Sofa King Podcast

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we go back in time to World War Two and look at the outstanding story of the 761st Tank Battalion. Known as the Black Panthers (no, not those Black Panthers), they were the first ever all black tank battalion. They met with racism and even a race riot during training the states, but they won a Medal of Honor, 11 Silver Stars, and just under 300 Purple Hearts. This group was created to help get more troops in tanks, but rules at the times said that African Americans couldn’t integrate with white troops. So, the 761st was created to be led by white officers but have no white soldiers serving on the front lines with them. They trained Louisiana where the baseball legend Jackie Robinson got in trouble for refusing to get to the back of a bus while he was in the battalion. Their training went so well, and they had such high marks that General Patton wanted them as part of his fighting force. He famously gave them a very inspiring speech about the need for Af