Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day

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Entrenched in the nonsensical racism of their day, the 761st experienced their hardest battles at home, in the US. A powerful wartime saga recounting the extraordinary story of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first all-black armored unit to see combat in World War II. Highly trained, but manning poorly-designed Sherman tanks that were in many ways mobile death traps and were in all ways under-armored and outgunned by the vaunted German Panzers, the 761st fought their way over 2,000 combat miles from the hedgerows of Normandy to the concentration camps of Mauthausen. This is a poignant story of the young men’s pure innocence, their loss of innocence seeing their friends’ tragic demise, their unthinkingly, enthusiastic and eager readiness to take part in warfare, and the unfortunate racialization experienced. This simple fact would have hurt their unit's fame if they had been an all-white unit - their actions were just tossed in with other unit's statistics they fought with for just a few days.

Brothers in Arms - Penguin Books UK Brothers in Arms - Penguin Books UK

Thanks to the mangled remains of a Jackal vehicle left tactlessly outside their tent, IEDs were never far from their mind. Through it all, they fought with unheralded but unexcelled valor and determination, and often with conspicuous gallantry. Once the story in earnest begins, it is a quick and descriptive narrative that is easily followed by those familiar with tactical operations.Tom Marcus, bestselling author of Soldier Spy and Capture or Kill At times darkly funny, at times tragic, this is a powerful and honest book about the British soldier, about the reality of conflict and the struggles some face when they come home. But the subject matter is important and Abdul-Jabbar's fine rendering of this piece of history demands a higher rating. From the bestselling author of Normandy '44 and Sicily '43, a brilliant new history of the last days of the war. Brothers in Arms is the actual, heroic account of the 761st Tank Battalion, an African-American armored unit that fought in World War II. I just finished ‘The Infantry’s Armor’ by Yeide and I hoped this would bring me from the general to the specific.

Brothers In Arms Books - Goodreads Brothers In Arms Books - Goodreads

It was no different for black Americans, who were ready to fight for their country, even one that still treated them as decidedly second-class citizens.Rather than being part of a self-contained armored division staffed with infantry trained to support tank operations, the 761st Battalion was a detached unit (known to themselves and the rest of the Army as a "bastard" battalion) that was shuffled around different armored or infantry units according to need or the whim of commanders.