Rodger W Brownlee
Ron Lane at Home
Ronald Walter (Ron) Lane was born on 10 February 1939, and grew up in Burbank, CA.
His family lived near the runway of the local Lockheed Aircraft plant, so he took an early interest in aviation, watching in fascination as the various types of aircraft took off and landed. One day as he was playing in his yard, he heard a screaming growl, and looking up, saw a P-38 Lightning with a broken tail appendage falling toward him. The plane became inverted, swerved at the last minute, and crashed into a residence three houses down where it exploded and burned. It was a traumatic, never-to-be-forgotten experience for a three-year-old to witness. Nevertheless, it didn’t diminish his interest in airplanes, nor did it deter him in later life from his dream of one day becoming an aviator.
Like most young boys growing up during WW II and its direct aftermath, he was surrounded by the sights and sounds of a country during wartime, and became fascinated with the trappings of all things military; the tanks, the guns, the airplanes, the uniforms, and insignia. His desire to collect military souvenirs was born as a result, and he obtained his first of many at age six; it was a steel combat helmet belonging to his uncle who was a Sea Bee during WWII. Collecting military memorabilia became a lifelong passion that would dominate his future activities as he pursued a career in the military.
Ron graduated high school in 1957 and attended Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA where he studied Commercial Aviation and Business Administration. During this time, he also attended and graduated from Long’s Flight School, earning his civilian pilot’s license. He subsequently attended Cerrito City College where he studied Commercial Art and took his USAF flight training exams.
Ron Lane - AC 3rd Class Cadet Band
Ron Lane Second Lieutenant
Ron entered the U.S. Air Force as an Aviation Cadet in 1960, and attended flight school in Harlingen, TX, playing drums in the Aviation Cadet Band. He graduated in 1961, earning his Silver Wings as a Navigator, and a commission as a Second Lieutenant. For the next twenty-two years, Ron served in various Air Transport Commands as a navigator and line pilot in the US Air Force and the California Air National Guard, flying troop and cargo missions, and civilian mercy and relief missions to the North and South Poles, and from most US and Allied air bases in every continent around the world. Among his more notable missions was flying the notorious and dangerous “Berlin Corridor” into Tempelhof Air Field in West Berlin, the route of the famous Berlin Airlift of 1949. There was no margin for error when flying this route inside the “Iron Curtain”; precise navigation was essential. Ron also took part in the highly publicized “Operation New Life”, the airlift of war orphans out of Vietnam, and “Operation Homecoming”, flying American POWs home at the end of the Vietnam war. He also recounts an interesting mission flying a load of Security Dogs to bases in Thailand. Ron obtained his Commercial Pilots License while stationed at Dover AFB, DE, and so was often invited to fly “right seat” as co-pilot on many of these missions.
By the time Ron retired from the Air Force in 1982, he had flown hundreds of similar missions in every transport type aircraft in the US Air Force inventory, including the C-124, C-97, C-130, and C-141. He attended numerous service schools including; Ocean/Sea Survival training, Counter-insurgency Special Warfare School, Jet Aircrew and Navigator Upgrade School, Aircrew Survival and P.O.W. Camp School, a Jungle Survival Training Course, and the Intelligence Orientation Course; and held a “Top Secret” security clearance.
By the end of his twenty-two-year Air Force career, Ron rose to the rank of Major, earned his “Senior Navigator” Wings with Star, and received numerous awards and decorations which included the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Combat Readiness Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the RVN Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. He also logged a staggering 12,500 total hours of military and civilian flying.
Ron took advantage of his travels, and never missed an opportunity to acquire memorabilia and items of historical military significance. He explains, “Flying all over the world and getting to visit all these historic locations, I was always on the lookout for antique or junk shops. Whenever we remained overnight at any location, the other guys would go looking for a bar, but I didn’t drink, so I would search out places where I might pick up something interesting…”; and more often than not he did. In fact, by the time he began serving in the California Air National Guard, he had accumulated sufficient quantities of artifacts and memorabilia, and had enough spare time on his hands, to allow him to fulfill another of his lifelong dreams; opening a military museum of his own. The “Museum of World Wars” opened on July 4, 1976, six years before his full retirement from the service.
Ron’s Mom and Dad had always been his biggest supporters, and were a big help establishing the Museum; they would fill in and run things whenever Ron was on flight status.
Ron’s museum was located in Anaheim, Ca, near Disneyland, and had displays that covered the periods of the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World Wars I and II.
At one time, Ron’s “Museum of The World Wars” was the largest museum of military uniforms, weapons, mannequin displays, and vehicles of World Wars I and II in North America. The museum had such high visibility and notoriety that its location and displays were frequently used in TV and Movie productions. For example, the museum was featured in an episode of the television series, “CHIPS” (California Highway Patrol) entitled, “The Game of War”, starring Clu Gulager, Erik Estrada, and Sandra Kerns, which aired on 14 March 1982.
The Museum’s weapons and vehicle displays were also imposing, and included among its many items, a WWI T-17 two-man tank, a Staff Car that had belonged to French Field Marshall Ferdinand Foch, various artillery pieces, an M-38 ¼ ton Willys Jeep, a DUKW (a 2 ½ ton amphibious truck), a White M3 Half-track (1), and an M3A3 “Stuart” light tank (1). These last two vehicles being on loan for display for a time from Jimmy Brucker’s “Cars of Stars”; a nearby museum that specialized in military vehicles and cars previously owned by Hollywood “Stars”; vehicles that were frequently used in the making of motion pictures – (see following article).
Subsequently Ron changed locations, moving his museum to Buena Park, CA near the famous Knott’s Berry Farms. At some point, during all this activity, Ron found time to return to college at Cal-State Fullerton, where he completed courses in U.S. Military History and Museum Operations.
Unfortunately, in 1992 after sixteen years of operation, ever increasing expenses and a dramatic drop in the Southern California tourism business forced Ron to liquidate a portion of his collection and close his museum doors. He put the balance of his collection into storage, and for a time maintained a small Military Collectables shop nearby.
Despite the many years of time, effort, money, and resources poured into his lifelong dream, the hard, inexorable reality of the economy had taken its toll. Ron knew it was time for hard decisions, including the probability of another move. This time, however, it would not be across town; it would be halfway across the country.
Ron’s niece, Stacy Sokulsky (2), a long-time resident of Texas, convinced Ron to move to Texas lock, stock, and barrel, and bring as much of his collection with him as possible. After she took several trips to California to help Ron with his move, that’s exactly what happened.
Ron was introduced to the Military Museum of Fort Worth (MMFW) Curator and Founder Tyler Albert’s, and on 17 June 2021, Ron became a member of the MMFW Board of Directors.
Several items of Ron’s extensive collection are currently on display at MMFW, and plans are in the works to add more of his items as space becomes available.
Ron Lane - Aviation Cadet Club - Feb 1961
Ron is the kind of guy who could best be described as a “Renaissance Man” in his interests, activities, adventures, and professions. Aside from his military/flying career and owning/operating a Military Museum, Ron has worked for the Post Office, been a Communication Technician for Western Electric corporation, worked in Direct Sales, been a Private Investigator, and has been a Technical Advisor to motion pictures, stage productions, and public displays. His hobbies include Big-Band drumming and dancing; historical research and sightseeing; being an avid reader of history, politics, and geography; drawing and painting; camping outdoors, and attending meetings of local Veterans Groups.
Ron is a gregarious, fun-loving, and generous man; not only does he share his encyclopedic knowledge of military history, military collectables, and experience with museum operations, but he also shares his time, volunteering his services at the Military Museum of Fort Worth on a weekly basis.
The Military Museum of Fort Worth is indeed fortunate and proud to have someone of the stature of Maj. Ron W. Lane as a member of our Board of Directors, and as part of our Military Museum of Fort Worth family.
(1) Maj Lane acquired these two vehicles in 1975 and brought them with him to Texas. They are currently undergoing restoration and will eventually be on loan as part of MMFW’s vehicle display.
(2) Stacy Sokulsky is an EMT Administrator by profession, and also a member of the MMFW Board of Directors.
Author’s Note: The article above is a summary of a recent three-hour and a second two-hour interview I held with Major Lane at MMFW and his home, and from notes from a biographical resume he provided. Entering his home is walking into a museum itself, the walls lined with various one-of-a-kind uniforms and artifacts. The full story of this man, his extraordinary career and adventures requires space well beyond the scope of this newsletter. Hopefully we have captured the essence. RWB
On Thursday, 20 July, 2023, Military Museum of Fort Worth welcomed members of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, from nearby Naval Air Station – Joint Reserve Base (NAS-JRB), for a promotion ceremony. The ceremony was held in the Library/Open Exhibits section of the Museum, using the F-111 Cockpit display, flanked by the American and Air Force flags as a backdrop.
The occasion was the promotion of Major Lisa K.G. Bunch to the next higher rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col).
The Presiding Officer for the promotion ceremony was LTC Luke R. Romans, Deputy Commander, Air Force Element Reserve. The ceremony was Narrated by Master Sergeant Wesley King.
The Official Party and guests consisted of members of Maj. Bunch’s immediate family; husband, Mr. Joshua Bunch and children Wyatt, Hattie, and Emmett; parents, Donald and Arlene Key; brother Brian, his wife Rosie and their children; ten of Maj. Bunch’s Air Force compatriots; seven members of the Fort Worth Police Department, (Maj Bunch is a FWPD Patrol Officer in civilian life), which included two Assistant Chiefs; and numerous friends and acquaintances.
After the arrival of the Official Party, the National Anthem was rendered, followed by the invocation. Lt Col Roman offered opening remarks, then calling Major Bunch forward, they stood at attention as the promotion order was read.
As is customary on these occasions, family members were called forward to help “pin” the new rank. Lt Col Roman then administered the “Reaffirmation of Oath” to Lt Col Bunch, who then presented remarks of her own, concluding the ceremony.
A reception followed in the Library, allowing the guests to enjoy refreshments and congratulate the new Lt Col.
MMFW wishes to congratulate Lt Col Lisa Bunch on her promotion, thank her and her comrades for their service to our country, and thank them for choosing Military Museum of Fort Worth for the occasion of this memorable ceremony.
MMFW Note: Military Museum of Fort Worth is a popular venue for all who enjoy a built in decor of military history.
For information about this opportunity, go to www.militarymuseumfortworth.org or call 817.945.2680.
MOVIE PREVIEWS:
PREVIEW 1: In a rubble strewn town somewhere in Italy during WWII, a wounded soldier gets lost from his patrol, and takes shelter from a Nazi machine gun in a large bomb crater in the town square. His only company is a disabled American light tank nosed down into the crater with a thrown track; a large white number 15 painted on its bustle.
A sergeant leading his small squad on patrol in the front lines is ordered not to attempt to rescue the soldier trapped in the crater in “no man’s land”. The soldiers return to their hideout in a bombed-out building and daydream about a “Pin-Up” girl.
The soldier in the crater is eventually rescued, but had injected himself with morphine, and slept through the entire ordeal.
The Preview is from the 1952, black and white, B movie, “EIGHT IRON MEN”, and stars Lee Marvin, Arthur Franz, Richard Kiley, Bonar Colleano, Mary Castle, and “The Hollywood Tank” as the vehicle stranded with the soldier in the bomb crater
PREVIEW 2: In a rubble strewn town (sound familiar) somewhere in the heart of western Europe during WWII, the long cannon snout of a tank is seen coming around the corner of a building. As the vehicle emerges into full view, its angular lines and Balkenkreuz markings identify it as a dreaded Nazi Panzer. “Our guys are in for it now” runs through the minds of the audience, and sends chills of dread through their hearts as the Panzer rumbles toward them and opens fire with its machine guns!
The trailer is from the 1956, black and white, B movie, “ATTACK”; a story about an American infantry company that sets up an artillery observation post in the rubble of a destroyed building, as tensions run high between the cowardly Company Commander and his men.
The cast includes Eddie Albert as the cowardly Captain, Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Richard Jaekel, Buddy Ebson, and “The Hollywood Tank” in costume as the Nazi Panzer.
During WWII and for two decades following, Hollywood cranked out innumerable black and white “B” movies about the war. A catalog of these movies would reveal themes with little or no variation, and casts of characters whose names only changed on the screen; Lee Marvin and Richard Jaekel are just two examples of many new, up-and-coming actors who would make an early career out of being silver-screen soldiers.
The two movie examples cited above are no exception to this rule, and even include one of the more recognizable non-human Extras. The errant #15 tank disabled in the shell hole in “Eight Iron Men”, and the tank made up to play the part of a Nazi Panzer in “Attack”, are one and the same, and none other than “The Hollywood Tank”. The Hollywood Tank was in its off-screen life an M3A3 “Stuart” light tank, belonging to Jimmy Brucker’s “Cars of Stars” museum in Anaheim, California. The Cars of Stars museum was often the go-to source whenever a movie studio needed vehicles as extras in their movies, and war movies were no exception.
The M3A3 Stuart was an extremely versatile actor when it came to playing roles for the big screen. Its already angular/boxlike profile made it the perfect candidate for adding a few plates of tin or cardboard armor and markings, transforming it into any variety of allied or enemy armored vehicles.
As a Nazi Panzer in “Attack”, it could not be identified as any actual Nazi tank in particular, but fake armor added to the hull and turret, a fake long snouted cannon with muzzle brake, a panzer grey paint job, and Balkenkreuz markings left no doubt in the audience’s mind that this was a Nazi tank to be dreaded and feared. (And as a footnote, the bow machine gun on this Panzer was not fake, firing real .30 cal. blanks.)
Dressed up, or just playing itself, The Hollywood Tank was an essential extra in numerous movies, and was part of the cast of characters in as many as a dozen movies of this period.
At some point in its career, The Hollywood Tank, along with an M3 White Halftrack, was loaned by Jimmy Brucker for use and display to nearby “Military Museum of the World Wars”. Ron Lane, owner and curator of the museum, not only displayed The Hollywood Tank, but used it for his WWII reenactment group, where it soon earned a proper name. The re-enactors were so fond of their armored support and their leader, that they unanimously gave it the moniker, “Ron’s Rino”. In 1975, Ron purchased the M3 Stuart, and the M3 Halftrack and made both a part of his permanent collection.
In 2021, when Ron moved from California to Texas with his extensive museum collection, the only vehicles that made the move were “Ron’s Rino” and the M3 Halftrack, by this time known as “Dangerous Dottie”.
When Ron joined the Board of Directors of Military Museum of Fort Worth, an agreement was made that both vehicles would be made available on loan to the museum for use and display.
Both vehicles had been in storage for some time in California and, as a result, became inoperable; both needing new or overhauled engines, and new or refurbished tracks. Both vehicles are currently undergoing repairs and restoration as funds become available.
Military Museum of Fort Worth is looking forward to the day when both “Ron’s Rino” (aka The Hollywood Tank), and “Dangerous Dottie” will again be on display in all their former Hollywood glory.
* The name “The Hollywood Tank” is made up for the purpose of this story only. Rwb
Author’s Note: If you would like to contribute to the restoration of one or both of these vehicles, and have your name added to a metal plate affixed to the vehicle(s), please send your check of $100 **or more to: Military Museum of Fort Worth, 1726 Green Oaks Road, Fort Worth TX 76116; Attn: Vehicle Restoration Project (designate Tank or Half Track)
Or go to our Website: www.militarymuseumfortworth.org to make your donation.
For added information, call the museum at 817.945.2680. If no answer, leave a message with your name and phone number, and we will return your call.
** For a lesser amount, your name will be added to the vehicle crew roster in the vehicle’s log book.
M3 Stuart - Early Variant
The Light Tank, M3 was scarcely distinguishable from its predecessor the M2A4 except for some differing hull configurations, and a turret of welded construction as opposed to riveted. The first M3s were somewhat over-gunned with 30-cal. machine guns in both side sponsons controlled by the driver, a 37mm main gun and 30-cal. coaxial machine gun in the turret, a 30-cal. machine gun in the bow position for the radio operator, and a 30-cal. machine gun on an anti-aircraft pedestal mount outside the turret, for a grand total of 5 – 30-cal. machine guns. It became obvious that keeping 5 machine guns maintained and loaded for action was a daunting task if not impossible for a 4 man crew, and the sponson machine guns were soon eliminated. This configuration, thus armed, would become the first variant to see active service.
The M3 in this form was the first to see significant action during WWII. It was shipped in quantity to the British under “Lend-Lease”, who immediately used them to bolster their faltering forces in the North African desert.
With their penchant for giving everything a nick-name, the British gave all American tanks the name of an American Civil War General; the “Grant and Lee” for the Medium Tank, M3, the “Sherman” for the Medium Tank, M4, and “Stuart” for the Light Tank, M3, after American Civil War Confederate Cavalry GN, Jeb Stuart, whose speed and agility in action were reflected by the performance of the M3.
The Stuart was more often referred to as the “Honey”, however, as dubbed by one Brit who upon first witnessing the M3’s attributes firsthand said, “It’s a ‘honey’ of a tank”, and the name stuck with the Brits, appealing to their fondness for whimsey.
M3 Stuart/HONEY as used by the British in N Africa
If the allies ever had, as the Germans did, what would be called a tank “Ace”, it could certainly be found in the person of Major Robert Crisp, the famous South African cricket player whose primary mount in North Africa was the “Honey”. This athlete, adventurer, and soldier wrote a quintessential book on armored warfare during WWII. His book, entitled “Brazen Chariots”, tells of his career as a tank commander during some of the early, pivotal battles in the North Africa desert campaigns between British forces and those of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s famed Afrika Korps.
Crisp’s U.S. built M3 “Honey”, mounted the 37mm gun, whose shells, in his account, “bounced off the heavier German tanks like peas”. To knock out a Panzer, the Honey’s speed was utilized to “race their tanks to the flanks or rear of the Panzer while using one or more of their number as decoys”. Sometimes this worked, and sometimes it didn’t. Maj. Crisp had no less than 6 tanks shot out from under him, which may have set a record at the time.
His most famous exploit came during the battle to lift the German siege of Tobruk, where he fought continuously for 14 days on little or no sleep. He won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) at Sidi Rezegh, where he led his tank in a single-handed charge across an airfield that temporarily checked an advance of 70 German Panzers. He learned of his award while listening to the BBC on his tank’s wireless in the middle of the Libyan desert. In his biography, British Field Marshal Alexander said, “…the greatest Hun-killer I ever knew was Major Bob Crisp”. And all accomplished while mounted in his trusty M3 Honey.
The M3 also saw extensive service early on in the South Pacific and the China-Burma-India theatres. Being impervious to most small-arms fire, in the hands of Marine and Army tankers, they were the perfect tool to knock out Japanese coconut log pill boxes. The Marines on Guadalcanal used them to effect at the Battle of the Tenaru River using canister rounds in their 37mm main gun to mow down ranks of banzai-charging Japanese soldiers. The morning after the battle, the M3s crossed the river at the shallows near its mouth, and used their cannon and machine guns to mop up pockets of stragglers on the other side. Later, when American tankers began encountering the excellent 47mm Japanese anti-tank gun, the M3 Light Tanks handed over their offensive roll to the heavier M4 Sherman that had begun arriving in theatre.
With battle experience under its hide, the M3 once more evolved, becoming the M3A3 with improved armor protection; notably a heavier, one-piece, sloped glacis, replacing the vertical, flat frontal armor that was too easily penetrated by the German 37 and 50mm tank guns, and the Italian and Japanese 47mm anti-tank cannon. By the time it made its appearance in Europe, however, battle tank main guns and anti-tank weapons of 75mm and larger were the norm, and the M3A3 was relegated to a secondary role of scouting and reconnaissance.
By the time the war ended in Europe, the M3 Model Light Tank had evolved once again into the M5 series, with improvements in motive power and drive train, but with few visual distinctions from the M3A3.
M5 Stuart "Hedgehog" Variant as used in Normandy
After V.E. day, the M3 and M5 series light tanks continued to soldier on in the Far East and Pacific campaigns, but this would spell the end of their service with U.S. combat forces, as newer improved light tank designs were already being produced and deployed.
The M3 series tank had one of the longest production histories of all armored vehicles, with some 29,000, of all variants being manufactured during its lifetime.
Although replaced and removed from U.S. armored inventories, thousands were sold around the world to allied and 3rd world countries, some 33 in all, who used them in their own local and regional conflicts. As late as the 1960s, reconfigured models could still be seen in armed forces parades of many Central and South American countries.
The Military Museum’s M3A3 Stuart / Honey / Hollywood tank, never saw actual combat, but made its mark in action on the silver screen.
References: Tanks and Armored Vehicles; Icks / Andrew -1945: Phillip Andrew Pub. – pp 81-84
Brazen Chariots – Crisp – Ballentine books - 1961
In previous years, The Military Museum of Fort Worth has had the privilege of giving dozens of presentations to school groups, adult education classes, church and social organizations, civic groups, and others who are interested in our state's and nation's military heritage and history.
Anyone wishing to inquire about this service, please call our Education and Outreach Director, Trace Chinworth at 817-223-8455.
If voicemail picks up, please leave a detailed message and return contact number. Your call will be returned promptly.
The Military Museum of Fort Worth offers mobile exhibits to accent your private or public events when you want to honor America's service members. With a relatively short lead time, we can set up mobile museums with turnkey exhibits in most any location for your single or multi-day event.
The Museum, located at Ridgmar Mall, is available to host your special event. From birthday parties to official military promotions, reenlistment, or awards ceremonies, Military Museum of Fort Worth can handle it all.
In addition, the MMFW is now holding space for gaming events. Your group can rent space for just a quick meeting, or for a multi-hour event. Either way, your use of the Military Museum of Fort Worth will provide a unique, unforgettable experience.
Anyone wishing to inquire about this service, please call the museum at 817-945-2680 or email info@militarymuseumfortworth.org.
