Marine Tank Crewman

Crewed M4 Shermans at Tarawa and Iwo Jima, M48s at Khe Sanh, M1A1 Abrams in Desert Storm and the rush to Baghdad.

The Story

All seven Marine tank companies divested. ~400 tanks transferred to the Army. ~1,300 Marines re-MOS'd into other specialties. A century of institutional armor knowledge — gone in 18 months. Marine tankers at Camp Lejeune watched their tanks rolled onto trains they would not be on.