"Come Out Fighting"

"Come Out Fighting"

Medical Detachment of the 761st Tank Battalion

World War--1939-1945

Veterans--Florida

A photograph captured by Staff Sergeant Humphrey McCarter of a medical detachment belonging to the 761st Tank Battalion. The photograph is then featured on page 118 of Trezzvant W. Anderson’s “Come out Fighting: The Epic Tale of the 761st Tank Battalion, 1942-1945.”

A notable soldier listed in the photograph's description is Clifford C. Adams (1923-1944). Adams was born in Charleston, SC, but raised in Overtown, FL. A suburb of Miami, Overtown became a center for Miami’s black community at a time when Miami was becoming increasingly segregated. The Army assigned Adams to the 761st Tank Battalion and landed him and his comrades in France on October 9, 1944. During the Battalion’s first combat mission, Adams was struck in the chest by an exploding shell while giving medical attention to another soldier; he died later that day.

The Florida-France Soldiers Stories Project seeks to tell the stories of the Florida soldiers buried in the American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries in France. Our goal is to honor and commemorate the brave individuals who gave their lives supporting the Allied forces, liberating France, and defeating Germany in the Second World War. Simultaneously, our goal is to teach the students who participate in this research project about the history of France and Florida during World War II, about the history of individual servicemen, and about how to implement historical research methods in their work.

Humphrey McCarter

Digital reproduction of original black and white photograph.

Salzburger Druckerei und Verlag

ca. 1944

ca. 1945

Florida-France Soldier Stories Project Collection, RICHES.

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1 black and white photograph with text.

eng

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History Teacher

Originally created by Humphrey McCarter and published by Salzburger Druckerei und Verlag.

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Nystrom, Brett

"Florida-France Solider Stories Memorializes Veteran Experiences." CAH News, June 21, 2023. https://news.cah.ucf.edu/news/florida-france-soldier-stories-memorializes-veteran-experiences/

Anderson, Trezzvant W. Come Out Fighting: The Epic Tale of the 761st Tank Battalion, 1942-1945. Salzburger Druckerei and Verlag, 1979.

"COME OUT FIGHTING"<br>
(Photo by S-Sgt. Humphrey McCarter)<br>
These Medics Performed Heroic Service Under Fire and Under all Sorts of Conditions<br>
Here is our Medical Department, at the end of the war. It was this detachment which lost the first member of the 761st to die in action, when Private Clifford C. Adams, of Waco, Texas, was killed on November 8, 1944, on the first day of battle.<br>In the picture, from left to right, they are: Front row: Sergeant Ray Roberson; Private First Class Arthur Fowler; Private First Class Wardell Hughes; Private First Class Ralph Crayton; Private First Class Albert Aikens; Private First Class Louis Hayles; and Private First Class Jessie Fobbs.<br>Standing: Corporal Floyd Humphrey, Jr.; Corporal Nathan Folse; Corporal Richard Yewell; Staff Sergeant John Phifer; Captain William H. Bruce, Jr.; Private First Class Farris Phillips; Corporal Homer Bracey; Sergeant Charles R. Stewart; and Technical Sergeant Howard Bowman.