614th Tank Destroyer Battalion The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War . The unit was activated in 1942 and trained through the late summer of 1944 . Arriving on the Normandy coast in October , they moved to the Metz , France , area , seeing their first action in late November . In early December , they were attached to the 103rd Infantry Division , a pairing that was to last through the end of combat in Europe . The 3rd Platoon , Company C , of the 614th was the first , and only , African - American unit to receive a Distinguished Unit Citation during World War II . They received credit for the Northern France , Rhineland , Ardennes - Alsace and Central Europe campaigns . Early service . The battalion was activated at Camp Carson , Colorado , on 25 July 1942 , under the command of Lt . Col . Blaisdell C . Kennon . The original cadre consisted of 35 officers and 156 enlisted men , with 140 of the enlisted men coming from the 366th Infantry Regiment at Camp Devens , Massachusetts and 16 from the infantry replacement training center at Camp Wolters , Texas . Additional personnel arrived to bring the enlisted strength to 420 and basic training was started at Camp Carson . The battalion was soon ordered to Camp Bowie , Texas , arriving there on 18 December 1942 . It completed basic training there and was ordered to Camp Hood , Texas , arriving on 23 March 1943 . The unit began tank destroyer training with the M3 GMC destroyer but was reorganized as a towed battalion , using the 3 inch Gun M5 , pulled by the M3 half - track , on 17 July 1943 . On 18 July , the unit was assigned to the Tank Destroyer Center Training Brigade as school troops ; assisting with training of new troops . In October , Lt . Col . Kennon was transferred and Lt . Col . Frank S . Pritchard assumed command on the 16th . Col . Pritchard would remain with the unit throughout their combat time in Europe . The battalion continued as school troops until 20 December 1943 , when training prior to overseas service was started . They were ordered to the Louisiana Maneuvers area next , arriving 2 March 1944 . After receiving a satisfactory rating on maneuvers , they returned to Camp Hood on 23 March 1944 . Another period of intensive training ensued and by 1 June 1944 , all tests had been satisfactorily completed and the unit was qualified for overseas service . The battalion received movement orders in August and after a brief stay at Camp Shanks , New York , they boarded the British ship " Esperance Bay " on 27 August and arrived in Avonmouth , near Bristol , England , on 7 September 1944 . The battalion deployed into Normandy on 8 October , and moved south to Metz ; it first saw action operating against the Siegfried Line on 28 November , relieving the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion which was supporting the 3rd Cavalry Group . On 1 December , the unit ' s first day on the line , A Company ' s accurate fire was instrumental in the reduction of several pillboxes and the destruction of a German 88mm gun near Borg , Germany . It was moved to VI Corps on 5 December and then attached to the 103rd Infantry Division on 5 December , deploying in the vicinity of Gougenhiem , France , where Co A was attached to Task Force Forest and Co C to the 411th Infantry Regiment . The 103rd moved into the line on 8 December , and began its attack on the 9th . On the 11th , Co B , less one platoon serving as part of the Palace Guard at the Division CP , was attached to the 411th IR . As with most tank destroyer units by this stage of the war , it only rarely fought against enemy armor ; more commonly , it provided fire support against strongpoints and observation posts or indirect fire to support infantry units . Per authority , letter dated 1 December 1944 , they received credit for a Battle Participation Award - Northern France Campaign , the first for the unit . On the 13th , Co A , less 1 platoon , was relieved from TF Forest and assigned to the 410th IR . Engagement at Climbach . On 14 December , a task force of the 411th Infantry Regiment , TF Blackshear , consisting of a company of infantry , along with a platoon of tanks from the 14th Armored Division and 3rd Platoon , C Company , of the 614th TD with its towed anti - tank guns , was organized to attack Climbach , a French town just outside the German border , acting in a pincer movement . Expecting an American assault with tanks , the German defenders had prepared a strong defensive position as well as an ambush by infantry anti - tank teams . The third platoon and its towed anti - tank guns were tasked with demolishing German emplacements and defensive works . The lead vehicle was an M20 armored utility car containing Lieutenant Charles L . Thomas , the commander of the tank destroyer platoon ; as it travelled up the narrow road , it was hit by heavy enemy fire and knocked out . Thomas was wounded when evacuating the vehicle , but stayed to organize the deployment of his anti - tank guns which were to provide a base of fire allowing the infantry and tanks to flank the enemy positions . The 3rd platoon remained in action for four hours , with the gun crews sometimes reduced to two out of ten men . Two of the company ' s guns were quickly knocked out by German artillery , then a third , but the fourth gun kept firing until it was nearly out of ammunition . A single truck driver , T / 5 Robert W . Harris , knowing the remaining gun was running out of ammunition , drove his truck to the rear for a new load and upon his return , disregarded the warning from the TF Commander that it was too dangerous to proceed . Driving to within 25 yards of the gun positions , where the truck became stuck in the mud , he unloaded and uncrated the 3 " rounds and began carrying them to the remaining gun . The remaining members of the platoon joined him and made numerous trips carrying the ammunition , all the while under heavy enemy fire . In anticipation of ambushing the assault force , the German defenders had placed an infantry company in the nearby woods . When the men of C Company began deploying their towed guns , the German infantry attacked the anti - tank guns , and C Company ' s men , though armed only with M1 carbine s , . 45 pistols , and submachine guns , responded in kind . One half - track driver , surprised from behind by a German infantry squad , mowed down eight of his attackers with several blasts from his . 45 caliber grease gun . Despite heavy casualties , the 614th repulsed the German infantry attack , killing most of the assault force . By nightfall , when the engagement ended , only sporadic small - arms fire came from the town , which was quickly seized by American troops . Defeated , surviving enemy forces retired to the Siegfried Line . The platoon took heavy losses , with more than half its men listed as killed or wounded ; three of the four guns were put out of action , and two half - tracks and an armored car were destroyed . The divisional report recorded that the " outstanding performance of mass heroism on the part of the officers and men of Company C , 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion , precluded a near catastrophic reverse for the task force " . The 3rd Platoon received the Distinguished Unit Citation for this engagement , the first for a unit attached to the 103rd Division , but more notably , the first African - American unit to do so . Platoon members were awarded nine Bronze Star s , four Silver Star s ( two posthumously ) , and Lieutenant Thomas , who had been seriously wounded , was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . Orders were received for the battalion to move to Neufvillage , France , on 22 Dec , 1944 , and upon arrival they reverted to the control of XV Corps for operations . The Battalion Commander was assigned as Anti - Tank Officer , in charge of AT defense in the division sector , by the 103rd ID . On 28 December , the Commanding General of the 103rd ID personally pinned medals on two officers and eight enlisted men for their actions on 14 December as part of TF Blackshear . In the 1990s , a study indicated severe racial discrimination in the process of awarding medals during the war , and it was recommended that seven Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to African Americans be upgraded to Medals of Honor , an award for which , while technically eligible , none would have been considered at the time . One of these seven was Lieutenant Thomas , and he was accordingly awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously on 13 January 1997 . A winter on the defensive . The closing days of 1944 found the gun companies assigned as follows : Company A with the 410th IR , Company C with the 411th IR and Company B with various part - time assignments , which included guarding the division CP , attachment to the 44th Infantry Division or the 106th Cavalry Group and at times with the battalion CP . The companies participated in a number of small engagements and , at one point , fired artillery missions on attachment to the 928th Field Artillery Battalion . Notable engagements included one on 1 January – where an isolated outpost killed nine and captured two of an enemy patrol in a small - arms firefight – or 12 January , when a two - gun section fired 143 rounds over forty minutes at an observation post , scoring 139 direct hits – a rate of a round every thirty - five seconds from each gun , with 97 % accuracy . When the 103rd Division moved back to prepared lines in the Hagenau Forest on 20 January , the battalion withdrew alongside them . Weather conditions , with snow and ice covered roads , proved to be unfavorable for the 614th ' s equipment with three 3 " guns and six half - tracks having to be abandoned and destroyed in situ . The 2nd platoon of Company C did manage to save a 3 " gun by eventually reaching safety pulling it , and carrying the platoon leader and 14 men , with a 1 / 4 ton " jeep " . On the 25th , Company C was stationed in Schillersdorf when approximately 450 German SS troops attacked . All the men were able to vacate the town except for one officer and 11 enlisted men who were captured . All of the men were liberated and returned home after the war . The battalion remained on the defensive through February , helping fend off raiding parties and infiltrating patrols , and mounted a platoon - strength raid itself that month , with great success . Five members of the unit were awarded Bronze Stars for their part in the raid . The record of this engagement in the contemporary divisional history described the battalion as " the crack negro 614th " , testifying to the high regard in which the unit was held by the 103rd . Advance into Germany . Seventh Army ' s spring offensive began on 15 March , and the 614th moved forward alongside the 103rd . As before , its companies were split up , one to each infantry regiment ; each also possessed a company of the 761st Tank Battalion , another all - black unit . Company A captured the town of Kindwiller with a group of dismounted soldiers , while the battalion reconnaissance company raided Bischholtz and took forty - one prisoners . The advance continued to the Rhine , where the division halted and began a period of military occupation . The end of March saw the battalion located around Waldsee , Germany . On 7 April , the battalion CP was located at Momlingen , Germany , with the companies occupying Neidernberg , Stockstadt , Erlenbach , Ostheim and Momlingen , continuing to perform occupation duties . On 11 April , per General Order No . 141 , Headquarters Seventh Army , the 3rd platoon , Company C , was cited for outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy on 14 December 1944 , in the vicinity of Climbach , France . The division – and the 614th – moved forward again on 21 April , in pursuit of a retreating enemy , seeing sporadic opposition . On 22 April , one NCO was killed , 6 EM captured and one NCO missing when their vehicle was ambushed near Hegenlohe , Germany . On 24 April , the captured EM were released and reported to the Bn CP . Elements of the 44th Infantry Division had contacted a German column , and after a fire fight , many prisoners were captured and a number of Germans killed . During the confusion , the EM were released by the Germans and told to get back to their proper units . The battalion ' s last combat casualties were on 2 May near Scharnitz , Austria , losing seven men ( 5 KIA , 1 WIA , 1 captured ) of a task force pushing towards Innsbruck . The next day , a platoon of Company C was attached to a force sent to seize the Brenner Pass , which they did on the 4th without any opposition , and push through to meet the lead elements of the 88th Infantry Division driving up from Italy . Post War Service . May the 7th found the battalion , minus Company B , at Leutasch and Ober Leutasch , Austria . Company B was in Moserne and later moved to Telfs . Here the battalion was able to rest . On 12 May , General McAuliffe pinned Silver Stars on Captain Walter S . Smith , 1st Lt . Serreo S . Nelson and Lt Christopher J . Sturkey , while his staff pinned the ribbons of the Distinguished Unit Citation on members of the 3rd Platoon of Company C . Officers and men had passes and furloughs until early July when the unit was alerted to move . On the 10th they were ordered to move to Marseilles , France . Here it was found the battalion was to be broken up and the men sent to service units , but after General McAuliffe and others had intervened , the orders were changed and the battalion awaited orders to ship to the Pacific or be assigned to occupation duties in Europe . But , the war in the Pacific ended too and on 10 September 1945 , the battalion received orders to return to Germany . On the 25th , the battalion CP was established at Hofheim with the companies occupying nearby towns . They remained on occupation duty until early 1946 when they were ordered to return to the U . S . The 614th was deactivated on January 31 , 1946 at Camp Kilmer , NJ . The battalion was reactivated as a Negro General Reserve Unit at Camp Hood , Texas , on 30 June 1946 , pursuant to General Orders No . 20 , Headquarters , 2nd Armored Division dated 27 June 1946 . Activated under the command of Lt . Col . Delmer P . Anderson , the 614th received its first shipment of fillers on 1 July from the Overseas Replacement Depot , Camp Kilmer , New Jersey , all of whom were regular Army re - enlistees originally intended for European duty . Additional personnel arrived during July and August . On August 19 , Lt . Col . Henry W . Allerd assumed command , relieving Lt . Col . Anderson . A 13 - week individual training program was started the 3rd week of July . On 3 September , the battalion received two M18 Hellcat tank destroyers to be used for preliminary training . Effective 1 November 1946 , per General Orders No . 43 , Headquarters , Second Armored Division , dated 19 October 1946 , the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was deactivated .