under segregated conditions and was first assigned to the 25th infantry regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, a unit that was composed of white officers, Native American Indian scouts and all black enlisted men.
Click here for a special report on the Johnnie Stevens medal award by Joe Wilson, Jr.
Monday, May 8, 2006, on the 61st anniversary of V-E Day, a French Legion of Honor medal was presented by Francois Delattre, the Consul General of France, during a ceremony at the French Consulate in New York City to the 761st Tank Battalion's Staff Sgt. Johnnie Stevens, Jr., of Carteret, New Jersey, and several additional recipients. The National Order of the Legion of Honor, was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte on May 19, 1802, as the most senior Order in France (starting with the reign of Louis Philippe, the Legion of Honor became the sole French national order, although a second national order, the National Order of Merit, was instituted in 1963 as a compliment.) A National Museum of the Legion of Honor and the Orders of Chivalry was founded in the Palace of the Grand Chancellery in 1925. Appointment to the Legion is considered a great honour recognizing eminent service to the Republic of France. The medal is an enameled star of five rays surmounted on a wreath of leaves, a gold medallion in the center having a set of crossed tricolore, surrounded by the Legion's motto Honneur et patrie (Honour and Fatherland) and its foundation date in a blue enamel ring.
As shown by his certificate (click the certificate image, to the left, to see an enlarged version in a new window) the award designates Johnnie Stevens a Chevalier (or Knight) of the Legion of Honor. The French government established criteria for a selection process allowing the French Legion of Honor Medal to be be presented to U.S. Army, Army Air Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard veterans participating in one of the four major campaigns in the liberation of France (Normandy, Southern France, Northern France and the Ardennes) during World War II. Ten French consulates in the U.S. are involved in distribution of the awards, and the French government asked the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs for assistance in identifying qualified US veterans for consideration in awarding the Legion of Honor Medal.
SSGT Stevens was one of the first recipients under this recent award designation. Eligible veterans must have written documentation (normally a copy of their military separation order, DD - 214, and other official orders) verifying their military history during combat, and any previous military awards such as the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, etc. indicating meritorious actions during combat operations. Copies of these documents should be forwarded with the request for consideration for the French Legion of Honor to the Defense Attache, Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007. The French medals are approved by the Legion of Honor Committee in Paris, France after appropriate review. Approximately 100 French Legion of Honor medals will be awarded each year in the United States at the home of each veteran or at a public ceremony during a patriotic holiday event. Arrangements will be made after the awardees have been notified. Additional information can be provided by the French Defense Attache at (202) 944 6502 or FAX (202) 944 6538, and by Robert F. Elliott, VHA Liaison Officer, Policy, Planning, and Preparedness, (202) 273 - 9559. Further information about the May 8th award ceremony for SSGT Stevens may be obtained from the Consulate General of France in New York, 934 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10021, (212) 606-3600.
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1st Sgt. Charles M. King
1st Sgt. Charles M. King was killed in action in Baghdad, Iraq, on October 14, 2006. 1SG King was closely asscoiated with the 761st Tank Battalion, having provided artwork commemorating the Battalion that was part of a Black History Month display at the Pentagon in 1998, and is now being exhibited at military museums at Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington, and at Fort Knox, Kentucky. 1SG King attended Association reunions and particpated in the Honor Guard. His obituary in the Cleveland Plain Dealer includes a link to a Guest Book where condolences may be posted, and where Association Historian Wayne Robinson said, "Charles was the latter-day spiritual embodiment of the 761st Association tankers we came to know and love." Several news articles have been written about 1SG King, including a touching remembrance in The New York Times on January 1, 2007 (that was written by is fiance, Dana Canedy, an editor there), and articles in the Plain Dealer and the Mobile, Alabama Press-Register, both on October 18, 2006. An artcile in The News-Enterprise, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, reports that a movie will be made about 1st Sgt. King, with Denzel Washington in the leading role.
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761st and the Media
Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar received an honorary degree and an Army Coin of Excellence at the McDaniel College Founders Convocation on September 29, 2007, for authoring Brothers In Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes. The book is dedicated to the 761st Tank Battalion's commander, 1931 McDaniel College alumnus and Silver Star recipient Colonel Paul Levern Bates. As a student, Paul Bates was captain of McDaniel College's undefeated 1930 football team, and an All-American in 1929 and 1930. A Trustee Alumni Award was posthumously awarded to Col. Bates during the convocation, and was accepted by his son Baron Bates. Click here for a news article on the McDaniel College website. A Paul L. Bates Memorial Scholarship Fund, providing awards for lineal descendants of members of the 761st Tank Battalion, established in 1999 under the terms of Colonel Bates' will, is administered and maintained by the McDaniel College Board of Trustees.
During Black History Month in February, 2006, the History Channel featured several documentaries about African-American soldiers. The documentaries are available in a DVD set entitled African-American Heroes of WWII, or individually. The DVDs may be ordered from the History Channel's online store or by calling 1-888-423-1212. The individual shows include First to Fight: The Black Tankers of WWII about veterans of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first black tank unit to see combat; Black Aviators: Flying Free about aviation pioneers from WWI pilots to the legendary Tuskegee Airmen; in America's Black Warriors: Two Wars to Win Colin Powell and others tell about the battle with not just the enemy, but also against entrenched racism in the U.S. Armed Forces; and Honor Deferred, the story of seven men (including Staff Sgt Ruben Rivers of the 761st Tank Battalion) who deserved the Medal of Honor for their valor during WWII, but had to wait over 50 years to be honored by President Clinton.
The Turret, a newspaper serving soldiers at Fort Knox, published a feature article entitled Color Barrier Broken written by John Neville about the 761st Tank Battallion. In February of 2006, Military Officer magazine published an article entitled Come Out Fighting written by Gina DiNicolo that describes the 761st Tank Battalion and "its astounding World War II combat record." Both artilces are republished in this website's History section by permission of the authors (and with thanks to the newspaper and magazine.)
Morgan Freeman and screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard are teaming up for a World War II movie project for DreamWorks about the 761st Tank Battalion. Freeman's Revelations Entertainment will produce, with Freeman taking an executive producer role, while Howard pens the screenplay. The 761st Tank Battalion, the first black armored unit to enter combat during World War II, arrived in Europe in November 1944 to help Gen. George Patton in France and spent the rest of the war on the front. Source: Movie Web.
Click here for a May 6, 2004, news story from the Washington Post about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discussing his book at the National Press Club -- "Charming an audience of about 75 who came to the National Press Club to hear the former UCLA and NBA great discuss his new book, 'Brothers in Arms,' Abdul-Jabbar entered the room wearing a broad smile under his bald head. He would flash the smile often.... Co-authored with Anthony Walton, 'Brothers in Arms' is the story of the 761st Tank Battalion, nicknamed 'The Black Panthers,' .... 'Simultaneously with doing the book, we have done a screenplay,' he said. 'I hope to get a movie based upon my book on the screen in the next couple of years or so. Right now we're talking with Denzel Washington's office.' ..."
Further, a broadcast quality documentary about the 761st Tank Battalion is now being produced by Association Historian Wayne D. Robinson, Steven White and Jerome Long. Ideas about potential interviewees or materials for the production are welcome. Please contact Wayne by phone at (413) 739-3374 or by email
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Ft. Hood Memorial Dedicated to 761st
On November 10, 2005, a memorial to the 761st Tank Battallion was dedicated at Ft. Hood, Texas. The 761st, the first African-American armored unit to engage in combat in World War II, was formed in 1942 and trained against Tank Destroyer Forces at Fort Hood beginning in September 1943. Photos provided by Ivan Harrison, Jr., are in an album in the Gallery.
The memorial includes four monoliths, each with information on both sides about the history of the 761st. The information on the monoliths includes a map showing their path through Europe, Ruben Rivers's picture and citation, the awards earned, major combat engagements, the troop composition, a list of units the 761st supported, the Presidential Unit Citation and one with a wreath near the top listing the names of those that died during combat. The stone supporting the statue of the kneeling tanker with the binoculars in his hand has an image on each of its four sides. The monoliths were made in Killeen, the block supporting the statue was made in Waco, Texas, and the statue was made in Italy of stone from the same quarry that Michelangelo used for his statues.
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(A previous news story, below, describes the similar May 8, 2006, award to Johnnie Stevens.) In his comments at the ceremony, Mr. Navarre said, "I was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on January 15, 1920, as a second class citizen," and he recounted how he and his fellows failed to receive recognition at the time of their accomplishments. There were actually two presentations. 
Mr. Frederic Desagneaux (Consul General of France in San Francisco) presented him with the French Legion of Honor medal. In addition, Matt Hinkle (Ft Lewis) and Colonel Halusz presented him with the 
One of the regular army's youngest First Sergeant’s in 1943, Chrisotpher Navarre was required to accept a reduction in rank to private to transfer from an unarmed ambulance company of the 429th medical ambulance battalion to
join the 761st Tank Battalion in armed combat (as there was no vacancy for a First Sergeant in a black combat unit.) He remained on the front line as a tank gunner until the end of the war. In 1997, then retired Chief Warrant Officer Chistopher Navarre, Sr, received the Silver Star for actions in Task Force Rhine (in March of 1945). 
Quoting the 761st Newsletter of December, 2005,
"Before retiring from the United States Army in 1963, Chief Warrant Officer Christopher P. Navarre served in a number of different units, including the 116th Combat Engineers in Korea and the 1st Cavalry Division in Japan, but he never really left the 761st Tank Battalion behind. Over the years he has worked tirelessly to ensure that the veterans of the 761st (and for that matter, all veterans) are remembered and that their sacrifices are acknowledged. He has been responsible for a special display at the Fort Lewis Military Museum in Washington." Mr. Navarre entered the Army in 1940 at the age of 23, prior to Pearl Harbor, 
under segregated conditions and was first assigned to the 25th infantry regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, a unit that was composed of white officers, Native American Indian scouts and all black enlisted men.