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.

Brothers in Arms by Geraint Jones - Pan Macmillan Brothers in Arms by Geraint Jones - Pan Macmillan

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!"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 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.

Brothers in Arms Series by Mary Connealy - Goodreads Brothers in Arms Series by Mary Connealy - Goodreads

I learned a lot from this book. The story of this tank battalion and the difficulty they faced in combat and at home is an important part of American history. I expected ‘Brothers in Arms’ to provide details but the opening was marred by some simple inaccuracies that any WWII novice historian would catch. It made it hard to keep reading.Major Adam Jowett, bestselling author of No Way Out A gritty, brutal book about men at war. Raw and real. Brilliant. 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: If you could choose which two limbs got blown off, what would you go for?’ Danny said. ‘Your arms or your legs?’ 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.