Seven Hundred Sixty-First Tank Battalion

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Pfeifer describes the first African American armored unit to be committed to combat in World War II and the second-class treatment they endured. Their record was consistently outstanding; however, it was not until 1978 that they received their much-deserved Presidential Unit Citation. The account is objective, clear, and lively; the black-and-white photographs are numerous and complement the text. Reef chronicles the heroism of individual black soldiers and airmen in the major wars of the U.S., beginning with the American Revolution. Reef's approach is straightforward; the heroic action of each soldier is examined, as well as his life before and-for those who survived-after the conflict. Little-known facts are brought to light, e.g., one-sixth of Navy gunners in the War of 1812 were black, African Americans could not serve in the Armed Forces in peacetime until after the Civil War, and no black men were awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II. Average-quality black-and-white photographs illustrate the text. Acceptable additions for report writers as well as general readers.-Rick Moesch, Hamburg Public Library, NY

Merri Monks

The history of the black soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion, which served with distinction during World War II, is well presented in this entry in the African-American Soldiers series. Pfeifer discusses not only the history of the unit's battle record, marginalized by racism, but also the experiences of individual men who suffered many injustices. The book is illustrated with black-and-white photographs and includes both a chronology of African American service in the U.S. military and a bibliography comprising primarily books on African American soldiers during World War II.