The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - 761st 'Black Panther' Tank Bn (1942-1945) - Mar. 8th, 2005

World War II Magazine | January 1998 | Joseph E. Wilson, Jr.

[Bombardier]

Such a good man and lost too early. I have no doubt that he was an excellent NCO.

[archy]

Such a good man and lost too early. I have no doubt that he was an excellent NCO.

I didn't know him personally, but from what I understand he was an okay Spec-Five tank driver who pulled his own weight, and after the incident during which he earned his MOH, those who worked with him were neither surprised nor overawed that the recognition had come his way: he was just one of the crew doing his job, and circumstances made it such that his job became a little busier than for most of them.

But when he and four others received his Medal of Honor from President Johnson on , one of the others that day was a troop I'm glad to call a personal friend, one of four I've known who wear that precious decoration with the multi-starred pale blue ribbon. And he confirmed that the former M48A3 driver and treadhead would have just as easily fit in in his outfit too. There wasn't much fancy or pretentious about those guys.

And when I hear the word *hero* misapplied, I think of those guys, and I sometimes get more than a little annoyed.

These five Army heroes were presented with the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam by President Lyndon Johnson at the White House. Shown outside of the Executive Mansion after the ceremony, Left to right: Capt. James A. Taylor, Ft. Knox, Ky.; Spc. 4 Gary G. Wetzel, Oak Creek, Wis.; Sgt. Sammy L. Davis, Martinsville, Ind.; Spc. 5 Dwight. H. Johnson, Detroit; and Capt. Angelo J. Liteky, a chaplain and native of Washington D.C. November 19, 1968

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Good morning, snippy.

It's great to be back in the world.

Had to replace my entire wardrobe. Left a size 46, returned a size 36. The Kandahar Diet works!

[Professional Engineer]

umm, hon, that ain't texas.

RATS, I've been discovered.

[Professional Engineer]

1841 Oliver Wendell Holmes Massachusetts, 59th Supreme Court justice (1902-32)

"Junior's" pop was quite the poet.

OLD IRONSIDES
By Oliver Wendell Holmes
September 16, 1830

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee;
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered bulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

USS CONSTITUTION

USS Constitution homepage

[Aeronaut]

Hi Sam.

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[Professional Engineer]

So who was gonna be taking the V-1 for a spin? ;-)

The Japanese...

[Professional Engineer]

Was that *your* tracked vehicle up there? :-)

[Professional Engineer]

Looks like you were paving the way for them!

ROFL!

[hinckley buzzard]

Now THAT'S Black History. I wonder how many edu-crats highlighted this in their classrooms?

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for telling this story, Archy. I can't imagine surviving the ambush like he did, but to survive and then be killed stateside is so senseless.

[colorado tanker]

It sounds like they were the armor equivalent of the Tuskegee Airmen.

The Claiborne Tankers?? I think they'd better stick with the Black Panthers.

[tomball]

 

Excellent thread today for tread heads.  American All The Way.  This is another amazing story about WW2 troops that is currently being made into a movie.  The History Channel is also working on a segment about the last days of WW2. (The 761st Tank Battalion)

 

"After being in combat 178 days, on the front line, word was out that the war was coming to an end.  Orders were cut not to give the 761st any gasoline for their tanks to keep them from being the first American troops to meet the Russians.  That honor was to go to the 13th and 14th Armored Divisions, white troops, however, a sergeant of the 761st supply company took trucks to the Kohlgrube depot and talked with the men in a Black quartermaster unit.  By telling them who they were, what had happened, and what they wanted to do, they agreed to help.  The quartermaster enlisted men stole 30,000 gallons of gasoline from the airstrip for the 761st Tank Battalion.  You may not read about it, or see it in the movies, but the 761st Tank Battalion were the first American troops to meet the Russian Army at the Steye River, Austria."  -- Lee Davis

The Battle of the Bulge
 

[colorado tanker]

What an interesting post for this Treadhead Tuesday. Thanks!

Sergeant Rivers was something else. He sure deserved that MOH.

I'm still shaking my head that some peckerwood civilian would tell an officer in the United States Army during WWII to go to the back of the bus. Jackie sure told him, though.

[Iris7]

I always found medals were given more for political reasons than anything else. Somebody wants you to get one, you get one. That somebody has his own reasons even if he can't put them into words. Who knows.

My experience, anyway. I saw guys "rise to the occasion", and saw more guys hide. Don't think that will ever change.

[SZonian]

?????

[colorado tanker]

The unit trained at Camp Claiborne, La., hence the "Claiborne Tankers." But it just doesn't have a ring to it, does it?

[SZonian]

Got it. Stick with Black Panthers. I was just alluding to their exploits and how they might compare to the Tuskegee Airmen. Flying has always been the more "glamorous" job, but you don't win wars with planes alone.

Cheers!