Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day

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Through compelling eye-witness testimony and James Holland's expert analysis, Brothers In Arms brings to vivid life the final bloody scramble across Europe and gives the most powerful account to date of what it was really like to fight in the dying days of World War Two. If you could choose which two limbs got blown off, what would you go for?’ Danny said. ‘Your arms or your legs?’ Jones writes of his brothers and their Afghan experience, from its adrenalin-filled highs to the many lows, with passion and candour.' – Major Adam Jowett, bestselling author of No Way Out

Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Batt… Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Batt…

An inspirational, moving account of courage and comradeship on the part of exceptional men.”— Military History I am trying to be more concise in reviewing this book. There is so much history to absorb, but, at times, I found it difficult and painful to read. I heard Kareem speak last week in Beverly Hills and he talked about this , saying that most white people had never heard of the 761st. Well I had to admit to being a white person who had not, so I read his book. The thing of course, that sets the 761st apart from other brave troops who saw vicious combat and were killed and maimed is the despicable and unfathomable way they were treated by both civilians and white fellow troops at all points at all times. It's so frustrating and sad and I got teary on several occasions. So anything to do with that subject was very effective. What keeps me from giving it a higher rating is sentences like these: Turns out that he is also a thoughtful, active man with an interest in social justice and history. That's where this book comes in. The 761st Tank Battalion was brought to his attention because, it turns out, he knew one of its members growing up - he just didn't know his story. Does not disappoint... Holland takes us down to the individual's experience' Times Literary Supplement

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Brothers in Arms" also retells an important part of military history. The flawed and bloody campaign for the Saar, a low point in Patton's career, has been almost completely overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge and the final drive through Germany (in both of which the 761stalso fought) and receives deserved attention here. With "Brothers in Arms, The Epic Story of the 761stTank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes", Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has become a capable historian in his post-NBA years, and Anthony Walton, finally do justice to the remarkable but almost completely unknown story of the 761st Tank Battalion, whose motto was "Come Out Fighting!" The men experienced painful memories of innate hostility from the civilian population during Basic Training at camps in Louisiana and Texas. In addition, there was something amiss about parity and respect from their white peers and commanding officers. The exceptions were Lieutenant Paul L. Bates and Captain David Williams who developed a close and harmonious relationship with the men. Villagers and townspeople in Europe greeted the Tank Battalion with warmth and respect.

Brothers in Arms by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anthony Walton Brothers in Arms by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anthony Walton

But Kareem and Walton needed to do a better job of researching what I will call the technical aspects of armored combat during World War II. Calling a German tank a "panzer tank" is like calling a horse a "horse animal." Also, there was no such thing as a "Mark IV Panther." The Mark III and Mark IV were the mainstay of the German armed forces for most of the war. The much more powerful Mark V was the Panther, and its design was inspired by the excellent Soviet T-34. The famous and even more powerful Tiger was the Mark VI. This is a poignant story of the young men’s pure innocence, their loss of innocence seeing their friends’ tragic demise, their unthinkingly, enthusiastic and eager readiness to take part in warfare, and the unfortunate racialization experienced. Yet, it made them tough, self-aware, and disciplined. Their camaraderie made them brothers. Abdul-Jabar does not pull any punches in this book. His words are vivid and work efficiently in sharing the facts with the audience in addition to creating a narrative with melodic flow. Entrenched in the nonsensical racism of their day, the 761st experienced their hardest battles at home, in the US. Seeing the contrast in their treatment abroad versus their treatment in the US, and by White US soldiers, gives the reader a true sense of how these men redefined what it means to be patriotic. These men fought for a country they loved despite the complexities of such a love—despite being hated, treated poorly, and viewed as less than human due to the color of their skin. This is the American history we need to be more present in our educational system and media, because overall, this is a story of human achievement and empathy. A touching profile of men who fought overt and subtle racism for the chance to prove their mettle, and a poignant reminder of the unreasonable prejudices of that era that almost kept them on the sidelines.”— Sacramento Bee A slam dunk . . . Well written, well researched and an excellent read . . . Abdul-Jabbar does an incredible job of weaving [the personal stories] into the context of the war as it unfolded.”— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From the bestselling author of Normandy '44 and Sicily '43, a brilliant new history of the last days of the war. The 761st Tank Battalion was one of the lead elements of General Patton's push into Germany during the last months of World War II. They were sort of a hybrid unit that was spread out among infantry units, designed to work with infantry. This simple fact would have hurt their unit's fame if they had been an all-white unit - their actions were just tossed in with other unit's statistics they fought with for just a few days. But, when you toss in the obvious racism of the day (multiple citations were sent up the chain of command, only to be tossed in the trash or ignored. This was corrected in the 1990's by an independent commission), you can see why no one heard of these soldiers.