Paul L. Bates
| Paul L. Bates | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 4, 1908 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | 21 February 1995 (aged 86) Dunedin, Pinellas County, Florida, U.S. |
| Buried at | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1941 - 1963 |
| Rank |
 Colonel
|
| Commands held | 761st Tank Battalion |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
 Silver Star Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal (2) Purple Heart
|
Paul Levern Bates (March 4, 1908 – February 21, 1995) was a United States Army officer. He served a distinguished and decorated career in the United States Army, which most notably included commanding the first black tank battalion to enter combat in World War II. He also became well known as the white colonel who refused to court-martial future Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.
Bates was born in Los Angeles, California and graduated in 1931 from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College, where he was a star football player and a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He also worked as a high school football coach and a teacher before entering the Army as a First Lieutenant in February 1941.
In January 1943, then Lieutenant Colonel Bates, took command of the 761st Tank Battalion, all of whose enlisted men were black. The unit, whose shoulder patch had a black panther, inflicted thousands of casualties on the enemy and captured, destroyed or liberated more than 30 major towns, four airfields, three ammunition-supply dumps, 461 wheeled vehicles, 34 tanks, 113 large guns and a radio station.
When the unit completed training in rigidly segregated boot camps in Louisiana and Texas, Bates refused a promotion from Lieutenant Colonel that would have separated him from what he regarded as one of the best tank battalions in the Army. He was eventually promoted to Colonel.
While in Texas, Bates refused to court-martial a black officer who had refused to move to the rear of a bus at Fort Hood. That officer was Jackie Robinson, who was subsequently court-martialed for insubordination, but not convicted, and left the 761st before it went overseas. Praising Bates for his fairness and good judgment in his autobiography, Robinson would go on to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The 761st entered combat in November 1944 as part of General George S. Patton's Third Army and fought for 183 consecutive days without relief, according to David Williams, a battalion veteran and the author of the novel Hit Hard. The battalion fought in France, then in Germany, where it pierced the Siegfried Line, and then in Belgium, where it fought the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. The 761st also fought in Luxembourg and Austria. In all, the 761st Tank Battalion went from Vic-sur-Seille, France, to the Enns River in Steyr, Austria, where it linked up with the Soviet Army.
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