Patton's Panthers: The African-American 761st Tank Battalion In World War II

Part of my research for book 2 in my WW2 historical thriller The Man from Tuskegee, this chronicles the story of fierce warriors, Black and white, who helped secure our victory over the Nazis.

"Patton's Panthers" caught me by surprise. The wisdom in the off-hand in combat comments of the "common" citizen soldier far exceeds the hash cranked out by most scholars of war. Anyone who has ever worn the uniform will recognize the attitudes and scenes, time and place altered.This is a WWII oral history which does not romanticize war or minimize the faults of our own nation. The heroism of these men was extraordinary. The feats of courage described so frankly and brutally were those of realistic men not motivated by propaganda or careerism.One can only wonder how much those racial attitudes persist today, though there is no doubt that what does remain inside our forces has been pushed deeper below the surface. On the other hand, substitute "haji" for "negra" and follow today's soldiers [of any race] around for a few moments to discover that our latent racial bias always finds some way to push back to the surface. Some would no doubt argue that this is part of a necessary process of dehumanizing the enemy to enable our young soldiers to kill. Only 60 years have passed; one wonders if we have really changed our nature so much that we are qualified to "train" the Iraqis and Afghans how to bridge their own ethnic and tribal divides. Go to our Southwest Asian bases today, and watch the long lines of "host country" nationals filing past us every morning and afternoon, not a glance or a word exchanged between us. One of the men in "Patton's Panthers" noted that the only time the black man was sent to the front of anything, bus, train, or battle, was when the white man did not want to be there. Our allies of today cannot help but feel the same way, I suppose. Plenty of bias, both racial and religious, on both sides of today's war, perhaps more than usual.

While much attention has been giving (deservedly) to the Red Tails, the all black American fighter squadron, little is known about the equally heroic efforts of the all black 761st Tank Battalion in WWII. In spite of the strong bias against Negro troops that engendered low expectations from superior officers, these men set out to prove they were as good fighting men as any who wore the uniform of the U.S. Army. They achieved outstanding results---fighting their way from France to Austria, they engaged over 6,000 of the enemy in 183 days of constant combat, through six European countries, capturing 30 towns, and liberating Jews from NAZI death camps. Charles W. Sasser paints vivid pictures with his prose and is particularly deft at portraying the emotions of these brave men in the individual personal accounts that appear throughout the book. It caused me to reflect back on my own experiences with men of different backgrounds in my years of service in the U.S. Army.

This was a well written book. I was not aware of the Black Panthers at all. I knew of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Marines, but not the tankers. Which I find very disappointing to say the least in our government, not surprising. The valor, fighting spirit, etc, is inspiring! The author does not sugar coat things, example of the sights, smells, horrors of combat. He did make a editorial mistake with Patton about pearl handled pistols with ivory ones. Why the 4 stars, there were no maps, nor pictures of the men, which would have been good to connect to the story. Overall I recommend this account of this outstanding battalion and should be made into an HBO special.

A gift for my brother, a vet.

As with most histories covering the 761st Tank Battalion, this work serves as a stark social commentary on race relations in the United States in the pre-Civil Rights era. Unfortunately as a military history the book falls short on many levels. I'd hoped that a history written by a military veteran would reach a higher standard of scholarship, but instead I'm presented with the normal "war story" accounts fraught with technical inaccuracies, myths, and misconceptions common in many laymen's books covering World War II.First, the 761st did not face Jagdtigers in November - December 1944. While the technical details about the Jagdtiger provided by the author are correct, further research on the vehicle would have shown that its combat debut didn't occur until January 1945 in Operation Nordwind in the hands of the veteran 653rd Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung. The Panzer Brigades facing the 761st would have likely been equipped with a cosmetically similar Panzer IV/70 (A) - a much smaller vehicle with the same general outline as the Jagdtiger. It mounted the German high-velocity 7.5cm gun found on the Panther tank, which was generally also quite lethal to a Sherman tank.Sasser also continues to perpetuate the myth that the gasoline engine of the Sherman was what led to early vehicle fires rather than the dry stowage system. In fact, the Germans also used gasoline engines in their tanks as their engines had also been originally derived from aircraft engines. The only combatants to commonly use diesel-powered tanks were the Soviets, Italians, and Japanese.Unfortunately I am yet to see a truly great book on the 761st Tank Battalion. Most are good to great social commentaries. Most highlight the sacrifices, bravery, and professionalism of the Battalion's members. Most also fail to pay any attention to technical accuracy - and this book solidly falls into that category.

A kind of "Band of Brothers" for "Black Americans" and everybody else. Highly recommended. It would have been nice if these guys had a brief mention in the Patton movie. Follows the 761st from induction through the war. These guys deserve a bit more recognition.

I enjoyed this book. it was good to hear something positive about black troops other than munitions loading and truck driving.