761st Tank Battalion

The Paul L. Bates Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1999 under the terms of Colonel Bates' will, and is administered and maintained by the Board of Trustees of McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland (formerly named Western Maryland College.)

The Scholarship was established in memory of Colonel Paul L. Bates, Class of 1931, an All-American football player at the College, and commander of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first all African American combat tank battalion in World War II, a unit recognized by the President of the United States for extreme gallantry in action.

The Scholarship, established as a tribute to the brave men who fought under the command of Col. Bates, provides awards for lineal descendants of members of the 761st Tank Battalion who served with the unit from August 1944 through April 1945. Recipients must be accepted to and attend McDaniel College, must possess and maintain a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) at McDaniel College and demonstrate financial need. In the event that no lineal descendants apply or are eligible, the Scholarship is awarded annually to a student with a 2.0 GPA or better demonstrating financial need, and excelling in extracurricular activities.

McDaniel College is a private four-year college of the liberal arts and sciences where students from 23 states and 19 countries prepare for lives of leadership and service. A flexible curricula at both undergraduate and master’s degree levels, strong teaching, and location – near Baltimore and Washington, D.C. – provides students with an outstanding learning experience. For more information visit the McDaniel College web site at www.mcdaniel.edu. Further information on how to apply may be obtained from the Dean of Admissions (email: admissions@mcdaniel.edu, phone: 1-800-638-5005, v/tdd 410-848-7000.) For information on scholarships and financial aid contact the Director of Financial Aid at email: pwilliams@mcdaniel.edu, phone: 410-857-2233.

SSG Ruben Rivers Petition

Ron Simpson of Oklahoma City has begun an online petition drive to have an Oklahoma state road, building or park named after SSG Ruben Rivers. Click here to see his petition.

Information about Veterans' Burial Benefits

Click here for a Department of Veterans Affairs web page with details about Veterans' Burial Benefits. Benefits are available for burial in any national cemetary with available space, including opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, at no cost to the family. Benefits are also available for burial in a private cometary, including a headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, at no cost to the family. State veterans cemeteries also are available.

National cemetery directors have primary responsibility for verifying eligibility for burial in federal Department of Veteran Affairs cemeteries. A determination of eligibility is usually made in response to a request for burial in a VA national cemetery. The national toll-free number for a Veteran’s Benefits Counselor, to request burial benefits, is 1-800-827-1000.

Are you trying to find more information about a veteran?

It may be helpful to request a government copy of official records for military personnel.

The National Personnel Records Center of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), located in St. Louis, Missouri, holds military service records from World War I on, and is the official repository for records of military personnel discharged from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard in modern times. Requests for copies of records must be made in writing.

Requests for copies of military service and pension records can be made by completing and sending NARA's Standard Form 180. Also, a veteran, or next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, may use eVetRecs to prepare a specific written request for copies of military records that can be printed and mailed.

Note: In July of 1973, a fire destroyed millions of military personnel files. The affected records include 80% of Army personnel discharged from November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960, and Air Force personnel with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E., discharged from September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964.

Click here to search for burial locations of veterans and their dependents in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries and various other Department of Interior and military cemeteries.

Click here for an American Battle Monuments Commission website that allows you to search for a listing by unit number (e.g., type in 761) of World War II casualties interred or memorialized at overseas American military cemeteries.

The U.S. Wereth Memorial website describes efforts relating to a memorial at the place where eleven black G.I.s of the 333rd F.A.B. were murdered by German S.S.after they had surrendered during the first days of the Battle of the Bulge. The memorial honors their memory and all black G.I.s who fought in Europe during WW II. It is believed that this is the only memorial of its type in Europe.s

761st Tank Battalion at Wikipedia

Tuskegee Airmen Association's Website

The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum

Buffalo Soldiers Net

784th Tank Battalion

Information about the tranpsort ship that took the 761st to the ETO

Black Military World website

Battle of the Bulge web resources -- histories and more than 160 personal accounts of the battle

65th Infantry Division website

87th Infantry Division Association

366th Infantry Regiment Veterans Association

87th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Association -- The Bushmasters

VI Corps Combat Engineers WWII

Asbestos and Mesothelioma Center -- providing veterans information on asbestos related health risks

Pvt. Robert H. Brooks of the 192nd Tank Battalion

Links list for WW II information and Army-related sites

Tank Museum of the American Armoured Fondation in Danville, Virginia

British archive of World War II aerial reconnaissance photos

Kitchen Table Gang -- veterans helping hospitalized veterans

American World War II Orphans Network, Inc. -- comprised of several hundred members from all over the nation – sons and daughters and other family of Americans left with a void after World War II

Army Mom's Salute -- a poem for the 761st Tank Battalion

Social History of the Black Troop Experience

The Center for the Study of Black Troops has commissioned a project to explore the Black Soldier experience from the enlisted ranks to the officer corp, including women. We are interested in gathering any kind of letters and photos of the 'forgotten' or 'average' soldier to write a Social History of the Black Troop Experience from the Civil War to the present. Please send any information to:

Director Timothy E. Nelson
Center for the Study of Black Troops
University of Northern Iowa, Seerley 307
Cedar Falls, Iowa, 50614-0701

Phone: (319) 415-0778