Cobra King

77 years-ago, the day following Christmas, 1944,  a Jumbo Sherman tank named Cobra King made history.  Its name - 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 besieged and surrounded 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. 

A word about this vehicle.  

Cobra King is an M4A3E2 Assault Tank nicknamed the Jumbo Sherman for a welded hull and one piece cast nose.  An extra one inch of armor in the front made it more resistant to German 88 millimeter shells.  Production began with Ford in June 1942 with Grand Blanc assuming production in February of 1944.  It sported a vertical sided turret and even with a Ford GAA V-8 engine, because of the weight of the additional armor, top speed of 22 mph was 3-4 mph slower than its predecessors. 

Following the war Cobra King remained in Germany.  Combat damage relegated it to a US Army transportation yard in Hammelburg; its place in military history temporarily lost.  Fortunately, its subsequent reuse as a military base monument saved it from the scrapyard.

Historical footnote:  The 37th Tank Battalion was subsequently re-activated in 1951 and assigned to the 4th Armored Division in 1953 at Fort Hood, Texas. Cobra King's unit would later return to Europe.  

There is a personal tangent to this story.  Some of you know that I was born overseas when my family lived on a US Army base in southern Germany.  In the 1950s McKee Barracks (among other things) was a hardstand for armor during the Cold War.  Coincidentally, the gate monument where we lived was a WWII era Jumbo Sherman.

McKee - 1958

Nobody knew it at the time but the Sherman guarding the headquarters building at McKee in Crailsheim, Germany was of historic significance. 

Later, when the 1st Armored relocated to Vilseck they took their tank with them.  

The division later relocated to Bad Kreuznach, but this time the Sherman stayed behind.  McKee was permanently closed in 1994 and the property returned to the people of Crailsheim.  The base school where dad was the first Principal continues in use as a school by the community.

 

The Sherman maintained its vigil in relative obscurity 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.  It was indeed Cobra King.  There was also also considerable evidence of battle damage.  An explosion had resulted in a fire, destroying the tank’s interior, and causing the famous “First in Bastogne” tank to become permanently disabled.  

 

After identification Cobra King was returned to the United States in 2009 for restoration at Fort Knox.  The extent of the interior combat damage made any sort of interior restoration impossible yet further research led to what may have been the cause.  

As a consequence of physical and photographic evidence, primary sources and the historical record the restoration crew came to believe that Cobra King may have participated in the disastrous Hammelburg Raid of late March 1945.  

This raid was a secret mission to penetrate behind German lines, liberate the Oflag XIII-B POW camp near Hammelburg, and return safely with US officers held there.  One of the POWs at the camp was the son-in-law of General George Patton who ordered the raid.  This was not without any small amount of controversy.
 
Conducted by Task Force Baum, under the capable and seasoned leadership of Captain Abraham Baum, the Hammelburg Raid failed when it was cutoff by German forces almost 50 miles behind enemy lines. In the end, 32 Americans were killed and some 247 others were wounded, captured or missing with only 35 soldiers eventually finding their way to allied lines.  It was the restoration team's belief that a casualty of the Hammelburg Raid was Cobra King.  

Who knew?

With its historical pedigree intact and an exterior restoration completed Cobra King is now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, located at Fort Belvoir, VA. 

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

Learn more about the story here. 

Photos - US ARMY

 

Contemporary Republican Role Models

Once upon a time there was a blogger who identified as a Republican.  As time passed he gravitated to independent and remained firmly center-right.  And if you got to know him you would learn that he holds any number of conservative views. 

Alas, there is no longer any room for this blogger in what had previously been known as the GOP’s Big Tent.  Just like a rock-ribbed conservative like Liz Cheney – those who cling to truth and justice are no longer welcome.  Only craven sycophants who express the utmost of fealty to Donald Trump are allowed. 

And in the mean time the up and coming and most admired in the party includes lying, conspiracy-addled kooks like Marjorie Taylor Greene who falsely assert that Donald Trump was elected in a landslide but the election had been stolen from him. 

And creepy perverts like Matt Gaetz with an unsavory sexual appetite for pubescent girls. (Someone needs to remind him what the minimum mandatory sentence is for sex-trafficking). 

And then there is the candidate Trump is backing to unseat Liz Cheney – Anthony Bouchard. The guy who knocked-up a 14 year-old, married her and divorced her driving her to suicide. 

The virtues that made America great include: humility, equality, justice, charity, generosity, fairness, truth, honor, respect, civility, anti-authoritarianism and so-forth. None of which exists in today's Republican party.  

It sure ain't your daddy's GOP anymore.  What a pitiable collection of role models.....  

Cobra King

On this day in history - December 26, 1944 - Army Lt. Charles Boggess was in command of a 38 ton Jumbo Sherman tank named Cobra King. Boggess replaced the tank's previous commander - Charles Trover - who had been killed by a sniper three days earlier as he was standing in the turret. 

The much-depleted elements of 37^th Tank Battalion and the 53^rd Armored Infantry Battalion C Companies were the tip of the spear of General George Patton’s Third Army offensive to punch thru German lines and relieve the besieged defenders of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.

Running at full-speed with guns blazing, four miles and 25 minutes later Cobra King linked-up with the 101^st Airborne.

Later, this tank, and a different crew, continued the push into Germany. It was during Patton’s controversial and failed mission to rescue allied POWs from a prison camp Cobra King took a round that penetrated its armor. The resulting fire took it out of action permanently.

Following the war the tank was recovered from the battlefield and served as the ‘Gate Guard’ at McKee Barracks in Crailsheim, Germany where we lived in the 1950s.

Following an exterior restoration on August 3, 2017, Cobra King was installed at the new National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir outside of Washington, DC.

 

A Difference of Opinion

A friend recently asked why I’m ‘so hard’ on President Trump.  The short answer would be that I’ve had a negative opinion of Trump from the first time I became aware of him.  I never liked the guy.  I consider him a con man.  Opinions that date back decades are difficult to change. 

 

His reality television productions were lame.  When I learned he was a draft dodger my opinion hardened.  Trump's attitude towards women is beyond the pale.  If you asked me what I think about Trump I will tell you:  Donald Trump is a vulgar and godless individual. 

 

To be fair I am clear-eyed about this.  I am flawed too.  We all are.  As a consequence my judgment of anyone is taken seriously and done so with ample reflection-upon my own shortcomings.  I have boundless respect for the office of the presidency and embrace the truth that Trump is my President.  

 

I suppose what troubles me the most is that decent, upstanding and otherwise good people countenance and rationalize Trump's lying, his immoral behavior and lack of civility.  Has our culture become so transactional that we compromise our most basic of values and ethics so casually? 

 

Seriously – does tolerance have no boundaries? 

Getting Rich Quick

Some of you may think that the secret to getting rich quick is making a killing in the Bitcoin marketplace trading virtual currency, in the cybersphere all the while making sure nobody picks your virtual wallet.  For those of  you who aren't ready to dip your toe into the dark side of the web I offer you this:

click on the image for the phone number

Yup.  Real estate.  Heck, Donald Trump became a bazillionaire with real estate. So there has got to be more to this than bricks and mortar.  Apparently you can make a cool $10,000 a month - as a TRAINEE no less.  If my ciphering is accurate that is a cool $120,000 a year for on the job training!

As evidence of the credibility of this there it is - scrawled on yellow cardboard and propped against the orange barrel where the road is being ripped-up.  You can't pay for credibility like this.

I fired my financial guy yesterday and my CPA and attorney for good measure.  This real estate investing training will make for terrific pocket change while my Bitcoin trading pays-off in spades.

DIY

I always thought that the road to riches was paved (not with good intentions) but by means of disciplined saving and investing both in good times and in bad.  Apparently I got it all wrong. 

This arrived in the mail the other day and it says that basically I can become wealthy beyond imagination by investing in Bitcoin.  Yup, a virtually currency based-upon blockchain technology is the path to riches.  This free booklet tells me how even a beginner can become wealthier than Donald Trump almost overnight. 

You can also use your Bitcoin to launder dirty money if you are a drug cartel, arms dealer or a Russian mobster.






Lest you doubt the veracity of these claims there are complicated graphs that explain the secret.

That's it - I'm firing my financial guy and possibly my lawyer and accountant.  This is easily a DIY (Do It Yourself) solution for retirement.

H3N2

We can speculate that human influenza (the flu) has bedeviled the human race throughout history – although a lack of accurate records and similarity to other respiratory diseases make the data difficult to interpret.  The classic symptoms of the flu were described by Hippocrates as early as 2,400 years ago. 

The earliest record of an influenza pandemic was of an outbreak in 1580 which started in Russia and spread thru North Africa to Europe.  In Rome over 8,000 people were killed and several Spanish cities were largely depopulated.  A century ago the most famous and lethal outbreak was the 1918 flu pandemic – also known as the Spanish Flu.  Lasting from 1918 to 1919 it is estimated to have killed 50 to 100 million people. 

The flu is still around today and with regular vaccinations society has achieved much progress in lessening the impact of pandemics.  Nevertheless, the flu should never be taken lightly.  It can be fatal to very young children, the elderly or among those who have compromised immune systems or other preexisting conditions. 

Last week I was slammed by a nasty strain of the flu (likely H3N2) that was not prevented by my yearly flu vaccination.  Each year, there are usually a few different strains of the flu virus circulating around and as a consequence your flu shot may not be as effective.  In 2018 we’re seeing more of the Influenza A-H3N2 than any other strain and any year in which this is the dominant strain tends to be worse than usual.  This is the worst year in a decade. 

The good news is that nowadays, we have antivirals, acetaminophen, fortified sports drinks and over the counter extended-release medications to loosen mucus to moderate symptoms and avoid complications.   Such things didn’t exist a hundred years ago.  Yet individuals still die from influenza and complications like pneumonia.   So wash your hands regularly, cover your coughs and sneezes and if you have sudden onset of cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue seek medical help.

Raising a toast to Tamiflu, Mucinex, Tylenol and enough Gatorade to float a boat.

Definitely not Haiku

Changed my day job last week.

Running a bit ragged on fumes.

Pumped.  So it's all good.

More revealed yesterday.

Bad news - good news?

Stay tuned...

McKee Barracks

McKee Barracks, located midway between Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and Stuttgart on Route 14, was named after Major John L. McKee, Jr. of the 901st Field Artillery Battalion. Major McKee was killed in 1945, while engaged in a spotter flight over Trebnitz, Germany.

McKee Barracks is located one mile east of Crailsheim, a junction point for highway and railway traffic crisscrossing central Germany.

During World War II, the area now known as McKee Barracks was an aviation and pilot training school for the German Luftwaffe. A portion of this field was destroyed in the Allied bombing in March, 1945, and during the Four Day Battle in April, 1945 when elements of the 10th Armored Division occupied Crailsheim. Two of the hangars are still standing at the rear of the post air strip.

American troops, after fierce fighting, occupied Crailsheim on 6 April, 1945, withdrew on 10 April and reoccupied the area on 20 April, 1945.

McKee Barracks, plus five four-story dependent buildings, were built in 1951. On December 15, 1952, the Recreation Center was first opened and in 1953, the remaining dependent quarters were completed. The gym was completed in 1954, followed by construction of the Tank Park Hardstand in 1957 and the washracks in 1958.

There are a total of 107 permanent and 19 temporary buildings. This includes space for approximately 2,000 troops and 309 families. Normal support facilities are available.

Source: Crailsheim ACS Welcome Packet, early 1980s

My parents moved to McKee shortly after the construction of the original dependent buildings.  They were civilian employees of the Army - my mom a teacher and my dad the principal of the base school.  I was born there.  As a consequence I've always harbored a fascination for my birthplace and even visited the camp in the early 1970s.

 A number of years ago I blogged about having to locate the original copy of the layout of of the cantonment of McKee Barracks back in the early 1950s.

I found it last weekend.

SCHWAEB. HALL SUB AREA

CANTONMENT CRAILSHEIM

GENERAL LAYOUT

Plan B611, Scale 1:5000.  Here's a scanned copy of it dated 10-10-54.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Upper left corner is civilian housing area, top (in color) is base housing and headquarters buildings, middle is the motor pool and at the bottom is the airfield.

The camp was closed in January 1994 and turned-over to German civilian authorities and today virtually all traces of it have vanished.

Here's a current Google map view...

Anyway, if you're like me and enjoy taking a walk down memory lane you can learn more about USAREUR Units and Installations in the region of Ansbach Germany by visiting this directory here.  Click on Ansbach and you'll be redirected to the installation maps from the 1970s and 1980s - including McKee Barracks are at the top of the page.  

Click on McKee on the header you will be redirected to some cool photos of the camp over the years.

  

Driveway Upgrade

Having battled years of gravel being tracked into the house, or gravel being pushed by the plow into the yard and dogs scratching their backs by rolling in the gravel - especially wet gravel - The Frau and I decided to have the driveway paved.

In asphalt.

Sure, it will be hot in the summer - but the snow won't stand a chance in the winter.  Moreover no more grit and dust blowing into the house when the windows are open and no more stone getting tracked all over the place.

Here's what it looked like before the project began.

Making sure the base is prepped and the grade is correct.

All ready for paving when the conditions are right.

Newly paved road out front will be connected with a newly paved driveway.

I should go purchase a skateboard.

Tatooed!

Been back home following my hip replacement in the big city.  Shortly afterward the Frau pointed out that I had a number of autographs on my right leg.

Seems everyone had to sign-off and be in agreement that this was the correct limb before anyone begins dislocating and hacking-way at it.

I happen to think that it is good policy.

click on images to enlarge

Blogging About The Blog

By the time you read this I will be at the hospital being prepped for a new hip.  Ordinarily I wouldn't be looking forward to a major surgical procedure but I'm being optimistic about a pain-free, new year and getting my life back.  I will be partially bionic.

Following my discharge I've got a couple weeks of in-home  therapy before I get to wear my dancing shoes again.

Anyway, I've got some additional trail camera shots to post this week - but after that the blog will go on a short hiatus.

Tatooed!

After returning from the hospital following my hip replacement the Frau pointed-out that I also return with a number of tatoos on my right leg.

Seems everyone's got to sign-off on the job and be in total agreement that they have the correct limb before anybody weild a saw to it.

click on images to enlarge

McKee Barracks

I never cease to be amazed at the resources that can be found on the web that are freely available.

The other day I dipped my toe into childhood and my early years on a US Army post in Germany.

Camp McKee was closed in 1994.  Nonetheless, someone is keeping track of former US Army airfields in Germany.  This Google map below shows the position of the single landing strip in blue.  Located immediately above (bordered by Haller Straße  to the north) is what's left of the former army post.


View Crailsheim AAF/AHP in a larger map

If you click on the link above to view the larger map you can zoom-in to locate the main post entrance and the post's streets lined with large and mature trees.  Most of the buildings have vanished.  Yikes!

I have an original copy of the US Army draft of the layout of buildings and airfield for the original cantonment dating back to the early years of McKee Barracks.

I should locate it and compare it with Google''s imagery.   

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





Swamp Gas The Tree Hugger

Yeah, sure.

Really. You could probably build a pretty good case for that accusation.

What is amusing (to me anyway) is that the term tree hugger is usually meant to be a pegorative and accusatory term for some kind of pansy-arsed urbanite.

Me? I wear it proudly on my sleeve.

You see - Swamp is no fool.











Growing trees is a good thing.

Especially if you intend to cut them and sell them for a tidy profit.

Moreover, if it is part of your long term plan.

Tree farmers are big on plans. Too be fair, this is how we maintain our valuable renewable certification.

This propagation of tree stuff is even a better than good thing if they attract all sorts of wild game that you can hunt. And song birds that you can watch and listen to.

My wife and I like trees so much that we've planted more than 45,000 of them over the last fourteen years or so.












Honestly, we get frustrated about the amount of damage the critters do to each and every tree that we carefully plant by our own efforts.

So we rationalize it with an understanding that the deer, rabbits and mice have to eat too. And so do we.

Deer and rabbits periodically find their way into the freezer. No mice though.

Wouldn't you really rather prefer to own acres and acres of healthy trees situated in the vast healthy out-of-doors instead of a portfolio of rotten, crummy stocks?

Think about it.

So you can call me tree hugger all you want.











And I will smile every time you reach for the roll while sitting on your commode.

Ka-ching!