As most of you know, I spent 12 years in the Army, as an Armor Crewman of some type, eventually ending up as a Tank Commander.

Mines were always the big threat... part of my mission in Desert Storm Phase 1 was to clear lanes through minefields... these pictures show just how important that mission was, and how dangerous mines are to the most powerful land weapon system on Earth...

Here's a turret-less hull.  The turret weighs in at about 27 tons, so you HAVE to know the explosion was fairly significant.  The dark brown on the fender by the fuel port is hydraulic fluid, which apparently shot out under intense pressure.  That would indicate that the gun was over this fender, as that's where the majority of the hydraulic lines would be.

Here's another view.  The casement for the torsion arm is blown away from the hull... you can see that it is in the picture above, too... the two wheels are separate from the vehicle.  The Spawlding on the two inner idler wheels is curious... My thought is that the crew had problems with track tension at times, and the track would ride up on the idler every so often... stripping the rubber off.  As long as 50% of the rubber remains, though, the wheel is still good.

Blown off the tank, the turret landed in the ditch by the side of the road.  The soldier digging in the turret is probably looking for secret/sensitive equipment and documents... he's standing where the radio equipment is mounted.

This picture shows just how far the turret flew from the hull.  That's 50,000 pounds flying through the air...  the missing skirt is lying on the ground... it armored, and weighs in at about 900 pounds or so.

An M88 "Tank Wrecker" has the unfortunate task of hauling the pieces away.

I've never seen this view of a turret before... its curious.  It looks like the gun cradle has somehow been rotated 90 degrees in its mount... I don't see how that could've happened, though, but that's what it looks like.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, there is NO WAY the crew survived this.  I think that's why the poncho is over the driver's hatch, actually.

Added in 2003