“Men, you’re the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren’t good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don’t care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you… Don’t let them down and damn you, don’t let me down!” By all accounts, they didn’t. Starting on November 7, 1944, the 761st Battalion served for over 183 consecutive days under General Patton. By comparison, most analogous units at the front line only served one or two weeks. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 761st was up against the troops of the 13th SS Panzer Division, but by January 1945, the German forces had retreated and abandoned the road, which had been a supply corridor for the Nazi army. By the end of the Battle of The Bulge, three officers and 31 enlisted men of the 761st had been killed in action. In May 1945, the Black Panthers were part of the Allied forces who liberated Gunskirchen, a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp. One woman liberated by the unit, 17-year old Sonia Schreiber Weitz, described the soldier who saved her in the poem, “The Black Messiah”: A black GI stood by the door (I never saw a black before) He’ll set me free before I die, I thought, he must be the Messiah After the war the Army awarded the unit with four campaign ribbons. In addition, the men of the 761st received a total of 11 Silver Stars, 69 Bronze Stars and about 300 Purple Hearts. Back at home, though, the surviving members of the 761st returned from Europe to a still-segregated nation. Texas native Staff Sgt. Floyd Dade Jr. described the contradictions for black soldiers coming back to the United States in an oral history, saying “we didn’t have equal rights…democracy was against us. I was just fighting for my country.” #reposted_from @armyhistory & @history . If you’re ready to be a part of #history & #armyhistory then #contactmenow 615-429-0932 #armystrong #armyteam #celebritysoldiers #blacksoldiers #womenwarriors #bearmystrong #womenshistorymonth #bedifferent #theydiditwhycantyou #famoussoldiers #theydidit #whatsyourexcuse (at Spring Hill, Tennessee) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ383jpOE-1/?utm_medium=tumblr