Comments by "Colonel K" (@Paladin1873) on "Rampage: Stolen Armored Vehicles" video.

I never stole a tank, but when I was about seven years old my grandmother left me on a playground in Bainbridge, GA, which was next door to what I think was the local National Guard Armory. In those days there was a Tank Company from the 121st Infantry Regiment assigned to them. They had what I think were M103 heavy tanks (120mm guns) parked there unattended. I started climbing on them and discovered a hatch had been left unsecured. As a result I was able to crawl around inside the vehicle and pretend I was Sgt Saunders from the TV series Combat!. I found it very roomy, but I was probably no more than four feet tall at the time. Ten years later I was marching in our high school ROTC unit behind a couple of these massive beasts as we paraded down the main street of the Florida state capitol. I believe these 60 ton monsters belonged to the 8th Tank Battalion (4th Marine Div) of the Tallahassee Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Tallahassee, FL and were about to be retired.
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@danielponiatowski7368 Yes, ROTC stands for Reserve Officer Training Corps. The Army, Navy, and Air Force each have their own ROTC programs which are broken into two types. The first is Junior ROTC, which operates in many high schools, grades 9 - 12, with students typically being ages 14 - 18. The second is Senior ROTC, which is a college level program that offers a commission as a 2nd lieutenant or ensign (Navy) to those who successfully complete it. In both programs the members are called cadets, except in the Navy/Marine program where they are addressed as midshipmen. It is typical for a state funded college or university to have one or more service Senior ROTC programs on or near campus. Some private colleges also run Senior ROTC programs. I went to Georgia Tech and we had all three service programs. I was in Air Force ROTC. In high school I was in the Army Junior ROTC program (typically high schools only offer one service program option). There is no service commitment for those who participate in Junior ROTC. For those who join Senior ROTC, the service commitment does not begin until the last two years of the program, so an individual can opt out of the program at any point prior to that. Any member who fails college or drops out of Senior ROTC during the last two years of the program is subject to induction into that service as an enlisted member for up to four years.
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@danielponiatowski7368 On a separate note, I never got to fly in a C-47, but a Canadian gooney bird frequently parked outside our hangar every time they flew in for a meeting, and that was in Texas.
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@danielponiatowski7368 What a coincidence. As a kid I too thought the same thing during the opening credits. As I got older I realized it was a truncated image of Vic Morrow holding up his Thompson. Yes, here in the States there was a booming surplus business after WWII which continued into the 1970s. We had a local surplus dealer in north Florida who sold tanks, helicopters, landing craft, jeeps, half-tracks, and every conceivable item associated with the military. Most of it was gloried inoperable junk, but it could be restored. Sadly, I was never able to talk my Dad into purchasing anything. What I wanted most were a half-track and a jeep. I was told by a friend that one of the half-tracks was restored and turned into a logging vehicle until it fell in the river. Oh well, I did eventually get a jeep.
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Didn't Arnold Schwarzenegger "borrow" a M48 tank and take it home when he was serving as a reservist in the Austrian Army?
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@danielponiatowski7368 That's a great episode. My favorite scene was when he was hanging onto the turret for dear life as the tank chassis and turret swung back and forth trying to knock him off.
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@danielponiatowski7368 It's too bad YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter jails don't let the inmates talk with each other. Think of what a blast that would be. As for vehicle restoration work, I'm completely unqualified to do it. I'm about to replace the fuel pump on my 47 Willys CJ2a, and though it is a simple job, I'll likely cock it up. Wish me luck.
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