It hardly seems shocking that Arnold Schwarzenegger owns a tank. When Arnold does something he does it big. Arnold is proud of his new toy. According to The Inquistr post of today, he has been showing off to journalists; demonstrating how it works by using it to crash a car. They go on to say,” It may seem fitting that the action star and former governor has his own tank, but Schwarzenegger says it’s not just a powerful toy — there’s a personal meaning to it. The M47 Patton tank is “exactly the very tank that I drove in the Austrian Army when I was 18 years old,” the former governor said.”
Schwarzenegger served in the army right after he finished trade school when he was 18-years-old. He admits, ’I learned how to drive the tank, which was always my fascination, I think, because I grew up after the war, and I saw the British troops that occupied our area. So I always wanted to be a tank driver.’
Arnold and his fellow soldiers would dig out a trench and sleep under the tank during his military duty. Just so the tank did not go to waste, he used the large tool box on the side of the tank to place his barbells and workout equipment. He kept up his workout regime when they were away from the base.
Keeping in shape was important to him and just a few months after completing his military training he competed in the Mr. Universe contest in 1966. He came in second that year but won in the Amateur competition the next year, and the professional title for three years in a row after that.
Here are some movies he played which may help him relive his military memories, past and future; subject to interpretation of course!
Military movies of a sort
Arnold Schwarzenegger may miss his military exposure but he does have his movies to remind him of army style life as well. “Commando”, is the movie where he plays retired army colonel John Matrix. Or, he might reminisce about a future army guy in the movie “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” In “True Lies,” he played mild-mannered computer salesman Harry Tasker who has a secret: he's actually a top government spy for The Omega Sector, the United States' "last line of defense" against domestic terrorism.
The tank was bought with the intention of being part of the Planet Hollywood collection in 1992. When that deal fell through Schwarzenegger decided to keep the tank at Melody Range Motion Pictures studio outside of Los Angeles.
While Arnold may have battled robots from the future in his Terminator series, he now has his tank to remember his real life military excursions. His tank is an expensive toy which will not see much use unless he decides to continue smashing up cars or having arguably the most expensive toolbox anyone has ever seen.
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