SLIPPERY SLOPES AND MBTS

WHEN i was in GERMANY in the 60s, i sometimes had to direct traffic during
alerts.

once, i was on loan to another unit, and we had to provide TCP at an
intersecting highway and a hilltop kaserne in the winter time.

the tanks and vehicles came downslope, and were supposed to turn right or left
onto the main road which ran through the tiny German town. straight ahead of
this intersection was the vill's gastehaus.

i stood on a colorfully painted 55 gal drum that used to hold gas and directed
traffic.

one fine day, in the winter, an M-60 MBT, one of many to come downhill
to make the turn that day, braked on the way down hill, and went into a SLIDE,
from the halfway point all the way to the intersection and beyond
. . . .

i remember hearing the screech, up slope and seeing this MBT coming downhill,
sliding along like a big ass sled, rocking slightly, knocking an M151 and
trailer out of its way, and turning broadside as it reach the bottom of the
hill.

it was sliding right at me and my TCP.

i left the TCP, runing before i hit the icy road, fell and still got clear in
time to hear the screeching CRASH! behind me.

looking in that  direction, i could not  find my TCP at all, and th M-60
was sticking out of the ground floor of the gastehaus.

no one was hurt, fortunately, and the shitstorm over the accident was
predictable.

all of these years later, i still wonder how man times this must have happened
since 1945....