A Tank and Helicopter

I'm not sure what this park is called but I've passed it a few times as I was heading to either Belanger or Bishop Parks.  It is on the corner of Great Lakes Street and Jefferson.  I've been meaning to take pictures of these but everytime I'm in the neighborhood, I have bigger fish to catch.  Well not last night.

 I assume this is part of a memorial to Vietnam War vets because there is an M-60 Tank which served somewhat in Vietnam.

 There is also a UH-1 Heuy Helicopter painted in Vietnam War regalia.  It still looks pretty cool and is in decent shape.

 I suppose if you were going to pick out one icon of the Vietnam War, it would be the Huey.  The Vietnam War was the first war that the helicopter was used extensively and for the most part, the Huey was that helicopter.

 I don't think the M-60 saw much use in the Vietnam War but it was the main battle tank of the Army at the time.  It was more than a match for the earlier Soviet models still in use by the North Vietnamese Army but would have had a tougher time with some of the models being fielded by the Soviets in Europe.  As such, proposals for a replacement would start in the 70's.  Eventually, that replacement would become the M-1 Abrams Tank.

 The Huey was the mainstay of the Army throughout the Vietnam War and well into the Desert Storm era.  It was starting to be replaced by the Blackhawk in the early 80's but it still stuck around for a while.  There is still a variant used by the Marines and I think it is still used by several of our allies.

 During Vietnam, they were equipped with door guns.  Some models were fitted out as gunships.  Those stuck around until the advent of the AH-1 Cobra (which is still used by the Marines today).

 A full on shot of the tank.  Sadly, there was too much in the background.

 There is a nice giant flag flying over the park.  I love the look of our flag against a nice blue sky.

 A shot of the cockpit area.  The crew consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief and door gunner (or two). 

 It could also carry 14 fully loaded troops (although I doubt that number).  It was also used as a Medevac chopper on occasion.

 If you ever want to read a good book about Hueys, check out a book called "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason.  They are also mentioned in several other books about Vietnam.

 Probably one of the most used images of the Huey is a shot like this where troops are disembarking.

 The other famous shot is of the Huey picking up the remnants of the US staff from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon in 1975.

 I don't think the M-60 is quite as iconic other than being made in Michigan.  I believe it was the last all steel tank used by the US Army.

 A shot of the 0.50 Caliber machine gun.  I believe it was covered so that the crew could use it and stay under cover.

 I was trying to get a shot of both.  I kind of like this one because I almost obscured the stand on the helicopter.

 I could almost title this one, "Declaring war on high prices or something..." but I wont.

 One more shot of the Huey.

And one more of the tank.