Support for Grunts

MK note: Here are more photos from the album of Vito Bellflower (#34) sent to the IBB by his son John. My operatives tell me that each of these photos is of either a Sherman or a Patton tank. They know which photo is of which type, but I don't. Vito was in a AAA unit attached to the 3rd Inf Div and not in an armored unit with tanks; therefore, I am guessing that these tanks were part of the 64th Tank Battalion, which was also attached to the 3rd Inf Div. If anything I have said (so far) on this page is wrong, I'm sure to hear about it and so will you, below the photos. Until then, the rest of the words on this page are culled from John's emails. MK.

Yes, Merv, my father is the man on the right in the first picture (tank in snow) and also the man on the right in the group perched on the tank in the first photo below and on the left.

According to my father's notes on the back of photo of the tank being placed on carrier, the tank had been damaged after it struck a mine. I think I remember him saying that the photo was taken in Chorwon . The Sgt in the last picture (below) was from my father's Platoon. I can't identify anyone else in any of the pictures, but I hope some of them show up on the IBB.

I'm going out tonight to Jacobs Field. We are collecting money for the families of our brother firefighters who were killed in NY. Stay safe, John.

Bart Soto (a friend of the IBB) add-on (20 Sep 2001):

Merv, each of the the tanks in the upper left photo and in the middle right photo is an M-26 "Pershing". It came out at the end of WWII in response to the German "Tiger".

The upper right photo might be of an M-47 "Patton". It's hard to tell because the front of the turret (near to the gun) appears to be covered with a tarp and I can't make out the tank's exact shape.

The tank in the bottom photo is an M-4 "Sherman". The tank just above it (on the left) appears to be a recovery vehicle - an M-32 based on the M-4 chassis. It also came out during WWII. They were designed to recover combat damaged tanks, pull the engines out, and perform maintenance.

Bart, the "Tread Head" and Armor Officer ..."Huaah!"

3rd Division Page        IBB Map and Photo Index
Vito in Wheels and a Cornfield       Vito in Reserve
IBB - Page Four      "Can Do" Photo Index