User:Reguyla\Nicholas Mashlonik

Sergeant Nicholas "Nick" Mashlonik (December 10, 1919 – January 12, 1985) was an American tank crewman and commander during WWII and is credited with being a tank ace. During the war he knocked out or destroyed 15 German Tanks and hundreds of various vehicles, while he had been knocked out of 7 M4 Shermans during his time overseas. In January 1945, he was selected to become a commander of 1 of only 20 M26 Pershing tank's in the ETO.

War Service
On 22 January 1942, he enlisted in the US Army and enlisted from Buffalo, New York. All three of his other brothers would serve as well, one of whom in the 81st Infantry Division. After basic training he was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division and from there he conducted more training before going overseas Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania. He arrived overseas in the European Theatre on 15 September 1943, conducting pre-invasion training in the Liverpool and Bristol areas. He remained in Somerset, England until 24 June 1944, when he departed to partake in the Normandy operations.

As a crewman of an M4 Sherman, Sergeant Mashlonik landed in Normandy in July 1944. They faced heavy during the invasion, fighting in the hedgerows and also during the Battle of Saint Lô. They pushed through France and Belgium, then onto partake in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest after arriving in Germany on 12 September 1944. 3 days later, on 15 September 1944, Sergeant Mashlonik (then Corporal) was slightly injured in action on the Siegfried Line. Mashlonik would then go on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge with his M4 Sherman crew, severing a vital highway at St. Vith along with his unit.

Around that time, 20 of the first batch of M26E3 Pershing's produced were being shipped to the ETO to test the new equipment. This project would be called the Zebra Mission and when the M26E3 Pershing's arrived in Antwerp, Belgium in January 1945, it was determined that the tanks would be divided equally between the 3rd and 9th Armored Division. 20 crews were to be selected and Sergeant Mashlonik and his crew was one of them. Mashlonik says in an interview that ″...Since I was the oldest tank commander alive (not in age but in combat experience) in Company E, 33rd Armored Regiment, ....I was given the opportunity of selecting a crew and attending school at Aachen, Germany, on the new M26 Gen. Pershing tank....Up to this time I had lost or been knocked out of seven M4 tanks, but had also knocked out twelve various German tanks and hundreds of other vehicles. ″ Sergeant Mashlonik's crew was assigned to M26E3 No. 40.

After training with the new equipment, Mashlonik and his crew were ordered to go to Elsdorf, Germany on 26 February 1945. That day, their fellow Pershing from the company over, M26E3 Pershing No. 38 Fireball was knocked out by a Tiger I of Heavy Panzer Battalion 301, suffering 3 direct hits and killing 2 of the crew. From that point on Mashlonik's crew would nickname their tank Fireball's Avenger.

The next day during the afternoon, the Germans launched a counterattack to retake Elsdorf. Mashlonik's crew moved from the southeast to stop the attack. Mashlonik states ″...We were hit hard by the Germans from Elsdorf..... the Commanding Officer of our Company asked me if I thought I could knock the Tiger out that was almost destroying us. The Company Commander and I did some investigating, by crawling out to a position where we could see from ground level a sight to behold. The German Tiger was slightly dug in and this meant it would be more difficult to destroy. I decided that I could take this Tiger with my 90mm. ″ On the move from 1,000 yards, Mashlonik killed the Tiger I with 4 rapid high-velocity armor-piercing rounds. Soon after, 3 Panzer IV's appeared to his right and he was able to destroy each one with one shell each from 1,200 yards.

Sgt. Mashlonik and his crew kept fighting through Germany, including the heavy fighting during the Battle of Cologne, with the US 3rd Armored Division until the wars end. He survived the war and was discharged on 3 August 1945.