The Unspoken Truth: Remembering The Lost Eleven of the Wereth Massacre

“The world’s greatest democracy fought the world’s greatest racist with a segregated army.”

-          Stephen E. Ambrose, American Historian

“You have no business fighting the white man’s war”, his dad says, his hand forming into a fist. “You don’t need to fight for freedom that you don’t even have. Let the white boys go. They’re the ones who are free. Not us.”

-          (heated discussion between Lil’ Georgie Davis and his father) The Lost Eleven (2017, p.55)

“So, Lil’ Georgie wants to go to war?” he says aloud, shaking his head. “What’s wrong with that boy? Can’t he see how white folks treat us here in Bama? Let Uncle Sam kill off Jim Crow first, and then maybe we’ll be more likely to go. No way my only son is gonna fight this white man’s war.”

-          (heated words stated loudly from Mr. Davis to his wife, Mrs. Davis) The Lost Eleven (2017, p.55).

 “Roll, Jordan, roll. Roll, Jordan, roll. I wanter go to heav’n when I die, to hear ol’ Jordan roll…”, Georgie had heard the old Negro spiritual many times during his twenty-three years, sung by his grandmother at family funerals, and by choirs at tent camp meetings. The tune always seen to calm his mother when she gets worried or anxious. “Roll, Jordan roll/ Roll, Jordan roll/Oh keep my Georgie safe/O Lord/ Roll, Jordan roll….,” his mother sings, each refrain becoming louder, faster, and sung with more deeply felt emotion, the lyrics changing with each stanza as she personalizes them.  

-          (Mrs. Davis sits in her rocker, closes her eyes, and starts to sing with a strong voice and a steady rhythm) The Lost Eleven (2017, p.55).

“Mr. Davis rises from his chair. Tried my best to protect that child all his life long. Got him up to twenty-two years old. Don’t want to lose him now on some foreign battlefield. I don’t care what the boy wants. Lil Georgie will enlist in Uncle Sam’s army over my dead body.”

-          (Thoughts of Mr. Davis arising from discussion with his son, Lil Georgie) The Lost Eleven (2017, p.56).

 My Dear Readers,

Writing to you from the barge navigating one of the small canals along the city of Harrlem, The Netherlands. The name Harrlem, is the given name of my birthright city, Harlem, New York, an area settled by the Dutch in 1658.  I am in Europe to fulfill professional and personal commitments. I am here to tell a story; a true story that is either unknown or forgotten by many that took place 80 years ago. It is also a story of shame and embarrassment of the United States; 1) for sending a segregated army to fight for democracy and freedom against terror and racism of Nazism, 2) while engaging in or permitting domestic terrorism, Jim Crow laws, lynching, and denying democracy and freedom at home.

Professional & Personal Commitments

To explain my professional and personal commitments: professionally, as a clinical traumatologist, I am here to bear witness to man’s inhumanity as in telling such tragedies, as in remembrance, these are never to be forgotten. In bearing witness, I seek to bring “openness “to what has been attempted to be euthanized - a painless death by either openly (overtly) or discreetly (covertly) denying, evading, avoiding, distracting (D.E.A.D.). Therefore, the objective is the:

·         Uncovering … of the truth… the exposure of lies…

·         Discovering … educating… sharing… informing…

·         Recovering … healing … balancing psychological wounds…

Sharing Kinship

To understand my personal commitments, I share kinship with these men. Although I am “northern born” in Harlem New York, I spent my childhood developmental years in the segregated south, Newport News, VA, where my schooling was for “colored only”. In similarity to these men, my father, grandfather and the “colored men” since the Civil War, I too, served in military service. Although, at the time of my service, the armed forces were no longer “officially” segregated, the common theme we continue to share were racism, Jim Crow laws, and segregation outside the confines of military installations.

Purpose - Homage ... Respect ... Validation

In this blog writing, I seek to share a factual account of 11 members of a segregated African American combat unit, the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, that during the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium, while providing crucial support to white troops during the siege of Bastogne, ammunition exhausted, fighting hand to hand combat, were overrun by the military units of the Waffen SS.

 Among the few to escape the Nazi’s devastating Ardennes offensive, they found refuge in the small village of Wereth, Belgium. A farmer and his family welcomed the exhausted and half-starved men into their home. However, they were betrayed by a neighbor, who summoned members of Waffen SS.  Rather than place the family at risk of death, the 11 soldiers decided to surrender with the expectation of being treated as POWs (prisoners of war) under the rules of the Geneva Convention.  Instead, they were forced to march to a nearby field, where they were all tortured, executed and their bodies mutilated. The story of their deaths is based on the observations and first-hand accounts of the farmer and his family.

Omission … Denial ... Forgotten

Despite their bravery and sacrifice, these eleven soldiers were omitted from the final Congressional War Crimes Report of 1949.  For seventy years their files -marked secret -gathered dust in the National Archives.  However, because of Hemann Langer, son of the farmer who had welcomed the 11 black soldiers continue to verbalize the story of their bravery and sacrifice.  This eventually led to a memorial built in Wereth, Belgium dedicated to the Wereth Eleven and all African American soldiers who fought in Europe.

Jim Crow in Military Service December 1941

In 1941, America’s armed forces have fewer than four thousand African Americans serving in the military.  Only twelve are officers. Civilian life segregation practices spill over into the United States military, demanding that the white and colored militia be separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve in the same organization.  No organization of colored troops are permitted where white troops were available.

  Colored troops could only be under the command of white officers often selected from the segregated South due to their special knowledge of how to control black people.  Black soldiers with the exception of several combat units, were assigned to noncombat units and were relegated to service and menial labor far behind the combat action, even though they yearn for active combat duty. The Lost Eleven (2017 p.63).

Consistent Themes WWI & WWII

America’s entrance in WWII occurred 23 years following the conclusion of WWI. A similar theme being in WWI, African Americans sailed to Europe, fighting for democracy and freedom; concepts that were denied to them at home.

Questioning of Participation in Uncle Sam’s War

As the United States prepared for entry into WWII, questions were being asked by the African American community in consideration of participating in “Uncle Sam’s War”. These included:

·         “Would it be asking too much to demand full citizenship rights in exchange for the sacrificing of black lives?”

·         “Should I sacrifice my life to live as a half-American?”

·         “Will things be better for the next generation of Americans in the peace to follow?”

·         “Will America be a true and pure democracy after the war?”

·         “Will colored Americans continue to suffer the indignities that have been heaped upon them in the past?”

The Double V Campaign … Victory at Home, Victory Aboard.

Prior to America’s entry into WWII, Black communities were making demands for African Americans fighting for their country overseas, to receive full citizenship rights at home.  This campaign known as the Double V Campaign, Victory at Home, Victory Abroad, was used in black communities nationwide sporting Double V lapel pins, displaying giant posters and catchy music tunes supporting the cause to achieve full citizenship.  These communities along with the NAACP and other black civil rights organizations flooded the White House, Congress and the courts with letters and post cards asking that action be taken to achieve equal and full rights of citizenship.

Fears Within … Truths being Felt

“He’ll come back to us soon, safe and sound” Mr. Davis assures his wife. “I came back from the war {WWI}. So will he. Anyway, he’ll be safe because the army is not putting colored boys in combat.” …. Yet even as he says the words, a sense of doom fills this father’s grieving heart. And deep within his soul, he knows his son will not come home again. 

-          (Mr. Davis words and thoughts). The Lost Eleven (2017, p.69).

Spoken Truths: The leadership of Black Soldiers

“Everybody knows coloreds will never cut it in combat.  They’re not as smart as white soldiers, and they’re cowards-everybody knows that.  They are not an asset, but a drain on the army’s resources. And when the 333rd fails to master that weapon (155mm howitzer), my career will be history.”

-          Lt. Colonel Kelsey, Commander 333rd Field Artillery Battalion. The Lost Eleven (2017, p.82).

Jim Crow arrives In Europe

“Although the black soldiers are a very useful addition to our war effort, their presence certainly raises a problem to those of our American allies.  I want your standards to conform as near as possible to those of our American allies.  The American regards a Negro as a child and not equal of the white races. Please conform to that idea.”

-          (Unknown reporter Chicago Daily Herald). The Lost Eleven (2017, p.147).

The Wereth Massacre… Death arrives for The Lost Eleven

As previously stated, the eleven black soldiers surrendered with the understanding they would be treated as prisoners of war.  Instead, they were forced to march in the freezing cold to a nearby field in which they experienced brutal torturous deaths. 

 The deaths are described by Captain William Everett, who examined the frozen bodies, after acknowledging the bodies had been buried in the snow for two months.  In his official medical report, he wrote that “the eleven men have been systemically and severely tortured, suffering multiple wounds all over their bodies”. He notes the following injuries:

·         Sergeant William Pritchett’s legs have been broken; his jaw had been fractured in two places.

·         Sergeant Audrey Stewart, Privates Curtis Adams, and Robert Green have had their skulls bashed in, hit with a hard object from behind.

·         Sergeant Fort’s four fingers have been removed, along with the fingers of some of the other men, their wedding rings gone.

·         Many of the men’s eyes have been bayoneted out; and their heads and bodies stabbed multiple times.  Most have suffered fractures to their skulls, believed to have been made by rifle butt blows to the head.

·         Tire marks on their bodies indicate some of the men have been run over by vehicles before dying.

·         All the men have been shot, the bullet wounds designed to inflict pain and anguish, rather than cause immediate death.

“There can be no democracy in the United States that does not include democracy for blacks… Americans want to talk only about the good features of American life and hide our problems like skeletons in the closet.”

-          Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady (spouse of Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Concluding Words- Dr. Kane

During the Battle of the Bulge there was another massacre of American soldiers.  This massacre was known as The Malmedy Massacre in which a group of 113 White Americans were taken to a field and executed by machine gunfire. 

 The Malmedy Massacre was well documented, with military trials conducted to punish those involved.  The Wereth Massacre although documented, was classified as secret.  The families of the men murdered at the Wereth Massacre were officially informed by the US government that their loved ones had been “killed in combat” during enemy engagement.

 The lies were not unraveled, and the truths exposed until 1994.  By that time, parents and siblings had died, not knowing the truth associated about their brutal, heinous, and non-combat related deaths.

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 “Whatever, happens men, we did our jobs the best we could. We served our country.”

 My Dear Readers,

As these men were led out to a nearby field, they knew they were going to die.

 I have brought to you, truth… regarding the story of The Lost Eleven.  In April 2024, I traveled to Belgium, to the site of the Wereth Massacre. I stood on the same ground that these beautiful, valiant, and courage men stood as they were led into that field and murdered.   As I stood there, it was very cold, the snow was falling and there was a hushed quietness and emptiness in the area.  I could only imagine their exhaustion, hunger, and fear they endured as they awaited their fate.

 I recall the earlier questions asked by African Americans as to whether to participate in seeking democracy and freedom by fighting racism in Europe while living under racism and being denied democracy and freedom at home.  I will now answer several of those questions that remain relevant today.

“Will things be better for the next generation of Americans in the peace to follow?”

·         Response: Thanks to the sacrifices made by previous generations things are better for African Americans. However there remains much to be done. To this very day in 2024, we continue to endure racism and discrimination and if this continues, we will be living the lives of “half Americans.”

“Will America be a true and pure democracy after the war?”

·         Response: Several major wars have followed since WWII and America has not achieved a “true and pure democracy”. Such achievement cannot occur simply during the legislative process, it must occur as a societal movement.  America has not indicated any desire to act to become part of such a moment.  As clearly stated by Eleanor Roosevelt, “Americans want to talk only about the good features of American life and hide our problems like

skeletons in the closet.”

“Will colored Americans continue to suffer the indignities that have been heaped upon them in the past?”

·         Response: Yes… most definitely yes. African Americans, as demonstrated in its commitments to fight America’s wars, will continue to express love for America… the question will remain.

When will America return the same expression of love to its African Americans.

 *************************************************************************************

 From the book “The Lost Eleven” (2017 p.296-297):

As We Wait for Death

“The Lord is my Shepard; I’ll not want. He lays me down in green grassy pastures and leads me to green pastures” (Private Adams)

“He restores my soul. Leads me along paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (Private Davis)

“Yes, when I walk through the valleys, and the death shadows hang long and heavy over me, I shall fear no evil and no Knauts ; for God is right with me…” (the men in unionism)

God sets a table before me with my enemies all around… (Private Adams)

“Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me – and all of us – all the days- of” (Private Adams, his voice choking, not finishing).

“All the days of our lives…And we will go home and live in the house with our dear loving Lord- where it’s warm and we’re at peace-forever and ever and ever.” (Sergeant Stewart). 

I once was lost and now I am found. Luke 15.10

Remembering The Lost Eleven. May these blessed men, now having been rediscovered and no longer forgotten…  continue to rest peacefully.

The Unspoken Truth... Truths now spoken.