Old age dwindling ranks of black World War II tank battalion PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - They survived a war and racist policies of the 1940s. But old age is now claiming the lives of the few remaining members of the 761st Tank Battalion & Allied Veterans Association, the first black tank battalion to fight in World War II. The Black Panthers, as they are known, have met for an annual reunion since 1948. Thirty or 40 years ago, more than 300 black veterans would attend the gatherings held in cities around the country. The group's leaders expect about 20 men to attend this year's event, down from last year's 31. Six men canceled the trip to Pontiac because of illness. ’We're dying out fast," Rufus Taylor, 90, of Pontiac told the Detroit Free Press. They plan to discuss merging with another veterans group, the 758th Armored Group. Newton Long, the Black Panthers' 76-year-old president, said that would help increase their membership. While some in the Army didn't think the black troops were smart or deft enough to maneuver tanks and fight on the front lines, the Black Panthers distinguished themselves in the Battle of the Bulge. They blitzed through six countries in six months and won several medals for bravery and a Presidential Unit Citation in 1978. ’It was something you wanted to be a part of," Johnny Holmes, 82, of Chicago said as tears streamed down his face. ’I got an opportunity to do something - to fight for my country." A few of the veterans, decked out in their Veterans of Foreign Wars caps and green battalion jackets, gathered to discuss the future more than the past. Some carried canes, others sat in wheelchairs. ’You remember how it was, but you don't dwell on it," said Taylor, who ran a taxi business after the war and worked for more than 30 years in a General Motors Corp. factory. ’It makes you feel good about the progress you made - and reminds you we still have a ways to go."

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