Paul L. Bates, 86, Colonel In World War Ii Led First Black Tank Battalion, Dies From Cancer

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Paul L. Bates, the white colonel who refused to court-martial Jackie Robinson and who commanded the first black tank battalion to go into battle in World War II, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 86.

Bates' 761st Tank Battalion entered combat in November 1944 as part of Gen. George Patton's Third Army and fought for 183 consecutive days without relief, veteran David Williams wrote in his memoirs, "Hit Hard."

The unit captured, destroyed or liberated more than 30 major towns, 34 tanks and four airfields.

In 1978, President Carter awarded the 761st a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism.

Bates took command of the battalion, all of whose enlisted men were black, in January 1943.

It was at Fort Hood, Texas, that Bates refused to court martial Robinson after the future baseball star refused to move to the back of a bus.

Robinson went on to break the color barrier in major league baseball by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.