Warren G. H. Crecy entered the Army from Corpus Christi, Texas on Dec. 12, 1942, and conducted initial training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Later, Sgt. Crecy continued his training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and became part of the first all black tank force, the 761st Tank Battalion.
Sgt. Crecy deployed with his unit overseas to England in Aug. 1944, and landed in France on Oct. 7, 1944. The 761st was initially committed to battle on Oct. 31, 1944. The 761st distinguished itself by extraordinary gallantry, professionalism, courage and high esprit de corps in the accomplishment of unusually difficult and hazardous operations in the European theater of operations from the Oct. 31, 1944 to May 6, 1945, during 183 days of continuous combat.
In one of the first major combat actions of the 761st, in the vicinity of Morville-les-Vic, France, the battalion faced a reinforced enemy division. It was during the fighting at Morville-les-Vic that Sgt. Crecy first distinguished himself under fire. Crecy lost his tank when it was knocked out by enemy anti-tank fire. He immediately dismounted, took command of another vehicle which carried only a .30 caliber machine gun, and destroyed the anti-tank gun and crew.
On the next day of the offensive, when his tank was bogged down in the mud, Crecy fearlessly faced enemy anti-tank and artillery and machine gun fire by dismounting and attempting to extricate his vehicle from the mud. In the course of his work, he noticed advancing friendly infantry units crossing open terrain under enemy machine gun fire. Crecy unhesitatingly mounted and manned the tank's anti-aircraft gun from an exposed position and neutralized the enemy machine guns by direct fire, thereby aiding the infantry in its advance. Later in the day he again exposed himself by mounting his tank turret and destroying enemy machine gun nests with direct fire and aided in silencing one enemy anti-tank gun. Crecy's fearless determination and risk of life was so extraordinary that it set him far apart from his comrades. He was in the forefront of every attack during the 761 st's 183 days of constant combat. The more fire he drew upon himself, the harder he fought.
He was a dauntless and resolute leader as well as tank commander in his role as platoon sergeant and later as a platoon leader in a medium tank company. On May 16, 1945, Crecy received a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant.
He was an effective leader, who displayed remarkable tactical ability and initiative as he led his platoon in the attack during World War II. But, perhaps his greatest story of all was his twenty-four year fight against death which ended in 1976. In 1952, in the Korean War, Crecy's tank was hit by a missile and the entire lower half of his face was blown away. His first thoughts were of his men and he had to be restrained to keep from going through enemy fire to see about them. Everyone except Warren Crecy thought his wounds would be fatal and that there was no hope for survival. He spent five years at Letterman General Hospital recovering and in the early days even his doctors could not believe that he would live. His survival attempts were so innovative that many of them are now being used by patients today. When he heard of other patients who were despondent, he would visit them and encourage them to resume the fight. He worked hard on any assignment he was given, but he wanted to get back to his tanks and was heartbroken when he was finally retired as a Major on full disability. Warren Crecy suffered a massive heart attack and lapsed into a coma for a long period of time. He finally succumbed to a heart attack in 1976 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery - a fighter until the very end.
Major Warren G. H. Crecy was one of the most decorated black Army officers of World War II whose dedication to duty distinguished himself above his contemporaries. His intrepid actions and daring leadership lives on as an inspiration to the men with whom he fought and others who followed.
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