AFV News from Around the Web (Historic Edition)

Here are a handful of recent news articles about historic armor.  Click on the headline to read the full article.

The Washington Post – A battered World War II hero of Bastogne gets a new home, and a museum built around it

The old battle tank arrived at 10:15 Thursday morning, covered in a black tarp and chained to the bed of tractor-trailer.  The construction site near Fort Belvoir went quiet for a moment as the truck backed in. And when they pulled away the tarp, the steel hide still bore the gouges and holes from enemy gunfire in 1944 and ’45.  This was “Cobra King,” a hallowed, 38-ton U.S. Army legend that during the World War II Battle of the Bulge bulled its way through German lines and was first to relieve the besieged defenders of Bastogne, Belgium.

Newsday – Tanks come alive in Museum of American Armor mobile display

The field outside the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage turned into a vintage battlefield Saturday, as World War II-era tanks rumbled past hundreds of spectators in the museum’s largest-ever mobile display.  Bernard Fradkin, 85, of Westbury, had seen only one of the models on display Saturday — a Sherman tank — in combat, when he was an infantryman in the Korean War.  But he recalled other vehicles from World War II movie-theater newsreels he watched as a kid.  “To see our American boys riding on the tanks — it brings back memories,” Fradkin said, referring to museum volunteers dressed in vintage Army uniforms.

News & Citizen – Some collect stamps, others tanks

John Vetter of Glover looks forward all year to showing off his collection of eight to 10 military tanks at the Stowe Antique and Classic Car Meet.  During the weekend, he’ll drive his M3A1 Stuart tank from 1942 around the field at a crawl, to the amazement of adults and children. Some salute; others point; many snap photos of Vetter and his platoon of friends, who help him crew it.  They even enter the tank in the annual vintage fashion show, sporting their 1940s military garb, although first place eluded them this year.

Thrillist – How They Get Military-Grade, Ready-To-Smash Tank for Big Movies

Without people like Alex King, your favorite action movies might look a little bare.  “A lot of people don’t know my job exists,” King says. “They watch a movie, and they just think all the cars turn up, stunts drive everything, and it’s all fine.”  He’s a picture vehicle coordinator — the person who equips directors with the cars, trucks, and even tanks they need. The 46-year-old industry veteran has done so on more than a dozen projects, including The Bourne Ultimatum, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. His most recent gig? Wonder Woman, for which he helped build the Ehrhardt armored car that gets obliterated.