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The 761st Tank Battalion was a separate tank battalion of the United States Army during World War II. Its ranks primarily consisted of African-American soldiers, who by War Department policy were not permitted to serve in the same units as white troops; the United States Armed Forces did not officially desegregate until after World War II. The 761st were known as the Black Panthers after their distinctive unit insignia, which featured a black panther's head, and the unit's motto was "Come out fighting".

Racial Tension[edit]
Black soldiers of that time and place were subject to many racist crimes perpetrated by white soldiers, including a bloody riot between members of a neighboring segregated tank battalion and white military policemen in Alexandria, Louisiana on 10 January 1942.[10] Several members of the 761st vowed to retaliate. They commandeered six tanks and a half-track but were persuaded to stand down by Lieutenant Colonel Bates who promised to straighten the situation out.[11]

Jackie Robinson and segregation[edit]
The most famous member of the 761st was First Lieutenant Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson. During the 761st's training, a white bus driver told Robinson to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused and was arrested.[12][13][14] Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Paul L. Bates refused to consider the court-martial charges put forward by the arresting military policemen. The post commander transferred Robinson to the 758th Tank Battalion, whose commander was willing to sign the insubordination court-martial order.[15] Robinson was acquitted of all charges. After the war, he was instrumental in desegregating professional baseball.

Deployment[edit]

US tank battalion structure, November 1944.
General Ben Lear, commander of the U.S. Second Army, rated the unit "superior"[16] after a special review and deemed the unit "combat ready." After the two-year training session in Texas, 761st Tank Battalion received the order in 9 June 1944 for overseas movement 3 days after the D-Day landings in Normandy. The battalion aboard the British troop carrier Esperance Bay from New York and arrived in Britain on 8 September 1944 and was initially assigned to the Ninth Army.[17] After a brief deployment to England, the 761st landed in France via Omaha Beach on 10 October 1944. The unit arrived (with six white officers, thirty black officers, and 676 black enlisted men[18]) and was assigned to General George Patton's US Third Army at his request, attached to the 26th Infantry Division.

The unit saw action in Northern France from October 1944, it fought in the Battle of the Bulge, later proceeding to the Rhineland, and spent the final months of the war on German soil.

Dramatizations and portrayals[edit]
Trezzvant Anderson's book, Come Out Fighting: The Epic Tale of the 761st Tank Battalion, 1942–1945, was published in 1945.[34]

In 1992, a documentary titled The Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II was produced. The documentary depicted the battalion's liberation of concentration camps during 1945, but was criticized for misidentifying the units and camps involved.[35] There was speculation that the movie was intended to reduce tensions between the Jewish and African-American communities.[36]

In 2007, executive producer Steven A. White released an independent, feature length, high-definition documentary on the 761st Tank Battalion. The film, entitled 761st was written, produced, and directed by Pete Chatmon and produced by 761st Tank Battalion unit historian, Wayne Robinson. It features interviews with eleven combat veterans of the 761st and is narrated by Andre Braugher.[37]

Several of the later episodes of The History Channel series Patton 360 featured 761st veteran William McBurney who related his experiences with the battalion in the Lorraine Campaign, the Battle of the Bulge, and in the ultimate conquest of the German homeland.

A 1993 episode of Law & Order titled "Profile" featured a 72-year-old assault victim played by Joe Seneca who credited his experiences with the 761st for saving his life.

In an episode of The Cosby Show, Cliff Huxtable and some male friends are discussing their military experiences and one of them describes in detail his World War II exploits as a member of the 761st Tank Battalion.

Actor Morgan Freeman and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are co-producing a new movie about the 761st, based on Jabbar's and co-writer Anthony Walton's 2004 book, Brothers in Arms. On 15 December 2006, Freeman discussed the film and working with Will Smith, and possibly Denzel Washington, on it in the near future.[38]

The 1991 novel Seven Six One by "G.F. Borden" was based on the experiences of the 761st Tank Battalion in Europe.

In the 2004 video game Call of Duty: Finest Hour, a sergeant from the 761st is a playable character. The game depicts the battalion's fight in the Belgian town of Tillet.