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in the woods near the bunker. They wore the uniforms of U.S.
soldiers, but knowing how Germans were disguising themselves
as Americans, he maintained a wary eye. "Come out here,
come on out. This is Fourth Armored," he shouted to the
figures. After no response, he called out again and one man
approached the tank. "I'm Lieutenant Webster of the 326th
Engineers, 101st Airborne Division. Glad to see you." With
that meeting at 4:50 p.m. on December 26, 1944, the Fourth Armored
Division, Company C, 37th Tank Battalion of Patton's Third Army
had broken through the German lines surrounding Bastogne.
After
the war, Cobra King became a monument tank, put on display at
Erlangen, Germany and then from there relocated to Vilseck,
Germany where it remained in obscurity, the wrong registration
number painted on its side from one of its numerous repaints.
In May 2001, Army Chaplain Keith Goode was checking out monument
tanks while serving in Germany. He was locating serial and registration
numbers of Sherman tanks on U.S. Army bases. He passed the information
on to the G104 Sherman interest group in the U.S. where member/
historian Joe DeMarco confirmed that the tank was indeed the
actual Cobra King.
After learning this information, another member of G104 stationed
in Germany, Sgt. Brian Stigall of the Fifth Battalion, Seventh
Air Defense Artillery and Steven Ruhnke, First Armored Division
museum curator, paid Cobra King a visit and also confirmed the
serial number and passed the information up the chain of command.
Along with other Army historians, including Patton Museum curator
Charles Lemons, the identity of Cobra King was officially confirmed.
At last, one of the most historically significant Army vehicles
had been found.
After
a lengthy procedure of cleaning and passing German export regulations,
Cobra King was shipped back to the United States and on to the
Patton Museum's workshops on July 9, 2009 for restoration.
At
first the plan was to restore the interior and exterior to the
way Cobra King looked on December 26, 1944. However, recent
discoveries have have altered that plan. Please continue reading
on Page 2 about the further
history of Cobra King.
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