761ST Black Panther Tank Battalion In World War II: An Illustrated History Of The First African American Armored Unit To See Combat; Author: Wilson, Joe; Hardback; Book

Author: Wilson, Joe
Hardback; Book; Illustrations
328 pages
Published: July 1999
McFarland & Company, Inc.
ISBN: 0786406674

This work gives long overdue recognition to the unit whose motto was Come Out Fighting. It recounts the events that in 1978 -- 33 years after the end of World War II -- led to the 761st Tank Battalion's receiving a Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive. Also described are the efforts that resulted, in 1997 -- 53 years after giving his life on the battlefield-- in the Medal of Honor's being posthumously awarded to Sergeant Ruben Rivers.The son of a tanker in the 761st Tank Battalion, the original Black Panthers, draws on interviews with surviving members of the unit to tell the story of the first African American armored unit to enter combat in WWII. He recounts the long overdue recognition given the unit in the form of the Pres