he 740th tank battalion was activated at Fort Knox, Ky. on March 1, 1943. It trained at Fort Knox and at Camp Bouse, Az. as a canal defense light (CDL) unit and as a standard medium tank battalion from October 15, 1943 to April 24, 1944 then sailed to England on July 26, 1944. It landed at Utah Beach, Normandy, France on November 1, 1944 and entered combat on December 19, 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. In it's first half hour of combat, it stopped the furthest advance of the German 1st SS Panzer Division at Stoumont Station, Belgium. Fighting it's way toward the German border. It reached the Siegfried line near Udenbreth, Germany. It then fought on the Cologne Plain at Duren and Cologne, Germany. Shifting to the south, the battalion again breached the Siegfried Line near Saarbrucken, Germany. It was then sent back north to the Ruhr Pocket battle then crossed the Elbe River at Bleckede, Germany on April 30, 1945 after which it proceeded north, joining the British 2nd Army at Schwerin, Germany on the Baltic Sea at war's end.

The battalion fought in the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland and central Europe campaigns having served under the 1st, 1st Allied Airborne, 3rd, 7th, 9th U.S. Armies and the 2nd British Armies.

Army of Occupation duties were performed until the battalion was deactivated on July 23, 1946.

13  members of the battalion gave their lives for our country, may they never be forgotten.