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Walter Jenkins originally misses out on getting drafted due to a hole in his heart. He is delighted as opportunities open up for him. For example, he is closer to his girlfriend, and he has just been named the head waiter at the Waldorf Hotel. Neither he nor his family has any stake in the war. Yet, merely hours after getting his promotion, he discovers that he has been drafted, as the latest heart scans show the hole has gotten significantly smaller. Though Walter is assured that the 761st will never see action, it is the camaraderie formed with his squadron, from playing baseball and boxing (his passion back in his hometown of Harlem) to enduring the divided Jim Crow South, that turns Jenkins into the mountain of a man that he eventually becomes.
The haunting image of white men standing at their station with rifles determined to shoot the Black soldiers captivates readers. Even a reference to Jackie Robinson, who was a lieutenant at the time, adds to the aura of division and, ultimately, the path that leads to unifying the country. The Harlem Raiders, as the 761st battalion has named their tank, ends up playing a pivotal role, one that pushes Jenkins and company to the brink of survival but never rattles their resolve. Transporting readers to the most tenuous moment in world history, World War II, Buchanan paints a poignant picture of the racial tensions during segregation while simultaneously shedding light on a tenacious group of Black soldiers that would form the first all-black battalion squad: the 761st Tank Battalion. Using Jenkins, who is in a nursing home in the present day, and Joseph Shapiro, a representative from Stabler Books who is there to take down his story, Buchanan delivers dynamic commentary on everything from war, division, enduring friendships, and more.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review