The 'guest author' for this Hatch isn't a specific author at all. I'd like to welcome to our contributor pool the US National WWII Museum. For their introduction to the Hatch, they've sent us a video focusing on their M4A3E9.
The National WWII Museum's M4A3 was built by Ford Motor Company in 1943. No unit markings were discovered when previous coats of paint were removed from the tank. Because the tank was manufactured in 1943, it is almost certain that it was deployed overseas during the war, although no battle damage was discovered.
When the Sherman tank arrived at the Museum in December of 2000, its engine was completely rusted and it was painted in a color appropriate to the Korean War era rather than World War II. Restoration work began in late October 2004, when the tank received a running Ford GAA engine and a new paint job. The tank was restored with the markings of an actual vehicle which served with the 2nd Armored Division, 67th Armored Regiment, 1st Battalion, D Company. The tank's nickname, "Draftee," is from a tank in the unit commanded by Staff Sergeant Julian Czekanski of Cleveland, Ohio. It was common practice in the US Army and Marine Corps to have nicknames for armored vehicles. The names typically started with the letter of the company to which the vehicle was assigned, which was D Company in this case.
This post courtesy of The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. See more exclusive WWII content – including artifacts oral histories from the Museum’s collection.
