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Cousin's big day at Fort Moore

Soggy Biscuit

Soggy Biscuit

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2023
Member Number
1782
Posts
506
Location
Chester County, PA
If you've been following the Patriotic Pictures thread, you'll know what this topic is about. Third page is where I posted again after getting back home from the trip. Decided to make a new topic about it since I feel bad about having hijacked that topic.

At any rate, here is the my Google Photo Album of the trip. It's all about JJ. There are some videos in there. One of the best ones is where JJ is being knighted with the Order of St. George. After the ceremony, Col. Kranc gave me a 316th Calvary Brigade challenge coin.

I am overall honored to have been invited for the event. I'm going to miss my twin from another set of parents. We'll catch up on the other side at some point.

Fort Moore has a Tank Collection building that can be seen by the public. You'll need to get a gate pass in order to visit. The collection has tanks from all eras to the current. Lots of history inside that building. The curator knows his stuff. You can pick his brain on everything in there.

Things to see near Gavin Hall.
 
Great pictures!

I feel emotional about the situation and I don't even know JJ. I'm really glad that you posted all of this for us to see. Thank you.

Soggy Biscuit said:
Decided to make a new topic about it since I feel bad about having hijacked that topic
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Don't feel bad, it fit in perfectly with the theme of the Patriotic Pictures thread. True patriots you guys are. 👍 This definitely deserves it's own thread though.
 
DJ_MI said:
That is really cool. I'd love to make it there some day. :-)
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Do it! Seeing the infamous Tiger tank there all cut open was a sight to behold. That steel armor is THICK! It's no wonder the Sherman tank couldn't come close to taking one of those beasts out. The collection also has 2 German Panzer tanks. There are quite a number of Soviet tanks in there as well, and a couple of WWI era tanks that look as if they'll do a forward somersault if the driver hit the brakes hard enough. One of the tanks I took a pic of is a flame tank, used in WWII against the Japanese.

While JJ was doing his dry run, I asked the Master Gunner what the drop rate was on a sabot round. He probably knows but played it off like he wasn't sure. Likely due to security reasons. He did say, though, the sabot round is like a laser and doesn't start losing some steam until around 5,000 to 5,500 meters. Yes, meters and not feet. The other type of rounds they have are depleted uranium rounds. Those hit the armor of an enemy vehicle, keep a sharp point while penetrating, and turns into uranium slag upon entering the cab space, because science and shit. People within are killed instantly. No country in the world has something that can handle the Abrams.

Once the live fire began, one of JJ's first targets was a moving one at an elevated position. The sabot round he fired hit the target dead square in the middle. The Abrams' targetting systems will calculate everything while keeping the barrel of the cannon level, even while in motion, and all the gunner has to do is aim and fire once the target is locked. On a moving target more than a certain distance away, a little lead time is needed. In JJ's case, the elevated moving target was almost 2 miles out. The elevation difference was between 500 and 1,000ft. Personnel targets were a mile or so. He blasted those with the coaxial and 50cal machine guns.
 
The rest of the photos have been uploaded on Mike Lavigne's Google Drive account. These photos were taken by him since he has access to almost every nook and cranny of the base. The circle is where we were. The X is the pad JJ was firing from. The lines and squiggly lines are the approximate locations of his targets.
Tank Gunnery range.jpg
Boom!.jpg
Boom II!.jpg
 
That’s a fire breathing monster! Glad it’s on our side. :-)

How’s JJ doing?

Thanks again for sharing all of this with us. 👍
 
He's fading pretty quick now. He wanted to attempt skydiving for the first (and only time) over the weekend since it was his 40th birthday. His energy was too low to make a go at it.
 
Soggy Biscuit said:
He's fading pretty quick now. He wanted to attempt skydiving for the first (and only time) over the weekend since it was his 40th birthday. His energy was too low to make a go at it.
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I'm sorry to hear that. He mentioned in at least one of the interviews that he wanted to go skydiving. Thank God for Mike Lavigne coming through for him though.


I know that I'm a nobody to (and in comparison to) him but if you have a quick second maybe you can tell him that some random guy from a motorcycle forum thinks he's a hero and is proud of him. 👍
 
An update for those who care. My cousin, Jay, passed away yesterday around 1900MST.

Epic ride is being planned. Epic ride canceled. Funeral is on Sunday. Not enough time to prepare and winter weather will certainly become a problem along the way. I'll see about borrowing a bike while I'm out there.
 
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I told my wife about JJ's story on the way to work this morning. She really appreciated my point at the end about how much better off our country would be if we had more people like JJ. 🇺🇸
 
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