“Private National Simmons is the assistant driver of an M-4 Tank.”




Original caption: “Private National Simmons is the assistant driver of an M-4 Tank.” Private Simmons didn’t serve in just any tank battalion; he served in the 761st Tank Battalion, also known as the “Black Panthers”.

 The 761st Tank Battalion was one of the three Black American tank battalions during the Second World War. 
The 761st Tank Battalion was activated on April 1, 1942, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana and trained with light M5 Stuart Tanks and the M4 Sherman tanks.

 After completing their training, the battalion was used as school troops at Camp Hood, where they were used as adversaries for the white tank destroyer battalions in training. In October 1944 the battalion arrived in France. 

In November 1944 it entered combat in Belgium. The battalion continued to fight and fought furthermore in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Luxembourg, until it found itself in Austria at the end of the war in May 1945.  

The men of the 761st Tank Battalion engaged in the struggle for racial equality, a struggle in which they would engage for the rest of their lives. Only after the war, in 1978, the unit would be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

 In 2005 a monument was unveiled at Fort Hood, honoring the 761st Tank Battalion. During World War II, the 761st Tank Battalion was an important part of the U.S. Army; its members fought with distinction and bravery.

Unfortunately, Private Nathaniel Simmons didn’t live to see the awards of the battalion. He died in combat less than 24 hours after this photograph was taken. His tank suffered a near-hit from a German shell and the entire crew perished. 

The concussion might have caused internal injuries to the tank crew members or loosened a pipe that caused carbon monoxide poisoning inside the tank. 
(Source of the image: Combined Arms Research Library)

We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". If you enjoy this blog please let us know in the comments below. If you are interested in history, we recommend you check out our other blogs here on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". Thank you for reading.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

🇺🇲 Vietnam War Stories: Honoring the Heroes We Lost: Master Sergeant Jerry M. Shriver

Image
🇺🇲 Vietnam War Stories: Honoring the Heroes We Lost: Master Sergeant Jerry M. Shriver Master Sergeant Jerry M. "Mad Dog" Shriver was a legendary Green Beret. He was a platoon leader with Command and Control South, MACV-SOG.  MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia.  On the morning of April 24, 1969, Shriver's platoon was dropped into Cambodia by four helicopters. Upon departing the helicopter, the team had begun moving toward its initial target point when it came under heavy volumes of enemy fire from several machine gun bunkers and entrenched enemy positions estimated to be at least a company-sized element. Shriver was last seen by the company commander, Captain Paul D. Cahill, as Shriver was moving against the machine gun bunkers and entering a tree line on the southwest edge of the LZ with a trusted Montagnard striker. Captain Cahill and Sergeant Ernest C. Jamison, t
Read more

Most Radioactive Man' Kept Alive For 83 Days As He 'Cried Blood' And Skin Melted

Image
Most Radioactive Man' Kept Alive For 83 Days As He 'Cried Blood' And Skin Melted On September 30, 1999, Hisashi Ouchi was exposed to the highest dose of nuclear radiation in human history. A 35-year-old lab technician at the nuclear plant in Tokaimura, Japan, Ouchi was mixing a uranium solution by hand directly over an open container when he accidentally poured in too much uranium, immediately causing a violent explosion.  For the next 83 days, Ouchi suffered unimaginable agony as the radiation worked its way through his body, obliterating his DNA and causing his skin to melt off and his eyes to weep blood before he finally died.  He begged for death, doctors refused to listen and kept him alive against his will for nearly three excruciating months.  More than 20 years ago, a freak chemical reaction at a power plant in Japan left one of its technicians living in agony, kept alive by doctors as he 'cried blood' and his 'skin melted'. Hisashi Ouchi was he
Read more

Eye-opening photos of executions torturers from Nazi camp

Image
Eye-opening photos of executions torturers from Nazi camp The Holocaust is a dark chapter in human history, and the atrocities committed during that time are almost incomprehensible. However, one aspect that is often overlooked is the punishment meted out to the perpetrators of those crimes. A recently discovered collection of photographs provides a glimpse into the executions of Nazi war criminals, many of whom were responsible for running the concentration camps where millions of innocent people were murdered. These photographs serve as a reminder that even in the darkest of times, justice will be served. They also serve as a warning to all those who would engage in similar conduct in the future that there will be consequences for their actions. The release of these photographs is also a call to action. It is important that we never forget the past, and that we continue to hold those accountable for their actions, regardless of the passage of time. The Holocaust is a reminder o
Read more

STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE: ARMY MEDIC JAMES E. CALLAHAN!

Image
STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE: ARMY MEDIC JAMES E. CALLAHAN! REMEMBERING ONE OF OUR HEROES! Some of you may have seen this iconic picture before. The picture is of James E. Callahan was considered one of the most famous pictures taken during the Vietnam War.  Photographer Henri Huet captured a young medic trying to save the lives of his buddies in the midst of machine gun fire on 17 June 1967.  It was not just that which made this a remarkable picture, it was the look on Callahan’s face that told the entire heart wrenching story. A story of desperation and helplessness of sadness and loss. Arguably, the quintessential story of Vietnam. In the picture, Callahan was trying to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dying Solider.  The battle was three-hour battle long and took place approximately 50 miles northeast of Saigon. Callahan treated numerous fellow Soldiers injuries during the battle.  During the guerrilla ambush on the 1st Infantry Division on that day, thirty-one Soldiers were kill
Read more

Battle of Bamber Bridge Jun 24, 1943 – Jun 25, 1943

Image
More history you were never taught in school. Battle of Bamber Bridge Jun 24, 1943 – Jun 25, 1943 On this day in 1943 black American soldiers faced off with white American Military police during World War II on British soil. Yes you read correctly black American soldiers had to fight their own white American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting for the world. Why? Because the English town of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire was not segregated so they treated the black soldiers like all other races, aka blacks were free to eat, drink anywhere, BUT back in America segregation of blacks and whites still existed. So essentially the American army went to someone else’s country and demanded they adopted America’s racist practices So when the American Military police found out that their own black American soldiers were drinking at the same pubs as white people they went in to arrest them. The people in the town got mad about the treatment of the black soldiers and decided to then
Read more

The Public Execution of the President of Liberia William Tolbert and his Cabinet, 1980.

Image
The Public Execution of the President of Liberia William Tolbert and his Cabinet, 1980. 10 years before Liberia's President Samuel Doe met his fate - also a gruesome televised torture and murder - then known as Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, he had presided over the public execution of members of the Cabinet he had just overthrown. In 1847, with the support of US President Monroe and subsequent US Governments uneasy with the growing population of freed slaves in America, emancipated former African-American slaves settled in Africa and declared the territory the Independent republic of Liberia. Between 1847 and 1980 the State of Liberia was dominated by the minority Americo-Liberians who then marginalized the majority native Liberians with whom they had uneasy relations with, viewing them as an 'inferior' race and treating them much the same as the ex-slaves had been treated in America.  Brutal Americo-Liberian State repression, plantation quasi-slavery, economic and social mar
Read more

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Jack.

Image
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Jack.  Jack was always a bit different from the other kids at school. He was quiet, reserved, and seemed to keep to himself. But Jack was also incredibly intelligent and had a talent for reading people. He could tell what they were thinking and feeling just by looking at them. As Jack grew older, he became more and more obsessed with the idea of control. He wanted to control everything and everyone around him.  He began reading books on psychology and neuroscience, trying to understand the human mind and how to manipulate it. Eventually, Jack's obsession turned into something much darker. He began experimenting on people, testing different methods of control and manipulation.  He would lure unsuspecting victims to his basement laboratory, where he would subject them to various tests and experiments. As he continued down this path, Jack's mind became more and more twisted. He began to enjoy the power he had over his victims and the r
Read more

The Lost Soldier Mine

Image
The Lost Soldier Mine It was in 1869, that Abner McKeever and his family were attacked by a large band of Apache warriors. The McKeever ranch was located at Gila Bend and a long distance away from the protection of Fort Lowell and Fort McDowell. At the end of the raid, the Apache made away with over 20 head of horses, 6 rifles, ammunition, clothes, food and sadly Belle McKeever as well. Abners very own daughter.  After the Apache had left the now destroyed ranch, Abner rode out to Maricopa Wells which was not far away. Maricopa Wells was a popular and reliable watering hole with many pools of fresh ground water. Stagecoaches, mail carriers, miners, travelers and even soldiers frequented Maricopa Wells. As Abner entered the small population of Maricopa Wells he told his story with great emotion and urged every able man to take up arms and help him retrieve his daughter.  Over 15 soldiers were posted to guard the Wells and 6 joined Abner, as well as 5 miners. As the posse began the pursu
Read more

THE OTAKU MURDERER

Image
In late August 1988, the parents of missing four-year-old Mari Konno received a box in the mail. Inside the box, on a bed of fine powder, was a photo of the outfit Mari had been wearing when she disappeared, several small teeth, and a postcard bearing a message: “Mari. Cremated. Bones. Investigate. Prove.” This horrifying box of clues would be one of several that tortured families around Tokyo, Japan would receive as they searched for their young children. But these girls would never return home, as they had fallen victim to the twisted mind of Tsutomu Miyazaki, the Otaku Murderer. Though he grew up to be one of Japan’s most sadistic killers, Miyazaki started out as a meek and quiet child. Born prematurely in August of 1962 with a birth defect that rendered him unable to bend his wrists completely, Miyazaki spent most of his early childhood alone as the victim of bullying for his deformity. Miyazaki kept to himself and rarely participated in social events or made many friends. He often
Read more