rustystud
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WOW ! This was the first time I read this post and the memories that have come back are crazy. Yes I was there when the corporal died. The question about the hoses on the sides of the engine is interesting. I remember we had an extra air intake for the crew for when we where river crossing or shore landing. The tanks could get completely submerged for up to several minutes at a time if they hit a soft sand spot. So there was a auxiliary air system that would trap water trying to enter the main compartment. It has been almost 40 years now and the mind is not as sharp as it once was.One note for safety's sake, if you need to slave start (jump start) any armored vehicles, please do NOT place them nose-to-nose...place them 90-degrees opposed (as in an L-shape, or right-angles to each other). If one jumps into gear, you need to allow yourself an escape route if one vehicle lurches forward.
No matter how careful you try to be, things happen...especially with 50- or 60-year old linkages that are rusty, sometimes they jump into gear with nobody putting any pressure on them.
At Camp Pendleton (1st Tank Battalion) we lost a good Corporal that way; for whatever reason, he was in a hurry and brought another tank over and allowed them nose-to-nose while he strung the slave cables into each driver's compartment. During the slave start process, the tank brought over to provide the jump somehow jumped into gear and over-rode the driver's brake application. The Corporal was pinched between both bows, and was alive & talking until the tanks were pulled apart. When the tanks were pulled apart, he was gone.
I didn't ever want to relive anything like that again. Rustystud might have been there at the time too, don't know if he remembers this or not.
So please please please when slave starting tanks, armored vehicles, or any heavy equipment please place them at opposed 90-degree angles; this allows the person stringing slave cables an escape route in case things go wrong.
Will, thanks for this thread, it's nice to see one of my old monsters come back to life! They are quite fun to drive and operate, just not much fun to maintain.
Also I have a service manual around here somewhere for the operation and general function of the M60 Tank. Last time I saw it was about 10 years ago though. If I come across it I will send it on down to you guys there. I also think I have the Hull TM here to somewhere.