The 761st Tank Battalion was activated on April 1 1942 at Camp Claiborne Louisiana and deployed to Europe landing at Omaha Beach in France on October 10 1944 Over the course of 183 days of continuous fighting including action in the Battle of the Bulge the Black Panthers became the first AfricanAmerican armored unit to enter combat With the motto Come Out Fighting they faced racism at home and death overseas in a war for many freedoms they did not enjoy in America