European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The draft in october 1940, Many people asked. A Blacks too a a people did All kinds of strange things to keep from being drafted they ate soap so they d foam at the Mouth and other things a he says �?o1 did no to try any of that nonsense and on March 21,1942,1 passed my physical with flying colors a unfortunately because i did no to want to go  while crossing the Atlantic to Scotland Walker says the . Soldiers got the word a a a it son a the invasion of Normandy had happened. Walker was a Hal track gunner with the legendary 761st tank in the first Black american tank unit to fight in world War ii. A on july 31, a Day plus 25, we went from Southampton to Normandy a he says. A you never saw any thing like it. Off the Normandy coast they had great sea cranes lifting the bodies out of the water Tike fish in a net and dumping them into  Walker says they called his Hal track a Quot tank kill or a but a tank cannot be Quot killed with a 50 my gun. Walkers outfit pushed to Metz France. A Patton said he wanted Metz even if it Cost two six ton truck loads of dog tags to take the town.�?�. Walker thinks it was the Brave performance of african american troops at Bastogne Belgium during the Battle of the bulge that made Whites begin to accept them As comrades in arms. A i never saw so Many dead people in my life As during that Battle a he says. A i tried to Transfer to the red Ball express but my commander told me i was a combat Soldier and had to stay with the tank  walkers unit crossed the Rhine River on March 24,1945, at Mainz. The City was flattened. The outfit forged through Frankfurt where it lost six men to snipers and then Nimberg Schweinfurt Dresden and finally Leipzig on april 12,1945. It was there he heard that Hitler had killed himself on april 30. In Pilsen someone said to Walker a they Man its Over a the War in Europe had ended. In 1963, Walker was reunited with his old Girlfriend Erna whom he met in Berlin in 1945. They wanted to get married in Early �?T63, but he was refused the required permission from his supervisor a Captain and even was transferred to the United states to prevent the marriage. Walker retired from the army and married Erna in october 1963. A a in a like to see that Captain today and Tell him a thing or two. I know he did that out of pure racism a says Walker. Peter Kopcsak a retired army colonel living near Garmisch Germany was the first White officer to Lead the african american 761st tank in into Bat tie. A ooh there was prejudice galore Back then a says  a a a a Aji Iod air forces pvt. John Fields of Alabama checks ammo for a . Black fighter group in Italy during world War ii. Kopcsak. A imagine we needed tank support badly and when the White infantry found out the tankers were Black they protested that it Wasny to right for White men to walk while Black men  Kopcsak says Patton told his staff that the 761st had More Armor training in the United states than usual and that the battalion was a damned  a i had no qualms about working with Blacks by cause my father never preached any racism a says Kopcsak. A the said you judge a Man by what he  the Way Kopcsak remembers it racism Wasny to confined to the men on the line but was quite present among the commanders. It took Patton Suu Hority to make the commanders buckle under. When the 761st arrived says Kopcsak it was told to attack an object that really Wasny to crucial but the Whites wanted to Tost the battalion. A they protested knowing it was totally unnecessary but did it. It ended in a disaster because they went at the town in a typical Armor school fashion a the Way they had Learned. The White commander was killed through Friendly fire and the unit got a bad name a he  thereafter the unit adapted to armoured War tactics. The 761st played such a significant role in breaking through German lines that it made headlines in the stars and stripes on nov. 14,1944. Kopcsak a West Point graduate was wounded and evacuated. The medics wanted to amputate his leg and he refused. Today he claims its his Best leg and he still plays Golf and skis. The 761st went on to a string of victories and glory that was finally recognized with a presidential Cila Tion in 1978. A it was Well deserved and late incoming. I have never seen braver men in combat Quot says Kopcsak 82, who earned Bronze and Silver stars and a legion of Merit for his own Brave service. A but i think in their official history the 761st tank battalion describes me As somewhat of a a slave driven is amps de Reavis Peter Kopcsak commander of the 761st tank in. A amps de Reav s Jimmy Walker was a Hal track gunner in the 761st. S&3 de Ravia Joseph West served in Pacific retired in Europe