There’s a new military vehicle in town, and it’s a really big deal.
I say that not just because the M706 Commando armored car, recently acquired by the Cottreall-Warner American Legion Post, is not only really big (it weighs more than eight tons), but the simple fact that the Legion was able to get one is a big deal in itself.
The armored car arrived by flatbed trailer on November 17, after traveling more than 600 miles from the AAF Tank Museum in Danville, Va. The museum closed last month, at which time several of its exhibit pieces became available, and the American Legion post jumped at the chance to get one.
That’s about the only way organizations can acquire a display piece. Past Legion Commander Greg Cody explained that most decommissioned military vehicles are used for target practice, so you basically have to wait for a museum or Legion post or VFW post to close and their display pieces go up for grabs.
For our Webster American Legion, it’s been a long wait; Cody put in the post’s application a full nine years ago.
Considering the armored vehicle saw action in the Vietnam War in the early ’60s, it’s in pretty good shape. Still, Cody said, “When it showed up it was in worse shape than in the pictures we saw.” It was missing some windows, and the turret and the hatch had been removed and stuffed inside the vehicle.
Pretty much all that remains inside are the seats and the steering mechanism. “When they give you a tank or vehicle, they come completely stripped inside so no one can make it work,” Cody explained. Even the engine is removed. It had also clearly spent some time outside after the museum closed, because there were leaves and branches inside and some surface rust.
Getting a static display piece for our small-town Webster American Legion is, as I said, a big deal. Usually only the bigger Legion or VFW posts get them, or perhaps entire townships, because it’s a rather expensive proposition. The government doesn’t charge anything, but it does cost a lot of money to have the monster vehicles loaded up, trucked hundreds of miles, and then unloaded. You also have to have enough room to display it.
The vehicle’s under wraps right now, tucked under a tarp in a corner of the Legion’s parking lot. In the spring, Cody will crawl back inside to clean it up and do more repairs, give it a new paint job, and work with a local machine shop to fashion some mock gun barrels. That’s also when the Legion’s members will decide where on the property it will be permanently displayed. The plan is to put a fence around it, plant a garden and install a plaque.
It’s sure to be a fitting memorial to all those who served.
The Cottreall-Warner American Legion Post 942 is located at 818 Ridge Rd., at the corner of Five Mile Line Rd.
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(posted 12/6/2023)
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