Cobra King

The day following Christmas 1944, Cobra King - its nickname symbolic of the tank corps tradition of naming vehicles with the first letter of their companies’ designations - and its five-man crew from the 37th’s Company C led a column of infantry and armor that relieved the encircled Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium.

The 'Cobra King' crew -- 1st Lt. Charles Boggess, Cpl. Milton Dickerman and Pvts. James G. Murphy, Hubert S. Smith and Harold Hafner -- pose for a celebratory photo in the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium shortly after the tankers led the armor and infantry column that liberated the city in December 1944.
(go ahead and double click  on the images to enlarge)

Following the war Cobra King remained in Germany.  

The 37th Tank Battalion was subsequently re-activated in 1951 and assigned to the 4th in 1953 at Fort Hood, Texas. The group would later return to Europe.

Here is the Cobra King 'guarding' the headquarters building at McKee Barracks in Crailsheim, Germany in 1958.

I used to live there.  Technically I was born in Stuttgart - but McKee Barracks was home.  

McKee barracks  was subsequently closed in 1994 and 1st Armored relocated to Vilseck.

Of course, they took their tank with them. 

The division later relocated to Bad Kreuznach, Germany, but this time Cobra King stayed behind.

Cobra King maintained its vigil in relative obscurity for several years until Sgt. Brian Stigall of the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, recognized it after attending a Battle of the Bulge commemoration in 2004.

Research by Army historians in Germany and the U.S. confirmed its identity.  Cobra King is now expected to go on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, scheduled to open in 2013 near Washington, D.C.

It would be nice to visit Cobra King some day.  What an amazing journey and a small connection with big history.


Learn more about the story of this silent sentry here.

Photos - US Army