turned out, I had more than enough, as I mistakenly thought the museum opened at 9 am. It actually opens at 10 am. So, after walking around the parking lot and looking at the tanks that were on display, outside the museum, I poured a cup of coffee and ate breakfast while sitting in my car for the rest of that hour. At last, I watched as the front doors were opened, and away I went. For the next couple of hours, I was like a kid in a toy store. There were tank upon tank. Halftracks and jeeps, as well as artillery pieces, both large and small, lined the walls. The museum personnel have done a fine job in cataloging and organizing this institution. They even have a small theater named for Marine Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, who was killed in action, on April 9, 2004, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. You can watch a short film about World War II. There were signs for the different sections, the different kinds of vehicles and even for different parts of World War II. One of my favorites was the Battle of the Bulge area. As I have previously stated, most of the vehicles were from the World War II era, but there was an additional area, sort of like a warehouse, where they had many additional tanks, armored personnel carriers and other such museum relics that haven’t been displayed. At this time, we were able to go inside that area, but if I understood correctly it would be closed off from view later. Inside this area, there was an actual PT Boat. Not the kind that was used by President John F. Kennedy when his PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer during World War II, but the kind that was used on the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. This was part of what was referred as the “Brown Water Navy.” When I worked as a Correctional Officer at the old state prison (known affectionately as “the Walls”) in Nashville, Tennessee, I talked to a man that had served on one of these boats.

The first United States medium tank, the M-3 Lee (also known as the Grant by the British) was a very strange looking, and unorthodox tank. Due to the disaster at Dunkirk, the British were in desperate need of a tank with a larger cannon than the 37mm M-2 tank then in production. The M-4 Sherman was in the works, but until the first Shermans rolled off the assembly line in 1942, the Lee was the solution. it was not a good solution. But the Lee did have a 75mm cannon as its main gun, and also a 37mm cannon on top. In addition they carried two 30-caliber machine guns

I think this was an M-41 Walker Bulldog light tank, just inside the entrance to the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Wyoming.

The main part of this fabulous place was the General George C. Marshall World War II Gallery. I could stay there forever.

Standing, as if on guard, just before you enter the museum is a replica of a 101st Airborne Division soldier as he would have looked prior to jumping behind Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, a date that is otherwise known as D-Day! Notice the two parachutes, the main (larger) one on his back and the smaller one just over his belly. The main Shute was tied to a “static” line which automatically pulled the rip cord as the paratrooper jumped out of the plane. If that Shute failed, however, the jumper could use the reserve Shute to keep from plummeting to his death. When paratroopers went into action they had to carry a lot of gear because they might be behind enemy lines for several days. Sometimes they carried over 100 pounds of gear. Strapped to the outer part of his left leg you can just make out a knife, or rather a bayonet. To his right boot is some sort of water bottle or perhaps a canteen. Being a member of an elite outfit like the 101st put a target on their back. German soldiers were always on the lookout for a shoulder patch featuring a Screaming Eagle.

The main showroom, or gallery, was named the “General George C. Marshall Gallery” after the man, who as Army Chief of Staff during World War II, was in charge of all matters pertaining to the United States Army. On December 16, 1944, Marshall was promoted to General of the Army, a five-star rank. Only eight others, in the history of the United States military, have ever worn the five-star insignia of this highly prestigious rank. Omar Bradley, who was once an understudy to then Lieutenant (three-star) General George S. Patton, was the last to hold this rank. He was promoted on September 20, 1950 during the height of the Korean War. No one has held this rank since Bradley.

As you walked around the showroom, you noticed things in regard to how they were catalogued. For instance, the very first area I came to was the “Amphibious Landings” area. Then the “Beachhead Operations,” “Battle of Bataan,” and so forth. My favorite was the “Battle of the Bulge” area.

A Jeep being driven down the ramp from a Higgins Boat. Over 23,000 of these Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) otherwise known as the Higgins Boat were made during World War II. Each boat could carry the equivalent of a 36-man platoon at about 9 knots, or 10 mph, and drive onto a hostile beach, where it could disembark the fighting force, ready for combat.

Perhaps the most famous of all airborne divisions were the American 82nd (AA, or All-American Division) Airborne, and one that has always been dear to my heart, the 101st (Screaming Eagle) Airborne. I grew up not more than an hour away from Fort Campbell, Kentucky where the 101st is based.

A Platoon Sergeant (notice the three strips and two rockers on his sleeves) of the 82nd Airborne. He is holding an M-1 Carbine. Notice that red, white, and blue patch on his left shoulder. That is the AA, or All-American, Division patch, that signifies the 82nd Airborne Division. This distinguished outfit was first formed as the 82nd Infantry Division shortly after the United States entered World War I in 1917. The men who would help win the first “war to end all wars” were trained at Camp Gordon (now Fort Gordon), Georgia. Amongst those brave young men were my grandfather and a man who would gain immense fame during the war, Alvin C. York. Sixty-eight years later, in 1985, I was trained, at Fort Gordon, as a communications specialist in the U.S. Army. Since its initial members came from all the states, this outfit was nicknamed the All-American Division, hence the AA or double-A on the shoulder patch.

The 88 mm cannon of the Germany army. Many consider it to be the finest anti-aircraft gun of World War II. It was, later, fitted to the Tiger Tanks, which made it a much more formidable foe than earlier tanks.

Although, already obsolete at the start of World War II, over 22,000 of the M-3, and later M-5 Stuart “light” tanks were built during the war. With its 37mm anti-tank gun, the Stuart was the mainstay of American armor during the opening stages of the war. In the Pacific Theater the Stuart was used throughout the war, mainly because the Japanese never upgraded their armor, and thus the Stuart could hold its own. Against the Germans, however, the M-3 quickly proved to be unserviceable. After the disastrous Battle of Kasserine Pass, United States armored battalions spent the rest of the war with three (3) M-4 Sherman companies and one (1) M-3 Stuart company, which was used for reconnaissance only.

Approximately 2,300 of the Japanese Type 95 (Ke-Go) tank were built during World War II. It was the standard “light tank” for the Japanese army, but was woefully inadequate for tank warfare. It’s 37 mm cannon was sufficient against infantry and could even hold its own against the M-3 Stuart, but against the later M-4 Sherman tank proved ineffective. The small gun that is standing in front of the Japanese soldier, is, also, a 37mm “anti-tank gun” and proved just as unreliable against the more modern American tanks. A total of about 3,400 of the Japanese Type 94 37mm gun were produced and saw service through the war, basically because nothing better was ever produced. Notice that figure at the top of this caption. The Japanese built only 2,300 of their “standard” tank during the war, while the United States built over 22,000 of a tank that was considered obsolete at the start of the war. In all, the U.S. produced over 86,000 tanks during the war.

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle the United States participated in during World War II.

As I previously stated, the Battle of the Bulge area was my favorite. The museum had a snowy diorama, depicting the battle, which included an M-4 Sherman tank being serviced, a truck, filled with supplies, being unloaded, and an M-18 Hellcat tank destroyer being loaded with ammunition. They even had German vehicles in this diorama.

Although out-gunned by the much larger German Tiger tanks (which had an 88mm gun compared to the 75mm cannon the Sherman mounted), the Shermans could run rings around the Tigers, and despite heavy losses, literally ran them out of gas at the Battle of the Bulge.

The 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18, otherwise known as the M18 Hellcat, was an American tank destroyer with a 76mm high velocity anti-tank gun. It was built for speed, and thus, had lighter armor while carrying the same gun as the larger M4 Sherman medium tank. In other words, this was a land version of the battlecruiser compared to the battleship. With its higher kill to loss ratio than any other tank or tank destroyer fielded by U.S. forces in World War II the Hellcat was the most effective of all American armored vehicles.

Another way of cataloging the various military machines in the museum was by type of vehicles. There were the sections dealing with the different types of vehicles, such as Tanks, Halftracks or Artillery.

THE TANK

The medium tank was the main armored vehicle during World War II. The Crusader was the primary British tank during much of WWII but with a 40mm, later turned 57mm cannon, it was vastly under-gunned by their German foe. The Comet I, a far superior tank, was introduced very late and thus did not have a large role in World War II. It did however, have a 76mm gun and was listed as a medium tank. It is probably the best tank the British produced during the second war to end all wars. The Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), also known as the Panzer IV was by far (with over 8,500) the most heavily used and quite possibly the best all-around tank the Germans had during World War II. The T-34 was the primary tank used by the Russian army during World War II. With over 84,000 built, it was, by far, the most-produced tank of the war. And with a 76mm high-velocity cannon it was the best on most battlefields. Later in the war, the Soviets added an 85mm gun as its primary tool for destroying axis armored vehicles. This became known as the T-34/85 model. And then there was the M4 Sherman, officially known as the Medium Tank, M4. The British gave the name it is remembered by. They named it for the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. With over 49,000 tanks built, the Sherman was surpassed only by the Russian T-34. It was used throughout the war and even in the Korean Conflict.

The M-4 Sherman medium tank was the mainstay of the American forces. Over 49,000 Sherman’s were built during the war. This tank helped turn the tide in western Europe.

The “Easy Eight” as the M4A3E8 version of the Sherman medium tank was known, came out just in time for the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. It was an upgraded model of the American Army’s standard armor vehicle. With a high velocity 76mm gun instead of the old 75mm cannon, this tank packed a lot more punch for its bang. While the rounds from the 75mm cannon of previous models could only penetrate four to four and a half inches of armor, those of the new 76mm gun could penetrate six to seven inches of armor.

Crew
A cut-out of the M4-Sherman tank. The commander, usually a sergeant would sit in the turret hatch, on the right side of the vehicle. He had an M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, ostensibly for anti-aircraft use, but this gem of an auto-loading weapon could, also, be used against lightly armored vehicles or even for anti-personnel purposes. The gunner had his own seat, just forward of the commander, but well down in the turret. He aimed and fired the 75mm cannon (later models had a 76mm high velocity gun). To his left sat the loader, who also had a .30 caliber M1919 Browning medium coaxial machine gun. Sitting in the tank chassis, forward of the turret were the driver and assistant driver. The assistant, who sat on the right side, fired the bow .30 caliber machine gun. In the picture, notice the M3 .45 caliber submachine gun to the right of the driver. It was most often called the “grease gun” due to its similarity to the mechanic’s tool. All five crew members were issued the M1911 Colt .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, as a sidearm, as well as the M3 submachine gun during the later years of the war.

The M3 Stuart was the main light tank of the American army during World War II, however, it was already obsolete by the time the United States entered the war in December 1941. Its main gun, a 37mm cannon was too light to penetrate German armor, and after the disaster at Kasserine Pass in February 1943, in North Africa, the Stuart was phased out as the new M4 Sherman “medium” tank came on line. The tank was, however, still used, especially in the Pacific Theater where the Japanese really didn’t have anything comparable to the Sherman. While growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, I read lots of comic books. My favorites, notwithstanding Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the many other Marvell and DC superheroes, were the Sgt. Rock and G.I. Combat series. In G.I. Combat “the Haunted Tank” created by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath, was one of many storylines. As the plot goes, Jeb Stuart commanded an M3 Stuart tank fighting in North Africa early in the war. Some sources say he was a sergeant, others say he was a lieutenant. Supposedly the ghost of Confederate general, J.E.B. Stuart acted as a guardian angel for the tank and its crew, but only Jeb could see and hear the spirit. His crew thought he was crazy, but he did such a good job that they continued to follow him. The spirit led the tank to victory after victory and constantly gave advice to Stuart as the war progressed.

The M24 Chaffee, was a light tank designed to replace the M3 Stuart. Although still light in armor, the Chaffee was a vast improvement over the M3 as it had a 75mm cannon instead of the underperforming 37mm the Stuart carried. The tank did not arrive until late in 1944 (Battle of the Bulge) and thus did not see much action during World War II. It was, however, used extensively during the early months of the Korean War and proved highly ineffective against the Russian T-34-85 tank. Since there were no tanks in South Korean (the South Korean Army was not allowed to have tanks because the Truman Administration felt President Syngman Rhee, of South Korea, would use them to attack North Korea) these early models came from the American Army of Occupation in Japan. The soldiers were undermanned, under-armed, and undertrained due to Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson’s ill-advised systematic gutting of the United States military after World War II. Thus, they were ill-prepared for war. Although President Harry S. Truman was equally at fault for the state of the American military, it was Johnson who paid the price. On September 19, 1950, a few days after General of the Army Douglas MacArthur’s famous Inchon landing to the west of Seoul, South Korea and less than three months after the North Korean invasion, the president forced Johnson to resign. He was quickly replaced by former Army Chief of Staff General of the Army George C. Marshall.

This tank, named Gunslinger, apparently had two kills. It appears they did the same as American pilots would do by painting symbols representing enemy kills.

The M-41 Walker Bulldog was the replacement for the M24 Chaffee. This tank entered service in 1953 and saw action in the later stages of the Korean War, and was used during the Vietnam conflict. The vehicle was named for Lieutenant General Walton Walker, who was killed in a jeep accident during the Korean War.

The M3 Lee was built because the M3 Stuart was equipped with only a 37mm gun, and the army needed something with a bit more kick. The Lee, called the Grant by the British, carried a 75mm gun. It looks a lot like a smaller version of the behemoths of World War. It’s deficiencies became evident and was quickly replaced by the M4 Sherman.

THE HALF-TRAK

When one thinks M-2 and M-3 plus APC (armored personnel carrier), they immediately think of the modern-day Bradley Fighting Vehicle, named for famed General of the Army Omar Bradley. But if it is a World War II vehicle which carries soldiers to the battlefield, it is the half-track that comes to mind. This half-wheel, half-track vehicle was used extensively throughout the Second World War, in many capacities. The shorter version, or M-2 was used for reconnaissance and as an artillery piece. The M-3, longer vehicle, which could carrier up to a dozen soldiers, was used as an armored personnel carrier. Almost 54,000 of these vehicles were produced.

This version of the famed half-track was the M4A1 Mortar Carrier. With a crew of eight, this vehicle could effectively provide indirect fire, by way of an 81mm mortar. The vehicle, also, had a .50 caliber machine gun to provide anti-aircraft and suppression fire.

The T19 Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) was a 105mm howitzer mounted on a M3 Half-track chassis. I first saw this weapon of war in the 1970 Clint Eastwood/Telly Savalas movie Kelly’s Heroes, one of my all-time favorite films. I thought, at the time, it was something that Hollywood had created for the movie. As this model shows, I was wrong.

There were many versions of the M3 Half-track. The M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC), also known as the M16 half-track, was equipped with four .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns in a quad mount carriage in the cargo area. It could be quite effective against low-flying aircraft and against enemy personnel. With the dawning of the jet-age, however, as aircraft became more advanced, its usefulness was reduced. During the Korean War, it was primarily used in the ground-support role.

The same Maxsom M45 Quadmounted .50 caliber machine gun platform, known as the “Quad 50” that was mounted on the the M16 MGMC half-track was installed on a flatbed 2 1/2 ton truck for the purpose of creating a more mobile anti-aircraft platform. They were used to defend the Red Ball Express, against German aircraft as well as ground forces, as they carried supplies from shore facilities in the Allied march across Europe.

Four .50 caliber M2 (“ma deuce”) machine guns could throw out a lot of half-inch pieces of lead in a hurry. With a rate of fire between 450-600 rounds per minute, this could be very effective against low-flying aircraft and close-quarters assaults by enemy troops. The M2 version, designed for aircraft, could have a much higher rate of fire. Each of those tombstone-shaped cannisters carried 200 rounds of ammunition. That is 800 rounds before reloading. That’s a lot of lead.

ARTILLERY

While many considered the tank and machine gun the most important innovations in modern war, it was the field artillery which produced the most casualties on the battlefield. The United States, in particular, made the artillery piece the “king of battle” during World War II with over 193,000 pieces of artillery produced during the war.

The M1A1 155mm Gun, nicknamed “The Long Tom” had a crew of fifteen. It was a heavy field piece and could fire a 100 pound shell fourteen miles with accuracy. About 1,900 were produced during the war.

The M-1 8-inch Howitzer was a towed, heavy field-artillery weapon used against enemy fortifications, bunkers, and artillery emplacements. The gun was popular, as it could launch a 200-pound shell over 18,000 yards (ten miles) with extreme accuracy. Whereas a “deuce and a half” or 2 1/2 ton truck could pull a 105 mm gun, this giant required a 7 1/2 ton truck to move it to the battlefield. In the late 1980s, I served in the 1st Battalion/ 75th Field Artillery Regiment (later redesignated 2nd of the 14th FA) in Bamberg Germany. We had three six-gun batteries (later eight guns) of the 8-inch self-propelled howitzers. These were howitzers mounted on a tank chassis.

And then, there was “the Jeep.” This 1/4-ton 4×4 truck, first built by Willys-Overland and later by the Ford Motor company, was one of the most important military vehicles ever built. During the war, almost 650,000 of these miracles of modern technology were produced. They were used for just about everything. With a top speed of 65 miles per hour, the jeep could carry up to 800 pounds of personnel and equipment.

The venerable Jeep was still in play when I first joined the army in 1985, but my battalion, the 2nd of the 14th Field Artillery, replaced them with the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) affectionately called the Humvee, in the late 1980s.

The museum even had some foreign vehicles, tanks and guns.

The T-34 was a medium tank, first introduced in 1940, for the Russian army and became the premier armored vehicle of the Soviet military during World War II. With its 76.2 mm high-velocity cannon, the T-34 could match anything the Germans had at the time, and its 60 degree sloped armor provided good protection against German anti-tank weapons. No less than Heinz Guderian, the famed German general who invented the concept of “blitzkrieg warfare,” complimented the vehicle’s “vast superiority” over German tanks. With over 57,000 tanks manufactured during the war, the T-34 was the most produced tank of World War II. They had to produce so many. Almost 45,000 were destroyed in battle.

With the advent of the Panzer IV, Panzer V (otherwise known as the Panther) and the Tiger tanks, German technology had caught up and surpassed the Soviet T-34. Therefore a newer model, the T-34/85 was introduced. Production began in January 1944, and by the end of the war, over 22, 000 had been manufactured. This was an improved version of the same tank but with an 85 mm main gun instead of the old 76.2. This allowed the Russians to, once again, keep pace with the Germans.

The Sanderkraftfahrzeug 251, or Sd.Kfz. 251, was a German armored personnel carrier during World War II. It was their version of the half-track. Designed to carry the Panzergrenadier, or German mechanized infantry, into battle, this vehicle had a crew of two and could carry ten soldiers. The 251 model was the most widely produced German half-track, and over 15,000 were made during the war. Notice the MG 34 machine gun sitting on top of the vehicle and the box of Model 1924 Stielhandgranate hand grenades in the back. Introduced in 1934, the MG 34 is considered to be the world’s first general-purpose machine gun. The weapon was light enough to be carrier by one man and yet had a high rate of fire at 900 rounds per minute. It entered service in great numbers in 1939, with well over half a million being produced by the end of the war. Universally called the “potato masher” grenade because it looked like the kitchen utensil, the M24 was the standard hand grenade of the armed forces of Germany, otherwise known as the Wehrmacht during World War II.

The German Jagpanzer 38 was classified as a light tank destroyer. Nicknamed the “Hetzer” this vehicle proved to be an excellent tank destroyer. With its low profile, the Hetzer was difficult to spot and the sloping armor on all sides made it a more difficult kill. However, the armor on its sides and rear was thinner than in the front, and it was especially vulnerable on the right side in urban situations since that was a blind spot for the tank personnel. And unlike the American M18 Hellcat, this tank destroyer did not have a revolving turret so its 75 mm gun could only fire in the direction the vehicle was facing. When used in its proper role of tank destroyer, thus being hidden and awaiting an unsuspecting enemy, the Jag 38 was very effective.

The German 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37, otherwise known as the German 88mm anti-aircraft gun was one of the best anti-aircraft guns on either side during World War II.

OTHER MILITARY VEHICLES

There was also a large warehouse area with a lot of vehicles that were not ready to be displayed, including a Vietnam-era M-113 APC (armored personnel carrier), the more modern version of a halftrack. In addition, there was a Vietnam war PT Boat. This was part of what was known as the Brown Water Navy. And there was a Bell UH-1 Iroquois Helicopter, more commonly known as “the Huey.”