Steve Greenberg Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 I own a 1942 M3A1 Stuart Light Tank built by American Car & Foundry Co. in Berwick, PA They produced over 15,000 M3, M3A1 and M3A3 Stuart light tanks. This is a story about a Stuart tank S/N 10103 returning back home to Berwick, PA. and what it meant to the community. Near the end of February I received an e-mail from a friend by the name of Tom McLaughlin. Tom is one of the board of directors for the Berwick Historical Society. The message was the about the 200th Bicentennial Celebration for Columbia County. I replied to Tom, if they wanted to pay the expenses I would consider hauling my tank out for the event. I was kind of joking. About 1 minute later tom told me to get him some figures! On 16 March 2013 my Stuart tank began its journey back home. At 7am I loaded up the tank on a low bed trailer for its approx. 5,600 mile round trip. The following Thursday I caught a flight for PA. I arrived Thursday afternoon and my tank arrived Friday afternoon. After unloading the tank we parked it in one of the buildings at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds. Saturday morning I fired a blank to start the 5K run. The runners cheered are they passed by the tank. The rest of the morning the tank was on display at the fairgrounds. Around 1pm Tom McLaughlin and fellow MVPA member Rob Reigle from Ohio jumped up on the tank and we drove a couple miles through town to the form up area for the parade. I had the distinct honor of giving WWII Veteran Fred Shepperly a ride in the turret during parade. Fred worked at a.c.f. prior to WWII in the engineering/production department. He was pulled from a.c.f. by the Marine Corps to lead the tank repair contingent in the Pacific Theater. Needless to say Fred had a wonderful time riding in the tank. This was the first time in 70 years Fred had been in a M3A1 Stuart tank. Before the parade started I was sitting in the turret talking to Fred. I asked Fred if the smell, sounds and feel of the tank brought back memories? He replied, “It was like it was just yesterday”, with a big smile! Following the parade the tank was on display at the fairgrounds for the rest of the day. 100’s of people shook my hand and thanked me very much for bringing the Stuart tank to Berwick. Many of them said, “I had no idea just how much it meant to them to actually see a running Stuart tank back in Berwick”. Many of the people had only ever seen photos of Stuart tanks. I heard story after story about fathers and mothers, uncles and grandfathers who all worked at a.c.f. during WWII. These people were extremely proud of the fact their community played such important role in the war effort producing the light tanks. I spoke to a 90-year-old gentleman by the name of Joe Massina who worked at a.c.f. during WWII. His job was to test drive the tanks. “We drove the tanks right up main street for several miles, sometimes up to 50 miles per hour”, Joe told me with a smile on his face. Joe Zielinski also 90, was a welder at a.c.f. He told me how he welded up the idler and rode wheels on Stuart tanks. He pointed to a spot near the hub where they stamped their welders symbol into the wheel. It was amazing to be able to talk with the people who built these tanks 70 years ago. Saturday evening they had a very nice fireworks display that was augmented by the firing a 37MM blank from my tank to start the show. Sunday morning we loaded up the tank on the trailer and headed for Berwick, about 15 miles away. My tank was on static display in Berwick, PA.. at the old tank test track from 2 to 4 pm. We arrived a couple hours early so the truck driver, Tom and David Kovach, another Berwick Historical Society board member and county commissioner, piled on the tank. We drove through Berwick to the old a.f.c. location where a few of the original building still stand. We took photos of my tank next to the historic buildings. Then we drove to the local Subway for lunch, where a crowd of people gathered asking questions about the tank. After that it was past the VFW post and to the old concrete railroad-loading ramp where tanks were loaded onto flat cars 7 decades ago. I drove up the ramp for a photo. It was getting close to the time for the display at the test track so after stopping by the local gas station to fill up, we headed back. Everywhere we went there were several cars following us to take photos and ask questions about the tank. Back at the test track people started to show up. My old friend and fellow MVPA member Steve Krentler arrived with his son. (I bought the tank from Steve 10 years ago) Fred Shepperly arrived with his wife and son. Fred showed me a photo of himself wearing a tankers helmet sitting on the front of a M3A1 Stuart tank when he was 21 years old. I asked Fred to climb up on the tank and put on my tankers helmet for a photo. He held up the 70-year-old photo with a very emotional smile on his face. The organizers of the event figured 50 or so people would show up at the test track. There were over 600 people there! I heard many more great stories from family members of former a.c.f. employees. Many of the a.c.f. employees where there as well. Just before 4pm Fred climbed up in the turret, Steve Krentler and his son climbed mounted up along with Dave and Tom. To honor all of the former workers at a.c.f and the Veterans we took a lap around the test track in the tank. Upon returning there was short memorial service. The USMC League provided a color guard. I let Steve fire a volley of 3 blanks and WWII Veteran Dick Donald played taps. That was the end of the event…so we thought. Around 6:30 the crowd thinned out. Fred was one of the last to leave. Before doing so I asked Fred if he would sign his name on the top of the turret. He said it would be an honor to so that. Fred’s wife took my hand and said, “God bless you for coming all the way out here with your tank. You don’t know how happy you made my husband. He will have this great memory to carry with him for the rest of his life”. She had tears in her eyes as did I. I told her it was a great honor for me to make an old Veteran and his community so happy. I let my old friend Steve drive the tank back over to the trailer with his son. His son was only 2 years old when I bought the tank so he never had a chance to ride on it. We loaded up the tank, chained it down, cover it up and it was on its way back…to its home away from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff66 Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 fantastic story and pics one tiny thing can we have more paragraphs would make it easier to read:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Just brilliant - well done! Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Nice one! Well done Steve... Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Small tank - big low loader - giant story! Well done :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 What a positive way to raise the profile of Military Vehicles, and of course, a hell of a lot of fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Fantastic story. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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