Part of an effort to chronicle the history of the first African Americans to serve in armored units, this history recounts the service of the 784th Tank Battalion. It paints a picture of World War II as seen through the eyes of soldiers who had to confront second-class treatment by their army and fellow soldiers while enduring the horrors of war.

Special emphasis is placed on the ways in which these war experiences contributed to the American civil rights movements of the 1960s.