761st Tank Battalion activated at Camp Claiborne

The 761st Tank Battalion was activated in April 1941 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, as part of the Army's segregated force structure. Despite repeated requests, the unit waited three years before being sent to combat. When finally committed in November 1944 under General Patton, their performance over 183 days of continuous combat destroyed the rationale for excluding Black soldiers from armored warfare.