761st Tank Battalion

Up until 1948, there was extreme discrimination and segregation in the US military. Blacks were seen as inferior and incapable of fighting. As a result, they were often placed in support and service groups where they performed non-combatant roles (such as cooking and truck driving). In 1940, there were only 5 black commissioned officers serving in the army. However, when the US entered World War II in 1941, several black units formed and contributed significantly to military operations. Two notable units included the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion.

The 761st Tank Battalion was the first African American unit that participated in combat in WWII. Members were nicknamed Black Panthers, and their slogan was “Come Out Fighting.” Their combatant service began in October 1944, when General George Patton was short on tankers and asked the US War Department for more. The only tank unit left was the 761st. Patton personally did not have a lot of confidence in black soldiers, and he was angered when they were sent to him. He even wrote, “A colored soldier cannot think fast enough to fight in armor.” However, when he realized that the Black Panthers were his only option, Patton addressed them with a powerful, inspiring speech. He said, “Men, you are the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American army. I don’t care what color you are [...] Your race is looking forward to your success. Don’t let them down, [...] and don’t let me down.”

On the field, the 761st Tank Battalion didn’t disappoint. The unit was on the front lines, in continuous combat, for 183 consecutive days. This was extremely impressive, considering that most comparable units served for only one or two weeks. Throughout the course of the war, the 761st played a role in four major Allied campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge. This was the last major German campaign on the Western Front, and it could be seen as the turning point when the war started favoring the Allies. During this battle, the 761st inflicted 130,000 casualties upon Axis forces. Three officers and 31 enlistees from the unit were killed in action, and another 180 were injured. 

By the end of the war, the Black Panthers had fought in France, Belgium, and Austria, where they were one of the first US forces to meet the Russian Army. They also participated in the Allied liberation of Gunskirchen, which was part of a large concentration camp in Austria. They even made it possible for Patton’s troops to enter Germany by breaking through the Nazi Siegfried line. In America, the battalion had fought its way further east than almost all other units from the US military.

In total, members of the 761st received 11 Silver Stars, 69 Bronze Stars, and around 300 Purple Hearts. After all of their hard fighting, survivors from the unit returned home to a still-segregated nation. They had fought and risked their lives for a country where they continued to be seen and treated as inferiors. In 1978, more than 30 years after the war, Jimmy Carter awarded the battalion with a Presidential Unit Citation for the members’ extraordinary heroism. This was the highest award a unit could receive. Later, in 1997, Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to 7 Black Panthers (all of whom had already passed away). He said, “No African American who deserved the Medal of Honor for his service in World War II received it.”

http://www.thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/761st-tank-battalion-pattons-panthers-quit/
https://www.history.com/news/761st-tank-battalion-black-panthers-liberators-battle-of-the-bulge
http://www.worthingtonmemory.org/scrapbook/text/presidential-unit-citation-761st-tank-battalion