My grandfather was a tank Commander for the 73rd tank battalion in Korea. He never talked about his experience except for a few pieces here and there. Before he passed a couple of years ago, he had brought my grandma to see Fury and said that, even though if was a different war, that was the most accurate depiction of what he has experienced in a tank. Here he is on top of his tank I'm just curious to know about other aspects of what he might have gone through, since he never shared much.
It is my strong belief that tanking has not really changed a whole hell of a lot over the past seven decades.
First things first. The tank in the photo is not the one which he would have used in Korea. He is photographed in a post-Korean-War M47, whilst the tanks used by the 73rd in Korea would have been M4A3(76)HVSS Shermans and M26 Pershings, the former being basically the same tank as Fury.
The 73rd was there for the duration. Arrived Korea August 1950, and was in the thick of it, earning pretty much every major Army battle honor going: Pork Chop Hill, Pusan Perimeter, Triangle Hills, T-Bone Hill, White Horse Mountain, UN Counter-offensive, Crossing of the Imjin River and Recapture of Seoul. It was still in Korea to receive the Summer 1953 campaign streamer. (Indeed, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation is dated to 1957). Over the war, they lost 24 men killed.
As for the life of a tanker...
It is said that the best thing about being a tanker is that you're with the same four guys all the time (Well, three guys today). The worst thing about being a tanker is that you're with the same damned four guys all the time. But, like any family, even when arguing, you're close. Your tank is your home, and it is another member of your crew. You take care of it, and it will take care of you (At least, that's the theory. 24 dead indicates it doesn't always happen that way). Tanking is an exhausting, stressful business. When not in combat, you are taking care of your tank, and everything you have to lift or replace is heavy. And oftentimes, the weather is cold, and you're trying to replace a track link or some such in the mud. When in the tank, there may be a heater. Then again, with my luck, the heater would be broken, and the part to fix it would show up in June, when you wished your metal box/oven came with air conditioning, which, of course, it does not. As in most combat units, it's 95% boredom, and 5% holy crap....
