Miliary Veterans To Dedicate M60 Tank In Hegewisch Neighborhood
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Military veterans in Hegewisch are dedicating an M60 tank this weekend - and it's been a long time in coming to the Far South Side neighborhood, reports WBBM's Steve Miller.
"It's been a total of about almost 10 years," said Edward Jarmuszka, commander of American Legion South Shore Post Number 388.
He has been trying for a decade to get the U.S. government to lend a tank for Hegewisch to display.
This summer, the M60 finally arrived. It's been repainted and this weekend it'll be dedicated.
"It's a good thing for Hegewisch because Hegewisch doesn't have too much," Jarmuszka.
He says a gas station once stood on the lot. And then nothing. Now the 50-ton tank.
Finally getting it to display in a community where he lived for 30 years is an accomplishment.
"Most of us veterans like myself - I'm already in my 80s - so this is going to be the last hurrah for most of us anyway," Jarmuszka.
Jarmuszka was drafted in 1952 and served in Korea.
"That tank will probably be there for years to come, after we're all gone," he said.