Valatie Nursing Home Resident Realizes Dream of Driving Tank!
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018 -- George Fink, 91, of Selkirk, a resident at The Grand Healthcare System's The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Barnwell, got a lifelong wish to drive a tank fulfilled today when The Grand Healthcare System partnered with Sunny Hill Resort & Golf Course in Greenville to let him get behind the controls of their 1984 M548 personnel carrier with .50 caliber turret.
“We made a grand wish list. We had all the residents do that, and George asked to drive a tank,” said Bridget Delcoure, recreation director at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Barnwell. “We did some research and the team at Sunny Hill Resort & Golf Course graciously offered to donate one of their military vehicles to create this special moment.”
After a quick driving lesson, Fink drove around their grounds in the picturesque Catskill Mountains. Fink was 18 when he went to Europe at the end of World War II. His job in the Army was driving a semi-truck all over France and Germany and had always wanted to feel the raw power of an armored tank.
The local media turned in out in force to cover this touching story. Click here for NEWS-10 (ABC), Spectrum News, CBS-6, and Catskill Daily Mail/Hudson Register Star. View the photo gallery here.