THE GREAT MIGRATION of African Americans out of the southern United States to the North and West during the 1940s and 1950s was prompted in part by the dissatisfaction of soldiers of color with the stifling oppression and cruelty of Jim Crow laws after their return from overseas. Some of these men even returned to take sanctuary in Europe. Many historians cite the maltreatment in the South of African American veterans who had served during World War II as one of the driving forces of the civil rights movement.
The 761st Tank Battalion was an African American United States Army unit that fought on the European front during World War II and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge. This group of brave men spent 183 days in continuous combat. Come Out Fighting was the motto chosen by these heroes. In 2005 a monument honoring the contributions made by this outstanding unit was finally erected at Fort Hood, Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The 761st “Black Panther” Tank Battalion in World War II: An Illustrated History of the First African American Armored Unit to See Combat, Joe W. Wilson, Jr. 1999. McFarland & Company, publishers.