This does not mean that I think the act in this article was an act of soldiers trying to steal something, I think it was terrorists, mainly because they haven't released their names and it pi**es me off the way they claim "not terrorism" before they even have an investigation.
What a great job! I had a jeep (M151A1) and an E5 german speaking driver. All I did was ride around and take reports when our guys messed up local property playing the war game. Then Uncle Sam pays. The local farmers even delay harvesting crops in the hopes that rotor wash from some Blackhawk will knock over some rows of corn. Then the farmer cries and the American army buys the whole crop and the next two generations of crops for potential "fuel contamination of the soil..." Makes a body wonder which side won WWII. While the troops were out huddled in the cold wet night, my driver would always find a nice warm, dry comfy barn for us to spend the night in, with a GASTHAUS nearby for dinner and breakfast the next morning.
Hey, your incident had an M48A1 tank? An old PATTON? Wow, that's REALLY old. When I was on active duty the M1's hadn't yet been fielded but at least everybody had M60A3s. Comparing an M60 to an M1A1 is like comparing a Ford to a Ferrari. But the M48's? That's like comparing the Flintstones to a Ford.