I'm sorry .......THAT brings on another back-in-the-Army convoy story.
(yes, I do believe I've told this one before)
Did ya'll ever wonder what was used to pull out a 50 ton M-60 tank that was broke down or stuck ... ??
This puppy here. It was powered by a very large, V-12, air cooled, gasoline engine.
The air that was blown from around the air cooled pistons plus the exhaust was blown out the back through those vents that were slanted down. Needless to say, that if one were to rev it up, cut the ignition, and cut it back on ....... a BIG bunch of flame would be blasted out the back.
Here is where my M88 driver (Sp5 Protrez) would have his fun. The M88 VTR was placed at the back of a convoy. Why? Because if THAT puppy broke down or got stuck, everything else behind it had to stop ..... since nothing we had could move it.
So, as we convoyed down a road in Germany, with the VTR bringing up the rear, the impatient German drivers would tailgate it (like they were going to force it off the road).
My jeep would be positioned about mid column and every now and then I would see the backed up Germans getting real close to the column ....... then, I would hear and see a BIG blast and they would back off for a while.
The first time I witnessed this, I just had to go back and see what Sp5 Protrez was doing. Yep, sure enough, he had that engine tuned and timed to shoot fire about 15 feet to the rear, which definitely got the attention of the tailgater(s).......
THE END
(sorry for the re-run ..... that seems to be happening a lot here lately .....
humfrz