Wereth 11
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The Wereth 11 were 11 African-American soldiers who were brutally murdered in Wereth, Belgium on December 17th, 1944. They had become separated from their unit after being ordered to evacuate their positions during the Battle of the Bulge. The men made their way to Wereth, where a farmer, Mathias Langer, sheltered them. However, a Nazi sympathizer revealed their presence to members of the 1st Waffen-SS Panzer Division. The 11 then surrendered, but were taken to a field, where they were tortured, maimed and shot. The victims were part of 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, an all-black unit of the then segregated US Army.
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[edit] Names
The victims' names were:
- Technical Sergeant William Edward Pritchett of Alabama
- Technical Sergeant James A. Stewart of West Virginia
- Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Forte
- Corporal Mager Bradley of Mississippi
- Private First Class George Davis of Alabama
- Private First Class James Leatherwood
- Private First Class George W. Morten
- Private First Class Due W. Turner of Arkansas
- Private Curtis Adams of South Carolina
- Private Robert Green
- Private Nathanial Moss
Curtis Adams was a medic. Thomas J. Forte was a mess sergeant.
[edit] Memorials
- In May 2004, a memorial was dedicated to the 11 in Wereth on Langer's land.
- In 2006, veterans with the Worcester, Massachusetts chapter of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge dedicated what is presumed to be the first memorial to the 11 on U.S. soil. It was dedicated at the Winchendon Veterans' Memorial Cemetery on August 20th.
[edit] External links
- Wereth.org, an organization set up to remember the 11
- Stars & Stripes account of massacre
- Mobile Register account of memorial
- 333d FA Battalion page
- 333d FA Battalion
