- Manufactured by
- Unidentified
- Issued by
- United States Army, American, founded 1775
- Owned by
- Lieutenant Nicolls, Vernon O., American, 1909 - 2003
- Subject of
- 758th Tank Battalion, American, 1941 - 1945
- Date
- 1942-1945
- Medium
- enamel on silver with metal
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 1 1/4 × 15/16 × 1/4 in. (3.1 × 2.4 × 0.6 cm)
- Caption
- Vernon Nicolls was born in Barbados in 1909 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1915. During World War II, while living in Brooklyn, Nicolls enlisted as a Private in the Army at Fort Jay on Governor's Island, New York, in 1942. After graduating from Officer Candidate School, Lieutenant Nicolls served in Italy with the 758th Tank Battalion, the Army's first African American armored unit.
- Description
- A pin for the 758th Tank Battalion of the United States Army owned by Lt. Vernon O. Nicolls. The pin is rectangular in shape with a rounded bottom edge. The pin is silver with white and black enamel. The pin’s main design element is a white enameled shield shape with the 758th's distinctive unit insignia, the head of an African elephant with large white tusks, centrally depicted. The elephant’s head is enameled in black with white enameled tusks that have been outlined in silver. Below the elephant insignia is the 758th's motto, [WE PIERCE], written in silver, against a black enameled banner. The back side of the pin has a vertically oriented safety closure pin that had been soldered to the pin at each end. There is a stamped mark located just above the bottom pin closure that reads: [[---?] / STERLING].
- Classification
- Awards, Medals, and Insignia
- Type
- pins (fasteners)
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kay L. Nicolls
- Object number
- 2014.142.3
- Restrictions & Rights
- No known copyright restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




