A world famous basketball player writing about the history of World War II may seem incongruous. But there is an order to these things; Abdul-Jabbar's high school mentor, Leonard Smith, was in the 761st Battalion, the first all-black tank battalion to see combat in World War II.
Together, Abdul-Jabbar and Smith interviewed the unit's 70 survivors and gleaned from them the story of this amazing band of brothers. The 761st operated under conditions of institutional racism that were as severe and evil as anything it might face on the battlefield. Yet, fighting with Patton at the Battle of the Bulge, it helped to turn back the German offensive. It even helped to liberate the concentration camp at Mauthausen. Abdul-Jabbar speaks to the honor, bravery, and dignity that characterized these men.