Soldier takes on tough task in Iraq to bring history home

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Staff Sgt. Kevin Corcoran of the California National Guard sits atop a World War II-era American tank on Camp Taji, Iraq, that he is trying to acquire for a California museum.


Soldier takes on tough task in Iraq to bring history home
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, April 11, 2008

There were many things Staff Sgt. Kevin Corcoran expected to find when he arrived at Camp Taji, Iraq. A World War II-era American tank wasn’t one of them.

But there it was, an M24 Chaffee, possibly from the Battle of the Bulge, sitting in front of an infantry division’s headquarters.

Corcoran, who describes himself as “one of those dorky guys who really gets into this stuff,” decided then and there that he would find a way to get the piece of American history back on American soil. His father fought in the Battle of the Bulge, when the Chaffee tanks made their first appearance.

“My Dad might have fought beside these,” Corcoran said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, though, getting a 60-year-old tank back to the States hasn’t proved an easy task for the 44-year-old California National Guardsman, though he has had some successes along the way.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53975