European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                April 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 members of co d line up with their tanks just beneath the Crest of a Hill and wait for the 3rd army div enemy to Man Euver into their trap near that pretty Chambers it takes a real event to get a response from forty Miles per hour seems a lot faster when its got 57 tons of steel wrapped around Trump often isolates himself from the frustrations of the Hes not known As a the isolation is emphasized by the construction of the the gunner and loader Are All in the to get to they have to either go Over the or through a few tons of sometimes he turns off his Mike when Hes Rorke otherwise the noise most intense in the Drivers Compart would drive us All crazy As it comes Over the near about four Miles from Trump makes another rare we just went Over that combat Miles on the Origi Nal Chambers not Trump just does not talk Rorke in fancier he might be called in the fraternity of he just talks a that might be due to the nature of a Road gunners and loaders Are like an appendix in the conveying they dont have much to so they when Christine is ready to Rorke he and loader 4 Rick Butterfield put the bullets on the bad Guy just that what a Tanker lives Cham Bers firing that it gives us a sense of especially when you hit on that first Rorke Breaks that real that comes Only once a year during an Nual gunnery twice a year if there the rest of the time they spend in More Static like Road on this Butterfield was diverted from Chambers Crew to drive the sergeant majors on this the top no needed him More than Christine Christine can carry 64 and the crewmen know there sitting on a powder Keg All the if were Rorke we know were everything goes despite that both Chambers and Rorke say they would rather be in a tank than on they look at their chances for combat survival with the jaded Eye of a seasoned Gam a Small Bullet wont kill a Cham Bers but even the smallest Bullet can kill a Grunt there Are an awful lot of bullets on the in the i figure our chances Are before becoming a Chambers used to be a Mechanic in a combat Engineer id work on All this heavy they bring it id fix and 20 minutes later they be Back to get the same thing i used to get very upset about i finally decided if i was going to keep repairing this i wanted something of Christ Ines Randy Trump Hes the quiet but he knows exactly where his fenders Are at All my own to take care of he now owns and each Mem Ber of his Crew is a there serious about this Issue of if somebody climbs up on my hed better have a Good Chambers just Riding in the beast is the vibrations give the Muscles a Good the gunner and loader get some shut Eye while on the when they pull in for the they set up Security and tend Christine while the commander and Driver when its Rorke and Trump rest inside on the floor of the when its Trump curls up outside on the Bustle rack behind the Rorke crawls out on the fender up when asked where Chambers Rorke shrugs his i dont Ive never seen him he kind of dozes in tankers Are both Rorke and Chambers claim they can feel someone crawling on the tank when there All in not i dont its Chambers i really cant explain i can definitely feel Rorke and Trump int it int the Armor that keeps the tank alive in its this theres enough ordnance on the modern Battlefield to shred with a Good nervous system which includes the men in her vulnerable Hull she has a certain degree of when Chambers is in Hes con stantly scanning the horizon through his glasses for the telltale silhouettes of enemy if he sees he must be Able to identify it and he he warns Trump when the Cannon is get Ting too close to the tank in in the same tells Rorke to tie Down the Corner of flapping Tarpaulin Over the Bustle rack in if you pay attention to the Chambers they dont get a Chance to grow up to be continuous Road March they have been on the move since Early morning and on a continuous Road March from 4 to 8 they Are with precise arrived at through a flurry of almost subliminal exchanges of Chambers and Trump ease Christine into a thick stand of and Rorke jumps out to put her to Trump then eases himself Down on the floor of the Turret among the half eaten Peanut butter and other junk next to a Large portable ghetto blaster Christine is mercifully and now the men can but they need sleep theres no telling where Butterfield other than outside the nervous detached from the umbilical commo Chambers finally plops Down in the gunners seat that s too and his helmet and Headset stay in for the Tanker on the body May but the ear is always