They, Too, Were Part of the Greatest Generation

WaPo recounts Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's decade-long efforts to uncover the story of the 761st Tank Battalion, an all-black unit that landed on Omaha Beach in October '44, hooked up with Patton and the Third Army, and played a major part in breaking through the Siegfried Line. Jabbar's book, Brothers in Arms, just came out, and USA Today is equally captivated. It sounds pretty damn interesting; I'll be trying to get a copy myself.

(The story comes to my attention through Rake's Progress, which just set up a new home for itself at Typepad.)