WWII Tank Explosion Kills Two (1 Viewer)

[BLReed]

http://www.ktvz.com/news/explosion-in-tank-east-of-bend-injures-2-possible-fatality/36082806

The two victims were identified Wednesday afternoon as Steve Preston, 51, and Austin Lee, 22, both of Oregon City, Oregon.

Preston was a board director and convention chairman of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association, a national organization dedicated to restoring and collecting historic army ground transport.
The men were attempting to fire a round from the armored tank destroyer's cannon when the round exploded.

The explosion happened inside a 1944 Buick "Hellcat" M18 tank destroyer. The tank was purchased in 1999 for
$60,000 for restoration.

Also, from the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3293324/Two-killed-World-War-II-era-tank-explodes-Oregon-gun-range-Victims-died-blast-inside-vintage-war-machine.html

 

[Fubar]

Tragedy. I read one account that stated the solid shot went down range and that the breech exploded.Terrible .

 

[Desertkiwi]

Sounds horrendous. You have to feel for the families of these guys, this is terrible.

 

[Al Fisher]

Such a sad event! Hope they weren't fooling around with old (and thus unstable) munitions . . . a recipe for disaster. I read the HMVF site daily as it's a source of good information . . .

Bosun (later Gunner) Al