When the Third Army under General
George S. Patton got ahead of
its supply lines during World War II, Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
decided to send the Red Ball Express, the nickname of a transportation
unit comprised of African-American troops to race ahead of the advancing American forces to catch up with and supply Patton's tank division. The unit became famous for overcoming tremendous odds, and sustaining severe casualties, to successfully supply Patton's forces, a feat memorialized in
Boetticher's film
Les conducteurs du diable (1952). In 1979 Boetticher,
at a symposium at UCLA, revealed that the U.S. Department of Defense
pressured Universal Pictures--the film's producer--to alter its
portrayal of the tense race relations that existed at the time and to
emphasize an upbeat, positive spirit. Commenting on the studio's
whitewashing of history, Boetticher said, "The army wouldn't let us
tell the truth about the black troops because the government figured
they were expendable. Our government didn't want to admit they were
kamikaze pilots. They figured if one out of ten trucks got through,
they'd save Patton and his tanks".
