761st Tank Battalion, on History Channel

It is doubly tragic that Gen. George S. Patton succumbed to injuries from an untimely accident in 1945. Had he lived longer, he might have helped the men of the761st Tank Battalion get some of the recognition they deserved, but were long denied because of the color of their skin. Initially, Patton’s opinions on the fitness of black soldiers reflected those of his class and his fellow officers. However, Patton had praise for the 761th and signed-off on Presidential Unit Citation request that was nixed by top brass until 1978. Fittingly, Morgan Freeman, the star of Glory and the voice of God, helps tell their neglected story as host and executive producer of director Phil Bertelsen’s feature-length History Channel special, 761^st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers, which premieres tomorrow.

Initially, the military did not want black soldiers in combat, reserving them for servile support duties instead. When the men of what would become the 761^st started armored training, their officers assumed they would fail, but they exceled instead, so they continued to train and train waiting to be sent into combat. As a result, they really knew their stuff, better than many of their white comrades, when they were finally shipped off to Europe to reinforce Patton’s army. He was skeptical, but he needed bodies desperately.

Bertelsen and his on-camera historians do a nice job explaining the 761th’s engagements under Patton’s command. Unfortunately, as a so-called “bastard brigade,” the 761th was not permanently attached to a brigade. Instead, they were dispatched wherever they were needed, sort of like a combat equivalent of substitute teachers. As a result, they were combat-deployed for a punishing 183 days straight. On the other hand, they had the advantage of being an armored unit, which camouflaged their skin color during battle conditions.

Come Out Fighting: The 761st Tank Battalion in Germany

Gen. George S. Patton was not exactly woke, but he was generally well-remembered by the black soldiers of the 761^st Tank Battalion who served under him. For most of the film, the so-called “Black Panthers” will be on their own, behind enemy lines. That wouldn’t be so bad, given the hostility of some of their fellow soldiers, were it not for the crazy German officer setting ambushes for them. However, a downed American pilot will be happy to tag a ride with them in Steven Luke’s Come Out Fighting, which releases Friday in theaters and on-demand.

Maj. Chase Anderson is the kind of commanding officer Lt. Robert Hayes can respect. Obviously, Anderson is cool, because he is played by Dolph Lundgren. Unfortunately, the captain between them is a racist trying to blame Hayes for his mistake. The captain is also an incompetent, who gets his convoy back to HQ hopelessly lost and quickly ambushed by the unhinged Captain Hans Schultz.

Hayes is the only survivor, trying to cross back over enemy lines by himself, until Lt. Frank Ross blunders into him. Ross survived a dogfight with the Luftwaffe’s newly redesigned fighter plane, so top brass would like to debrief him. That is how Maj. Anderson convinces Gen. Patton to sign off on the previously unsanctioned rescue mission Hayes’ sergeant, Sgt. A.J. “Red” McCarron was planning, with the help of Black Panthers tanker Sgt. Warren Crecy. Hayes’s platoon and the 761^st are still largely on their own, but they are highly motivated.

Weirdly, Come Out Fighting does not feature the most famous 761^st veteran, Jackie Robinson (or it’s the briefest of name-checks that you could easily miss). Regardless, the gritty, fatalistic attitude of most of the troops rings pretty true. However, there is the big credibility issue when it basically lets McCarron and Crecy get away with “taking their own initiative.” Chain of command is critically important. They do not take too kindly to it if the generals want your men one place, but you decide to move them someplace else, but hey, it’s a movie.

It also seems like the Germans never had a chance, since we have Michael Jai White and Lundgren in uniform. White definitely looks and acts like a leathery tough NCO. Lundgren is suitably commanding as Anderson, continuing to gracefully transition into less physical, but still ultra-manly action-support roles.