Venture into the award-winning National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, WY. With 160,000 square feet, the world-class museum is a testament to America's military heritage, presenting nearly 500 meticulously restored military vehicles, artillery, naval vessels, and aircraft. The historical collection spans from 1897 to pivotal modern-day machines, with a spotlight on the American experience in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Beyond the metal and might, the museum weaves the poignant narratives of the service members' valor and sacrifice. Among the unique weapons on display is the storied Dutch .79 smooth-bore Type III flintlock musket and bayonet of Private John Simpson, who marked history at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
This museum is not just a collection of military artifacts; it's a hallowed space that echoes the stories of heroism and duty and honors American Freedom.
The M4 was the "best tank" by virtue of the US being able to spit them out at an astounding rate. It helps that they were good at what they did and by all accounts were reliable. To put that into perspective, more than 50,000 Shermans were produced between 1942 and 1945, compared to only 1,347 Tiger I and 492 Tiger II tanks that were produced.
“Complacency of the U.S. Government.” Ah, no. It’s was purely an internal Army decision based on doctrine (infantry tank vs. tank destroyers), logistics of delivering every soldier and provisions 3-8,000 miles away (it was reported that Gen. Leslie McNair ordered a 57 cal 75/76mm gun shortened to no more than 53 cal for transport, and suppressed any effort to upgun to 90mm). According to Steven Zagola, the M-4 could handle any German Tank in 1942, and we know what happened after, as the video said in Italy and then Normandy, the Sherman’s were outclassed. For Overload, The British and Canadians were assigned to engage the German mobile and Panzer forces by attacking inland important sites like Caen, meeting more than 80% of Panzer units, while the U.S. army built up (via mulberries) for Operation Cobra. The British upgraded 2,000 Shermans to the mount the 17pdr of which about 600 were available during Normandy. The British lost about 2,000 tanks and 60,000 casualties in the Normandy campaign,and would have a tougher time without the Sherman Fireflies. Bottom line, it were US Army internal decisions that resulted in the Sherman vs heavy tank allocation, and I do resent the labeling of this as a civilian U.S. Government matter. In the end, this was a war of attrition where the army with the most men and equipment would prevail as long as they didn’t employ bad tactics.
They already had so many varients on the Sherman. The Firefly was thee best Sherman varient and the war was already lost by Germany.. So why put the Pershing into mass production and change all the manufacturing facilities to produce a newer tank? The Sherman did the jon after the varients were created..
They did it in 6 weeks , because they were tweeking out on Pervitin ( crystal Meth ) . I love how historians conveniently leave that out , until only recently . It does make a difference in any conclusions about why historical events happened . Just sayin .
^<<Tank Destroyer Patch. I can't stand the type of person that favors the fascists/Nazionalsozialistische, german heer wehrmacht panzer etc. Ooooh look at me, I'm an angry white guy from suburbia & I dress up like totenkopf & admire & commend the bad guys, to hide my racist agenda, aren't I unique? Those vehicles fought for an evil which cannot be redeemed in any fashion. I'm so proud to be an American from the great state of New York. US Army WWII, Forever and Always.
I think the point of these weapons was to give a gun, any gun, to a nation where the firearms were confiscated, they were also intended to be used to shot and capture the enemy's weapons. I suppose in a situation where you're being dropped a simple weapon that is a weapon anyone can use just by looking at the comics rather than an extensive manual it is also a plus. I guess it is a case of any gun is better than no gun in a war zone. I think the reason it failed was because it was just easier dropping fully functioning weapons like the Sten gun which definitely helped Resistance fighters around Europe.
It's my understanding that the 744th Light Tank Battalion was the first to receive the M24 Chaffee tanks. My grandfather was a tank driver and the stories that he would tell about them were amazing. Miss that man... and wished that I would have had more interest in his war stories when I was a child.
I read a claimed non-fiction first handed account from a German MP who claimed that on the night of d-day, with Allied planes overhead, likely a french maid killed a high ranking German officer with a one shot pistol. The MP found the pistol near the officers body with a shot to back of the head. He then found that the entire hotel staff had fled the german occupied hotel. That one shot pistol infuriated the German MP; they hated them.
Panzer II & Panzer 35/38(t) were the best light tanks of ww2 from a numerical sense. My favourite tank & favourite light tank is British Mark VII Tetrarch as it push pull rod steering system on the front sprockets to drive like a normal car with a steering wheel on a tracked tank. Tetrarch was the 1st tank dropped in an air glider & the 1st prototype of the DD tank. Tetrarch was used in the battle of Madagascar as an air glider dropped tank. Even operation ironclad in 1940 France was rather interesting. British Mark VII Tetrarch is the 1st tank to fly & swim! M24 Chaffee was a good light tank but to late by near mid 1944 to make a considerable difference. 18.7 tons is rather heavy for a quote ''light tank''. A Lighter medium tank is how I look at the M24 Chaffee.
Wasn't designed to liberate a whole country , just to be a pain in the 🐴 , and give people the feeling of at least being able to fight back. A carton of cigarettes then was probably more than what it cost to make that gun
My father in law , who was in a lot of WW2 combat. Told me the Shermans were deathtraps. One hit from a German 88 and they were gone. Wear as the Shermans rounds just bounced off the big cat German tanks. They needed the Pershing. The Germans used to say it took 10 Shermans to knock out 1 Panther or Tiger.
A good video but you didn’t mention two bits of trivia about the thing. It does have sights but is a smoothbore, rifling was determined to take too long and too costly for the thing. Its range was about 10 feet at best so you could shoot an enemy soldier and take their much better gun. The other bit is that it’s the only firearm in history that actually took longer to load than it took to produce.
Excellent video! Short, to the point and loaded with history & facts. The narrator was knowledgeable, had excellent dry humor, and spoke fluidly and intelligently. I hope you guys do many more videos on Small Arms.
@@NathanDudani That's my only quibble with the presentation. It bears mentioning that one theoretical tactical use was to obtain the enemy's weapon(s) through threat, wounding, or killing.
