Charlie Wilson atop Captured Russian Tank in Israel,1973

Photograph of US Congressman Charles Wilson sitting atop a captured Russian-made Egyptian tank in Israel in December 1973. Diboll Free Press Collection. Following the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War, East Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson inspected this Russian-built T-62 tank captured by Israel. Wilson, as a member of the Near East subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited Israel comparing U.S. military equipment to that of Russia. Wilson concluded in a December 1973 newspaper column that we were “growing lax in our preparedness,” as he thought our best equipment was not as advanced as what Russia was then supplying Egypt and Syria.