1 00:00:03,636 --> 00:00:05,271 Lt. Colonel Ellis: May it please the court. 2 00:00:05,271 --> 00:00:07,674 In order that the court may better understand 3 00:00:07,674 --> 00:00:10,577 the presentation of the evidence in this case, 4 00:00:10,577 --> 00:00:12,846 we will briefly outline the evidence 5 00:00:12,846 --> 00:00:14,914 and what we expect it to show. 6 00:00:14,914 --> 00:00:17,150 Hitler held a meeting of his army commanders 7 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:21,621 at Bad Nauheim on the 11th or 12th of December, 1944, 8 00:00:21,621 --> 00:00:24,257 where he spoke for some three hours. 9 00:00:24,257 --> 00:00:27,227 In this speech, Hitler stated that the decisive hour 10 00:00:27,227 --> 00:00:29,462 for the German people had arrived. 11 00:00:29,462 --> 00:00:31,831 This fight will be conducted stubbornly 12 00:00:31,831 --> 00:00:35,301 with no regard for Allied prisoners of war 13 00:00:35,301 --> 00:00:39,205 who will have to be shot if the situation makes it necessary. 14 00:00:39,205 --> 00:00:42,742 All troops were warned that in the event of capture, 15 00:00:42,742 --> 00:00:44,644 the existence of these orders 16 00:00:44,644 --> 00:00:47,047 must not be made known to the enemy. 17 00:00:47,047 --> 00:00:50,150 That night, the troops gathered around their campfires, 18 00:00:50,150 --> 00:00:52,052 awaiting zero hour ... 19 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:56,056 (music playing) 20 00:00:58,691 --> 00:01:01,327 Voiceover: By mid-December 1944, 21 00:01:01,327 --> 00:01:03,630 the extreme western front in the Belgian Ardennes 22 00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:05,999 had grown eerily quiet. 23 00:01:05,999 --> 00:01:09,869 Many allied commanders called it the ghost front. 24 00:01:14,174 --> 00:01:17,177 Supply problems in the wake of Operation Market Garden 25 00:01:17,177 --> 00:01:21,915 had left this weakly-defended sector virtually on its own. 26 00:01:26,886 --> 00:01:29,823 In a last desperate attempt to strike back at the Allies, 27 00:01:29,823 --> 00:01:33,093 Hitler, against the advice of many of his senior commanders, 28 00:01:33,093 --> 00:01:36,396 initiated his ultra-secret Ardennes offensive. 29 00:01:36,396 --> 00:01:39,199 The operation would employ half a million men 30 00:01:39,199 --> 00:01:42,302 in over 2,000 pieces of artillery. 31 00:01:42,302 --> 00:01:44,270 Spearheading the offensive 32 00:01:44,270 --> 00:01:48,675 were Hitler's hand-chosen and fanatical Waffen-SS, 33 00:01:48,675 --> 00:01:52,946 which were ordered to spread a wave of terror and fright, 34 00:01:52,946 --> 00:01:56,382 unrestricted by human inhibitions. 35 00:02:00,153 --> 00:02:01,354 Squarely in the path 36 00:02:01,354 --> 00:02:03,756 of Hitler's most experienced storm troopers, 37 00:02:03,756 --> 00:02:05,992 just 6 kilometers from the border, 38 00:02:05,992 --> 00:02:11,731 were men of the African-American 333rd field artillery battalion. 39 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,003 Fighting on the front lines since late June, 40 00:02:17,003 --> 00:02:18,538 they were about to come face to face 41 00:02:18,538 --> 00:02:20,373 with soldiers from the Third Reich, 42 00:02:20,373 --> 00:02:23,776 the most ruthless regime the world has ever known. 43 00:02:23,776 --> 00:02:25,145 (crowd cheering) 44 00:02:25,145 --> 00:02:27,514 (Hitler shouting in German) 45 00:02:29,282 --> 00:02:31,017 Nazi officer: Sieg heil! 46 00:02:31,017 --> 00:02:36,789 (crowd chanting 'sieg heil') 47 00:02:36,789 --> 00:02:39,225 (drums playing) 48 00:02:44,697 --> 00:02:49,936 George: The SS Troopers were the cream of the crop. 49 00:02:49,936 --> 00:02:51,938 They hated our guts. 50 00:02:52,338 --> 00:02:57,510 Inferior, called you monkeys, whatever, 51 00:02:58,044 --> 00:03:00,747 or you weren't as good as a monkey. 52 00:03:00,747 --> 00:03:03,850 Most of them were blond hair and blue eyes. 53 00:03:04,884 --> 00:03:10,757 They were the pure, pure people, so-called, 54 00:03:10,757 --> 00:03:15,395 but I've seen SS Troopers shoot their own people down. 55 00:03:15,395 --> 00:03:16,763 They didn't want to fight. 56 00:03:16,763 --> 00:03:18,598 That's the way they were. 57 00:03:18,598 --> 00:03:20,099 Fanatics. 58 00:03:21,901 --> 00:03:23,536 (wind blowing) 59 00:03:23,536 --> 00:03:26,906 (footsteps) 60 00:03:31,010 --> 00:03:33,346 Nazi officer: (in German) Soldiers of the West front. 61 00:03:36,049 --> 00:03:38,785 Your great hour has arrived. 62 00:03:39,986 --> 00:03:44,057 Large attacking armies have started against the Anglo-Americans. 63 00:03:45,959 --> 00:03:50,396 I do not have to tell you anything more than that. 64 00:03:52,999 --> 00:03:55,034 You feel it yourself. 65 00:03:56,202 --> 00:03:58,705 We gamble everything. 66 00:03:59,272 --> 00:04:02,175 You carry with you the holy obligation 67 00:04:02,175 --> 00:04:03,676 to give everything, to achieve things 68 00:04:03,676 --> 00:04:05,912 beyond human possibilities. 69 00:04:06,913 --> 00:04:11,251 For our Fatherland and our F█hrer. 70 00:04:12,652 --> 00:04:13,987 Heil, Hitler 71 00:04:14,754 --> 00:04:15,755 SS Trooper: Heil, Hitler. 72 00:04:15,755 --> 00:04:17,156 (bombs launching) 73 00:04:18,324 --> 00:04:20,260 (shouting in German) 74 00:04:26,899 --> 00:04:28,301 Voiceover: Just before dawn, 75 00:04:28,301 --> 00:04:31,671 the morning of 16 December 1944, 76 00:04:31,671 --> 00:04:34,707 Adolf Hitler's Ardennes Offensive swung the full might 77 00:04:34,707 --> 00:04:36,376 of the German war machine against 78 00:04:36,376 --> 00:04:39,679 unsuspecting British and American troops. 79 00:04:40,079 --> 00:04:42,749 (wailing sounds) 80 00:04:42,749 --> 00:04:44,717 Soldier: What the! 81 00:04:44,717 --> 00:04:46,919 Voiceover: In those pre-dawn hours of the 16th, 82 00:04:46,919 --> 00:04:50,189 observers from the 333rd field artillery battalion 83 00:04:50,189 --> 00:04:53,493 were the first to report German artillery engagement. 84 00:04:53,493 --> 00:04:55,461 Soldier: King, this is King Charlie three. 85 00:04:55,461 --> 00:04:57,096 Got heavy artillery to our front. 86 00:04:57,096 --> 00:05:00,233 Repeat, heavy concentrated enemy artillery to our front, 87 00:05:00,233 --> 00:05:02,302 and a hell of a lot of it! 88 00:05:02,302 --> 00:05:04,270 Voiceover: The Germans were throwing everything they had 89 00:05:04,270 --> 00:05:06,539 at the lightly-defended American lines. 90 00:05:06,806 --> 00:05:08,908 Five-tubed Nebelwerfer batteries blasted 91 00:05:08,908 --> 00:05:12,945 high explosive rockets 8,500 yards across the border. 92 00:05:12,945 --> 00:05:15,481 Soldiers called the terrorizing sound they made 93 00:05:15,481 --> 00:05:17,417 "Screaming Mimis". 94 00:05:17,417 --> 00:05:23,656 (rockets launching, making wailing sounds) 95 00:05:23,656 --> 00:05:25,358 (loud boom) 96 00:05:25,425 --> 00:05:28,995 (loud boom) 97 00:05:31,364 --> 00:05:35,001 But their most devastating weapon was the 88 gun 98 00:05:35,001 --> 00:05:35,735 Nazi soldier: Fire! 99 00:05:35,735 --> 00:05:37,470 (loud booms) 100 00:05:37,837 --> 00:05:42,075 Voiceover: With a range of well over 16,000 yards. 101 00:05:42,075 --> 00:05:43,176 (boom) 102 00:05:43,176 --> 00:05:44,277 George: The eighty-eight, 103 00:05:44,277 --> 00:05:46,813 that was the baddest weapon in Germany. 104 00:05:46,813 --> 00:05:47,947 You didn't have to see it. 105 00:05:47,947 --> 00:05:50,083 You heard it and felt it. 106 00:05:50,083 --> 00:05:53,953 They used it for anti-personnel, 107 00:05:53,953 --> 00:05:57,557 anti-tank, anti-everything. 108 00:05:57,557 --> 00:05:59,759 They didn't miss much with it. 109 00:05:59,759 --> 00:06:01,394 Voiceover: Americans trapped by thousands 110 00:06:01,394 --> 00:06:05,098 of falling 88 shells had almost no chance. 111 00:06:05,098 --> 00:06:06,866 Soldier: Keep your head low! 112 00:06:06,866 --> 00:06:09,268 (bombs exploding) 113 00:06:09,268 --> 00:06:11,104 (man screams) 114 00:06:11,170 --> 00:06:12,572 Soldier: Get over here! 115 00:06:12,572 --> 00:06:17,110 (explosion) 116 00:06:28,454 --> 00:06:29,722 Voiceover: Today, four men, 117 00:06:29,722 --> 00:06:32,392 including descendents of the 333rd, 118 00:06:32,392 --> 00:06:34,026 have come to the Ardennes to honor 119 00:06:34,026 --> 00:06:36,195 the Americans who fought in this place. 120 00:06:36,195 --> 00:06:40,099 They are led by executive producer, Joseph Small. 121 00:06:42,168 --> 00:06:45,104 Joseph: The 333rd, I have read several accounts, 122 00:06:45,104 --> 00:06:49,008 were considered one of the best field arterial battalions 123 00:06:49,409 --> 00:06:52,044 in the Army in Europe during the war. 124 00:06:53,146 --> 00:06:55,681 Voiceover: The 333rd field artillery battalion 125 00:06:55,681 --> 00:06:59,752 was one of nine all African-American field artillery battalions 126 00:06:59,752 --> 00:07:01,854 deployed to the European theater of operations 127 00:07:01,854 --> 00:07:04,157 in World War II. 128 00:07:06,559 --> 00:07:09,562 Their wartime service began at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, 129 00:07:09,562 --> 00:07:11,998 in March 1943, under the command 130 00:07:11,998 --> 00:07:14,700 of Colonel Harmon S. Kelsey. 131 00:07:15,401 --> 00:07:17,069 George: First time I saw Kelsey 132 00:07:17,069 --> 00:07:19,005 was in Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, 133 00:07:19,005 --> 00:07:21,340 and he made his little speech, 134 00:07:21,340 --> 00:07:25,344 and the only way you get out of this outfit is die out of it. 135 00:07:25,344 --> 00:07:27,647 There's no transfers. 136 00:07:27,647 --> 00:07:31,451 You had one street where you were allowed to walk on, 137 00:07:31,451 --> 00:07:33,219 and that was it. 138 00:07:33,219 --> 00:07:36,422 As a black soldier in the United States Army, 139 00:07:36,422 --> 00:07:38,825 you wasn't as good as a dog, 140 00:07:38,825 --> 00:07:41,694 especially in the South. 141 00:07:41,694 --> 00:07:43,529 I was sitting on a barrack step, 142 00:07:43,529 --> 00:07:45,598 reading a comic book, 143 00:07:46,499 --> 00:07:49,635 and a state-side officer come by, 144 00:07:49,635 --> 00:07:51,604 told me to cut the grass. 145 00:07:51,604 --> 00:07:53,706 I stood up slowly and told him 146 00:07:53,706 --> 00:07:56,642 that as a non-commissioned officer, 147 00:07:56,642 --> 00:07:59,145 I'm not required to do manual labor. 148 00:07:59,145 --> 00:08:02,114 You can put me in charge of a detail, 149 00:08:02,615 --> 00:08:04,784 but I'm not gonna cut that grass. 150 00:08:04,784 --> 00:08:08,588 He hollered, "Jail that nigger!" 151 00:08:09,589 --> 00:08:10,923 There I go. 152 00:08:10,923 --> 00:08:14,126 Then, them MPs dropped out of the sky from somewhere. 153 00:08:14,527 --> 00:08:15,495 Voiceover: Serving under Kelsey 154 00:08:15,495 --> 00:08:17,396 was Captain William McLeod, 155 00:08:17,396 --> 00:08:21,133 who established a special relationship with the men. 156 00:08:23,069 --> 00:08:25,671 George: Shortly after we got to Camp Gruber, 157 00:08:25,671 --> 00:08:27,874 there was a lot of grumbling about, you know, 158 00:08:27,874 --> 00:08:29,442 the guys wanting to kick his butt. 159 00:08:29,442 --> 00:08:33,079 He called the company together and says, 160 00:08:33,079 --> 00:08:35,681 "Anybody that wants to fight me, 161 00:08:35,681 --> 00:08:38,951 "I'll take off my shirt, you take off yours, 162 00:08:38,951 --> 00:08:42,588 "and we'll have a go at it, man to man. 163 00:08:42,588 --> 00:08:45,024 "If you beat me, I'll shake your hand. 164 00:08:45,024 --> 00:08:48,361 "If I beat you, I expect you to shake my hand, 165 00:08:48,361 --> 00:08:49,962 "and it's off the record." 166 00:08:49,962 --> 00:08:52,398 Nobody made another sound. 167 00:08:52,398 --> 00:08:57,670 That's when I guess I fell in love with my captain. 168 00:08:59,639 --> 00:09:04,644 Voiceover: The 333rd were issued the 155mm howitzer M1, 169 00:09:05,511 --> 00:09:07,813 one of the most accurate pieces of artillery 170 00:09:07,813 --> 00:09:11,117 made during the Second World War. 171 00:09:11,517 --> 00:09:13,352 George: They'd do things with them guns 172 00:09:13,352 --> 00:09:17,323 that other outfits couldn't with the same gun. 173 00:09:20,393 --> 00:09:22,995 Voiceover: Once the 333rd arrived in France, 174 00:09:22,995 --> 00:09:26,766 they quickly gained a reputation for their deadly accuracy. 175 00:09:29,035 --> 00:09:31,103 During the battle of La Haye du Puits, 176 00:09:31,103 --> 00:09:33,906 the 82nd airborne struggling with a Tiger tank, 177 00:09:33,906 --> 00:09:37,610 called on the 333rd to take it out. 178 00:09:39,579 --> 00:09:42,782 Battery C fired 4 rounds from 4 guns. 179 00:09:42,782 --> 00:09:45,418 (rockets launching) 180 00:09:46,118 --> 00:09:49,388 (explosions) 181 00:09:49,388 --> 00:09:52,558 Two of the shells were direct hits on the tank. 182 00:09:52,558 --> 00:09:55,394 The distance from Battery C's guns to the Tiger tank 183 00:09:55,394 --> 00:09:58,197 was 9 miles. 184 00:09:59,198 --> 00:10:04,170 George: They used to write things on the shells 185 00:10:04,170 --> 00:10:06,405 detrimental to Mr. Hitler. 186 00:10:06,405 --> 00:10:07,740 (laughs) 187 00:10:07,740 --> 00:10:09,875 But, you know, that's the way you get after a while. 188 00:10:09,875 --> 00:10:11,310 Once you hit them beaches 189 00:10:11,310 --> 00:10:15,081 and you get out of that cold water of the English Channel, 190 00:10:15,081 --> 00:10:17,550 you're a different person. 191 00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:19,285 It's kill or be killed. 192 00:10:19,285 --> 00:10:21,253 You know this. 193 00:10:22,655 --> 00:10:24,390 Voiceover: A company executive producer, 194 00:10:24,390 --> 00:10:28,194 Joseph Small, at the 333rd's former Battery C location 195 00:10:28,194 --> 00:10:30,930 in Schoenberg, Belgium, is Robert Hudson, 196 00:10:30,930 --> 00:10:33,699 whose father fought in the 333rd. 197 00:10:33,699 --> 00:10:35,034 Joseph: Your dad was here, 198 00:10:35,034 --> 00:10:38,804 probably having his morning coffee, his breakfast, 199 00:10:38,804 --> 00:10:42,708 and why don't you tell me what your dad shared with you 200 00:10:42,708 --> 00:10:45,711 about that fateful morning. 201 00:10:46,145 --> 00:10:48,347 Robert H.: My dad was 24 years old. 202 00:10:48,347 --> 00:10:49,849 He's from St. Louis, Missouri. 203 00:10:49,849 --> 00:10:51,317 I think coming over here might have been 204 00:10:51,317 --> 00:10:53,052 his first time out of town, 205 00:10:53,052 --> 00:10:54,654 let alone out of the country. 206 00:10:54,654 --> 00:10:57,857 He said that all the armored cover had been moved 207 00:10:57,857 --> 00:11:02,561 and they were awakened by trees falling, 208 00:11:02,561 --> 00:11:04,263 the earth rumbling, 209 00:11:04,263 --> 00:11:07,099 and they knew they were in trouble. 210 00:11:08,734 --> 00:11:10,703 Voiceover: Hundreds of thousands of German troops 211 00:11:10,703 --> 00:11:12,972 along with tanks, half-tracks and artillery 212 00:11:12,972 --> 00:11:15,441 streamed across the border. 213 00:11:19,311 --> 00:11:22,281 Leading the main effort was the 6th Panzer Army, 214 00:11:22,281 --> 00:11:25,251 commanded by one of Germany's most decorated soldiers, 215 00:11:25,251 --> 00:11:27,553 World War I and Russian front veteran, 216 00:11:27,553 --> 00:11:30,256 General Sepp Dietrich. 217 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:35,895 Hitler's former bodyguard, 218 00:11:35,895 --> 00:11:39,398 Dietrich was despised by most of the higher officer class 219 00:11:39,398 --> 00:11:41,934 who thought he had no great intelligence, 220 00:11:41,934 --> 00:11:44,904 but he had a hard-won reputation for bravery, 221 00:11:44,904 --> 00:11:47,773 and was known as a brutal commander. 222 00:11:49,775 --> 00:11:52,244 His arduous assignment was to move his divisions 223 00:11:52,244 --> 00:11:55,247 across the mountainous Schnee Eifel region. 224 00:11:55,815 --> 00:11:57,416 Once through, they would do battle 225 00:11:57,416 --> 00:12:00,352 in the towns of Schoenberg and St. Vith. 226 00:12:03,456 --> 00:12:04,857 Supporting the 6th Panzer Army 227 00:12:04,857 --> 00:12:07,560 was the fearsome 1st SS division, 228 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:09,261 which included Colonel Max Hansen's 229 00:12:09,261 --> 00:12:11,030 Panzer grenadier regiment, 230 00:12:11,030 --> 00:12:15,334 followed by Major Gustav Knittel's reconnaissance battalion. 231 00:12:15,334 --> 00:12:18,070 They followed the path cut by Colonel Joachim Peiper, 232 00:12:18,070 --> 00:12:22,374 who was greatly admired by Hitler for his fanaticism. 233 00:12:22,374 --> 00:12:24,143 He was a charismatic leader 234 00:12:24,143 --> 00:12:26,612 who inspired fierce loyalty in his men. 235 00:12:26,612 --> 00:12:28,080 His orders were simple. 236 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,883 Move as rapidly as possible to the Meuse River, 237 00:12:30,883 --> 00:12:33,319 and take no prisoners. 238 00:12:35,821 --> 00:12:37,790 By daybreak on the 17th, 239 00:12:37,790 --> 00:12:40,292 General Sepp Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army 240 00:12:40,292 --> 00:12:44,430 reached the 333rd's position at Schoenberg, Belgium. 241 00:12:44,997 --> 00:12:47,633 Robert H.: They had been shelled for the better part of 2 days, 242 00:12:47,633 --> 00:12:50,770 so they had no sleep, no food, 243 00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:54,273 and they were just basically told to make a stand here. 244 00:12:54,273 --> 00:12:56,876 No better place to die. 245 00:12:59,512 --> 00:13:01,680 Voiceover: Battery C, forward-most exposed, 246 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,317 had entered its 2nd day of continuous combat. 247 00:13:06,619 --> 00:13:08,120 Soldier: Counter-battery, fire. 248 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,324 Shell HE, charge 5, fuse quick! 249 00:13:12,324 --> 00:13:17,763 Voiceover: Face deflection right, 2 9 5 S I 3 0 2. 250 00:13:17,763 --> 00:13:22,034 Soldier: Number 2 1 round, elevation 3 7 1. 251 00:13:22,034 --> 00:13:23,369 Soldier: Round ready, sir! 252 00:13:23,369 --> 00:13:24,136 Soldier: Fire! 253 00:13:24,136 --> 00:13:28,741 (loud boom) 254 00:13:28,741 --> 00:13:29,642 Fire! 255 00:13:29,642 --> 00:13:31,844 (loud boom) 256 00:13:34,914 --> 00:13:36,649 Voiceover: 900 meters to their left, 257 00:13:36,649 --> 00:13:39,451 the Volksgrenadier still undetected by Battery C 258 00:13:39,451 --> 00:13:41,554 had the Americans in their sights. 259 00:13:41,554 --> 00:13:43,522 They planned a flanking move with their armor, 260 00:13:43,522 --> 00:13:46,258 mortars, and machine guns to encircle the battery 261 00:13:46,258 --> 00:13:49,361 and take out the guns. 262 00:13:50,896 --> 00:13:53,232 (loud bangs) 263 00:13:54,233 --> 00:13:58,804 (shouting in German) 264 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,510 (rockets launching) 265 00:14:04,510 --> 00:14:06,212 Soldier: Incoming! 266 00:14:06,212 --> 00:14:09,548 (explosions) 267 00:14:09,748 --> 00:14:14,320 (machine guns firing) 268 00:14:15,454 --> 00:14:18,691 (loud explosions) 269 00:14:18,691 --> 00:14:21,994 (screams) 270 00:14:23,229 --> 00:14:24,630 Voiceover: Battery C, which had been ordered 271 00:14:24,630 --> 00:14:26,532 to stay behind and provide covering fire 272 00:14:26,532 --> 00:14:28,868 for the advancing 106th infantry 273 00:14:28,868 --> 00:14:32,972 had no choice but to stand and fight. 274 00:14:32,972 --> 00:14:38,744 (tank rolling closer) 275 00:14:38,744 --> 00:14:41,847 (loud boom) 276 00:14:42,648 --> 00:14:45,784 Battalion commander, Harmon Kelsey, returned from HQ 277 00:14:45,784 --> 00:14:48,787 to Battery C to evacuate as many men as he could 278 00:14:48,787 --> 00:14:50,456 onto three trucks, 279 00:14:51,590 --> 00:14:54,727 leaving behind Captain McLeod and just a few men. 280 00:14:56,962 --> 00:14:59,932 George: The rest of the outfit tried to pull out to safety. 281 00:14:59,932 --> 00:15:02,701 We had to stay behind. 282 00:15:09,842 --> 00:15:14,213 We fired until we ran out of ammunition. 283 00:15:14,914 --> 00:15:18,484 Can't kill but just so many with trench knives, 284 00:15:19,485 --> 00:15:22,855 and they had, I'd say the Germans had to walk over 285 00:15:22,855 --> 00:15:26,058 piles of their dead to get to us. 286 00:15:30,262 --> 00:15:32,698 Voiceover: Hitler's strategy for success in the offensive 287 00:15:32,698 --> 00:15:35,234 hinged on two main assumptions. 288 00:15:35,234 --> 00:15:37,236 First, that the poor weather would ground 289 00:15:37,236 --> 00:15:39,238 Allied fighter planes and allow his troops 290 00:15:39,238 --> 00:15:41,674 to penetrate the Allied line quickly, 291 00:15:41,674 --> 00:15:44,510 and second, that American defenses would crumble 292 00:15:44,510 --> 00:15:48,213 under the weight of his more than 25 divisions. 293 00:15:48,213 --> 00:15:51,483 It would be his last gamble of the war. 294 00:15:56,889 --> 00:16:01,460 (loud boom) 295 00:16:01,460 --> 00:16:04,096 Joseph: Mortars were coming in. 296 00:16:04,096 --> 00:16:09,034 Right back here was their ammunition depot, 297 00:16:09,034 --> 00:16:13,339 and a mortar came in and landed right in the middle of it. 298 00:16:14,173 --> 00:16:15,908 (loud bang) 299 00:16:16,041 --> 00:16:18,110 It didn't blow up, for some reason. 300 00:16:18,110 --> 00:16:21,480 When I spoke with Sergeant Willie Alfonso down in Alabama, 301 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,416 he said that's the reason he's alive today. 302 00:16:24,683 --> 00:16:26,251 (rapid gunshots) 303 00:16:26,251 --> 00:16:27,987 (bullets flying) 304 00:16:28,187 --> 00:16:33,792 (gunshots continue) 305 00:16:35,794 --> 00:16:39,898 The 333rd Battery C was located here. 306 00:16:39,898 --> 00:16:42,501 Soldier: Bring him! Don't leave him there! 307 00:16:42,501 --> 00:16:44,203 Joseph: And instead of fleeing, 308 00:16:44,203 --> 00:16:45,838 Soldier: Keep your head low! 309 00:16:45,838 --> 00:16:47,239 Joseph: They manned their guns. 310 00:16:47,239 --> 00:16:50,609 Soldier: This way, in the hole! 311 00:16:50,609 --> 00:16:53,746 Joseph: And manned whatever rifles they had. 312 00:16:53,746 --> 00:16:54,813 Soldier: Over here! 313 00:16:54,813 --> 00:16:57,449 Joseph: And took them on, 314 00:16:57,449 --> 00:17:00,753 and made a heroic stand on this very spot. 315 00:17:00,753 --> 00:17:04,556 Soldier: Stay on the line, grab that rifle! 316 00:17:04,623 --> 00:17:06,492 (gun shots) 317 00:17:08,961 --> 00:17:11,263 Keep your head low! 318 00:17:11,897 --> 00:17:16,168 (rapid gunshots) 319 00:17:21,774 --> 00:17:23,575 (machine gunfire) 320 00:17:25,577 --> 00:17:26,979 (gunshot) 321 00:17:29,148 --> 00:17:34,620 (reloading rifle) 322 00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:35,754 (machine gun fires) 323 00:17:35,754 --> 00:17:37,790 I don't got enough ammo! 324 00:17:37,790 --> 00:17:42,194 (gun shots) 325 00:17:44,196 --> 00:17:47,066 (rapid gunshots) 326 00:17:47,066 --> 00:17:48,600 (cocks rifle) 327 00:17:49,234 --> 00:17:50,436 (gunshot) 328 00:17:50,803 --> 00:17:51,904 (bullet flies by) 329 00:17:52,471 --> 00:17:53,505 (gunshot) 330 00:17:53,505 --> 00:17:54,873 Got him! 331 00:17:55,274 --> 00:18:10,022 (gunshots continue) 332 00:18:12,124 --> 00:18:13,659 (man shouts) 333 00:18:19,832 --> 00:18:21,467 Aah! 334 00:18:23,869 --> 00:18:25,304 George: That's a hard thing to do 335 00:18:25,304 --> 00:18:28,240 when a man's got a rifle coming at you, 336 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,477 and you know all you've got is a trench knife. 337 00:18:32,077 --> 00:18:33,412 Well, I got a couple, 338 00:18:33,412 --> 00:18:35,781 and some of the other guys got a couple of them. 339 00:18:35,781 --> 00:18:38,851 That was the least of my thoughts, being captured. 340 00:18:38,851 --> 00:18:41,520 Killed, yes. Captured, no. 341 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:46,992 I think the real reason why McLeod surrendered 342 00:18:46,992 --> 00:18:49,761 was to save lives 343 00:18:49,761 --> 00:18:53,398 because there was nothing else he could do. 344 00:18:53,398 --> 00:18:57,002 We could have all died, just fought with what we had 345 00:18:57,002 --> 00:19:01,173 hand-to-hand combat until every man was killed, 346 00:19:01,173 --> 00:19:02,474 but he didn't want that. 347 00:19:02,474 --> 00:19:06,345 He wanted to try to save as many lives as he could, 348 00:19:06,345 --> 00:19:10,149 and that's what he did by surrendering. 349 00:19:17,289 --> 00:19:20,492 (coughing) 350 00:19:20,492 --> 00:19:23,095 Voiceover: Captain McLeod and the men who could walk 351 00:19:23,095 --> 00:19:25,264 were taken prisoner. 352 00:19:28,033 --> 00:19:30,903 The wounded were not. 353 00:19:31,303 --> 00:19:32,638 (gunshot) 354 00:19:38,777 --> 00:19:42,447 On the spot, where the 333rd made their heroic stand, 355 00:19:42,447 --> 00:19:45,384 descendant Robert Deshay recalls the anguish 356 00:19:45,384 --> 00:19:48,120 his father carried throughout his lifetime. 357 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,657 Robert D.: I think our father passed 358 00:19:51,657 --> 00:19:53,859 thinking of himself as a failure. 359 00:19:53,859 --> 00:20:00,532 Regardless of the heroic stand that he made here that day, 360 00:20:00,532 --> 00:20:03,635 I think because of the men, the friends, 361 00:20:03,635 --> 00:20:04,803 the connectedness. 362 00:20:04,803 --> 00:20:06,572 He was a very people-oriented person. 363 00:20:06,572 --> 00:20:10,309 It was very important for him to stand together 364 00:20:10,309 --> 00:20:12,211 with his comrades in arms 365 00:20:12,211 --> 00:20:15,080 in the face of the German onslaught. 366 00:20:17,182 --> 00:20:19,184 Robert H.: These guys put their country first 367 00:20:19,184 --> 00:20:22,721 at a time when perhaps the country didn't put them first. 368 00:20:25,123 --> 00:20:26,592 All these guys were friends. 369 00:20:26,592 --> 00:20:27,893 They mostly came from the South, 370 00:20:27,893 --> 00:20:31,063 many of them knew each other for some time. 371 00:20:34,132 --> 00:20:35,567 They fought for their country. 372 00:20:35,567 --> 00:20:36,635 They fought bravely. 373 00:20:36,635 --> 00:20:38,604 They delayed the Germans to help us 374 00:20:38,604 --> 00:20:41,406 turn the tide of the war. 375 00:20:42,274 --> 00:20:45,143 George: I heard that most of the outfit 376 00:20:45,143 --> 00:20:48,513 we were supporting, the 106th Infantry Division 377 00:20:48,513 --> 00:20:50,849 surrendered without firing a shot. 378 00:20:50,849 --> 00:20:52,084 I can believe it 379 00:20:52,084 --> 00:20:55,554 because they were nothing but cooks, clerks, 380 00:20:55,554 --> 00:20:59,124 and they knew nothing about combat. 381 00:20:59,391 --> 00:21:02,794 When we first saw some of them, their shoes were shined, 382 00:21:02,794 --> 00:21:05,797 pants with creases in them, neckties on, 383 00:21:05,797 --> 00:21:08,367 you don't fight a war like this. 384 00:21:08,367 --> 00:21:10,936 You aren't a SS trooper. 385 00:21:10,936 --> 00:21:12,004 The SS troopers, 386 00:21:12,004 --> 00:21:13,705 they're the ones that dressed all up 387 00:21:13,705 --> 00:21:16,208 in fancy uniforms and everything. 388 00:21:16,208 --> 00:21:17,709 When I first saw them, 389 00:21:17,709 --> 00:21:20,145 we thought the war was over. 390 00:21:21,513 --> 00:21:23,081 Hey, pass the word. 391 00:21:23,081 --> 00:21:24,316 We're going home! 392 00:21:24,316 --> 00:21:25,117 (laughs) 393 00:21:25,117 --> 00:21:26,885 It's all over! 394 00:21:26,885 --> 00:21:29,955 Yeah, it was all over, all right. 395 00:21:33,358 --> 00:21:36,194 All of us that were left alive, 396 00:21:36,194 --> 00:21:38,330 they moved us out on the road 397 00:21:38,330 --> 00:21:40,932 and started walking. 398 00:21:40,932 --> 00:21:45,904 (trumpet music) 399 00:21:47,939 --> 00:22:00,485 (video narrated in German) 400 00:22:05,824 --> 00:22:08,427 Voiceover: In this German propaganda footage, 401 00:22:08,427 --> 00:22:12,297 American POWs of the 333rd field artillery battalion 402 00:22:12,297 --> 00:22:15,033 are herded east towards an uncertain fate. 403 00:22:15,033 --> 00:22:18,603 Many could only imagine the horrors that awaited them. 404 00:22:19,571 --> 00:22:20,906 Among those prisoners 405 00:22:20,906 --> 00:22:25,110 was a stubborn staff sergeant, George Shomo. 406 00:22:26,578 --> 00:22:29,081 George: I saw them when they were taking the pictures. 407 00:22:29,081 --> 00:22:30,515 That was propaganda, 408 00:22:30,515 --> 00:22:33,485 especially when they captured black troops. 409 00:22:34,586 --> 00:22:38,223 They parade you all through these little towns, 410 00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:43,362 and like I said, the die hard Germans were beatin' ya, 411 00:22:43,362 --> 00:22:45,097 and you couldn't do nothing about it. 412 00:22:45,097 --> 00:22:47,366 You'd just keep walking and look straight ahead. 413 00:22:47,366 --> 00:22:49,000 That's all. 414 00:23:03,982 --> 00:23:05,217 Voiceover: The residents of Schoenberg, 415 00:23:05,217 --> 00:23:08,253 including Joseph Bach, just a boy at the time, 416 00:23:08,253 --> 00:23:11,456 witnessed the American surrender. 417 00:23:11,990 --> 00:23:13,892 Joseph: Yes, out there. 418 00:23:13,892 --> 00:23:16,728 There is an old heavy fir tree standing. 419 00:23:16,728 --> 00:23:19,297 That has lived through the whole war. 420 00:23:19,297 --> 00:23:21,099 They came all down from there, 421 00:23:21,099 --> 00:23:23,802 and when they came out of that forest up there, 422 00:23:23,802 --> 00:23:26,538 in front was one with a white flank. 423 00:23:26,538 --> 00:23:28,540 They took up their steel helmets 424 00:23:28,540 --> 00:23:31,109 and you can see it goes down a hill up there 425 00:23:31,109 --> 00:23:32,477 from that street. 426 00:23:32,477 --> 00:23:35,313 So the helmets came rolling down the hill, 427 00:23:35,313 --> 00:23:36,548 one after the other, 428 00:23:36,548 --> 00:23:38,650 came down that hill. 429 00:23:38,650 --> 00:23:41,586 I would say 500 to 600 Americans 430 00:23:41,586 --> 00:23:43,555 were standing on the meadow. 431 00:23:43,555 --> 00:23:45,924 That was a long line along the street. 432 00:23:45,924 --> 00:23:48,693 We were always running through that line. 433 00:23:48,693 --> 00:23:50,028 they were laughing, 434 00:23:50,028 --> 00:23:52,864 and when they began to take out those chocolate bars 435 00:23:52,864 --> 00:23:54,366 out of their bags. 436 00:23:54,366 --> 00:23:57,536 That's what we were excited about as children, 437 00:23:57,536 --> 00:24:00,505 and then mid-day, at around 1 PM, 438 00:24:00,505 --> 00:24:03,308 the whole line was going up there to Manderfeld, 439 00:24:03,308 --> 00:24:08,380 to Germany, probably going into confinement or captivity. 440 00:24:10,816 --> 00:24:14,453 Not far from where we were positioned on top of the hill, 441 00:24:14,453 --> 00:24:18,156 there were Americans on one side and behind us, 442 00:24:18,156 --> 00:24:20,692 and at that time, we saw an American soldier 443 00:24:20,692 --> 00:24:22,794 who had fallen down the hill. 444 00:24:22,794 --> 00:24:23,995 He was wounded. 445 00:24:23,995 --> 00:24:26,731 He was lying down the bottom of the hill 446 00:24:26,731 --> 00:24:28,533 where the brook was. 447 00:24:28,533 --> 00:24:30,969 He was lying half in the water. 448 00:24:30,969 --> 00:24:32,571 There was a woman who was kneeling 449 00:24:32,571 --> 00:24:34,406 next to the American soldier, 450 00:24:34,406 --> 00:24:38,944 and she said the soldier was badly wounded and dying. 451 00:24:38,944 --> 00:24:42,814 She was wiping his face with water from the stream. 452 00:24:42,814 --> 00:24:45,083 The German SS troops who were there 453 00:24:45,083 --> 00:24:47,219 started to shout at the woman 454 00:24:47,219 --> 00:24:49,654 that she shouldn't be touching the soldier. 455 00:24:49,654 --> 00:24:51,723 The woman got mad 456 00:24:51,723 --> 00:24:54,359 and started to scream at the SS troops, 457 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,062 that they should be ashamed of themselves, 458 00:24:57,062 --> 00:25:00,632 that she had to take care of the soldier. 459 00:25:01,199 --> 00:25:03,635 Voiceover: Although combat was over for Captian McLeod 460 00:25:03,635 --> 00:25:06,738 and the men left behind to hold Battery C's position, 461 00:25:06,738 --> 00:25:08,273 Colonel Kelsey still had hope 462 00:25:08,273 --> 00:25:11,676 as he raced his rescued men back towards St. Vith. 463 00:25:11,676 --> 00:25:13,345 He did not realize, however, 464 00:25:13,345 --> 00:25:16,548 that the Germans had already pushed past him. 465 00:25:16,548 --> 00:25:22,754 (shouting in German) 466 00:25:22,754 --> 00:25:25,390 The convoy was surrounded on the Schoenberg Road, 467 00:25:25,390 --> 00:25:28,293 and the men were forced to surrender. 468 00:25:34,099 --> 00:25:35,800 Kelsey's men were turned around 469 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:37,202 and pointed in the direction 470 00:25:37,202 --> 00:25:38,970 of other American prisoner columns 471 00:25:38,970 --> 00:25:41,840 headed back towards Germany. 472 00:25:42,073 --> 00:25:50,248 (airplane flying) 473 00:25:51,316 --> 00:25:54,519 Joseph: Then the planes came again nearby. 474 00:25:54,519 --> 00:25:55,854 One of them took out a carbine 475 00:25:55,854 --> 00:26:01,793 and shot at the American plane. 476 00:26:01,793 --> 00:26:05,397 One of the colonels saw that and went to him, 477 00:26:05,397 --> 00:26:09,634 and told him, "10 minutes and you will be ready to travel, 478 00:26:09,634 --> 00:26:13,238 "and you can come with us." 479 00:26:13,238 --> 00:26:16,741 The Germans were at Crombach behind St. Vith. 480 00:26:16,741 --> 00:26:17,842 "You come along. 481 00:26:17,842 --> 00:26:20,545 "I want to see you here in 10 minutes. 482 00:26:20,545 --> 00:26:24,249 "You can shoot down there to your heart's content." 483 00:26:24,816 --> 00:26:26,184 And he came back. 484 00:26:26,184 --> 00:26:27,786 He had to go into the car with them, 485 00:26:27,786 --> 00:26:31,256 and they took off with him. 486 00:26:39,931 --> 00:26:44,336 (airplane flying) 487 00:26:44,336 --> 00:26:46,938 The American P-47s continued to pound 488 00:26:46,938 --> 00:26:50,241 the German columns, which included American POWs. 489 00:26:50,241 --> 00:26:54,212 One plane came upon the column with Kelsey's men. 490 00:26:58,617 --> 00:27:00,418 (shouting in German) 491 00:27:00,418 --> 00:27:03,054 (gun shots) 492 00:27:03,054 --> 00:27:04,923 In the chaos and confusion, 493 00:27:04,923 --> 00:27:07,125 several of the prisoners escaped. 494 00:27:07,626 --> 00:27:10,161 Before long, they met up with other American escapees, 495 00:27:10,161 --> 00:27:11,997 and the group headed northward, 496 00:27:11,997 --> 00:27:14,666 straight into the path of a rapidly-advancing patrol 497 00:27:14,666 --> 00:27:19,104 from Gustav Knittel's first SS reconnaissance battalion. 498 00:27:24,676 --> 00:27:29,247 These soldiers would become known as the Wereth 11. 499 00:27:30,582 --> 00:27:34,019 (truck drives past) 500 00:27:39,324 --> 00:27:40,859 (distant bell rings) 501 00:27:40,859 --> 00:27:43,628 Joseph: I came through this area a couple years ago, 502 00:27:43,628 --> 00:27:46,665 following in the footsteps in my Uncle Bill Nahari, 503 00:27:46,665 --> 00:27:51,002 who fought here with the 5th Infantry Division, 504 00:27:51,002 --> 00:27:56,007 and I literally stumbled across the story of the Wereth 11. 505 00:27:56,007 --> 00:28:00,712 Really turned my life upside down and fascinated me, 506 00:28:00,712 --> 00:28:04,549 so I started doing all the research I could do on it, 507 00:28:04,549 --> 00:28:07,118 and find out everything that I could. 508 00:28:08,186 --> 00:28:09,688 Voiceover: The Wereth 11 included 509 00:28:09,688 --> 00:28:12,457 Private Curtis Adams of South Carolina, 510 00:28:12,457 --> 00:28:14,459 Technical Sergeant James Aubrey Stewart 511 00:28:14,459 --> 00:28:16,661 of Piedmont, West Virginia, 512 00:28:17,462 --> 00:28:19,531 and Private First Class George Davis, 513 00:28:19,531 --> 00:28:21,866 of Bessemer, Alabama. 514 00:28:22,801 --> 00:28:26,871 Davis was drafted in 1942 at the age of 24. 515 00:28:26,871 --> 00:28:30,075 An only son, he was known as 'Little Georgie' around town 516 00:28:30,075 --> 00:28:32,911 due to his 5'5" in stature. 517 00:28:32,911 --> 00:28:34,846 (bell rings) 518 00:28:34,846 --> 00:28:37,382 He attended a Julius Rosenwald black school 519 00:28:37,382 --> 00:28:39,784 set up by northern philanthropist to help educate 520 00:28:39,784 --> 00:28:42,353 African-Americans during the Great Depression, 521 00:28:42,353 --> 00:28:44,189 and was popular amongst his peers, 522 00:28:44,189 --> 00:28:47,058 especially the women. 523 00:28:48,393 --> 00:28:49,661 James Aubrey Stewart, 524 00:28:49,661 --> 00:28:52,397 one of the oldest of the Wereth 11 at 38, 525 00:28:52,397 --> 00:28:54,432 shared the same birthplace as Harvard professor 526 00:28:54,432 --> 00:28:58,803 Henry Lewis Gates, Jr., Piedmont, West Virginia. 527 00:29:00,138 --> 00:29:01,873 Stewart was the first black employee 528 00:29:01,873 --> 00:29:03,441 of Westvaco paper mill, 529 00:29:03,441 --> 00:29:06,244 where he worked as a brick layer and a carpenter. 530 00:29:07,112 --> 00:29:09,180 He also excelled in athletics as a pitcher 531 00:29:09,180 --> 00:29:12,484 for the all-Black Piedmont Giants baseball team. 532 00:29:12,484 --> 00:29:16,454 Around town, he was regarded as kind and gentle. 533 00:29:16,921 --> 00:29:19,657 Private Curtis Adams was an 8-month newlywed 534 00:29:19,657 --> 00:29:21,760 when he was drafted and sent to Fort Jackson 535 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,928 in Columbia, South Carolina. 536 00:29:24,829 --> 00:29:27,532 Moving on to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, 537 00:29:27,532 --> 00:29:29,834 Curtis was surprised shortly before he shipped out 538 00:29:29,834 --> 00:29:32,937 to see his wife [Katherine] arrive on a greyhound bus 539 00:29:32,937 --> 00:29:36,307 to show him his new son, Jesse. 540 00:29:36,307 --> 00:29:39,377 Robert H.: I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Jesse Adams, 541 00:29:39,377 --> 00:29:42,447 the son of Curtis Adams, about two weeks ago. 542 00:29:42,447 --> 00:29:44,849 He was only 2 years old when his dad died. 543 00:29:45,850 --> 00:29:48,052 Here's a man 68 years old, 544 00:29:48,052 --> 00:29:51,556 knew virtually nothing about his dad, 545 00:29:51,556 --> 00:29:54,592 and to be able to talk to him about how his dad was a hero 546 00:29:54,592 --> 00:29:56,528 and talk to him about the recognition 547 00:29:56,528 --> 00:29:57,929 that he was going to get 548 00:29:57,929 --> 00:30:00,131 really created a bond with this gentleman 549 00:30:00,131 --> 00:30:01,599 that I'll have the rest of my life. 550 00:30:01,599 --> 00:30:02,367 really created a bond with this gentleman 551 00:30:02,433 --> 00:30:05,069 Just to see him smile. 552 00:30:10,041 --> 00:30:10,875 My dad made it. 553 00:30:10,875 --> 00:30:11,876 He was a prisoner of war. 554 00:30:11,876 --> 00:30:12,744 He was shot twice, 555 00:30:12,744 --> 00:30:13,978 but he came back. 556 00:30:13,978 --> 00:30:15,580 He put me through college. 557 00:30:15,580 --> 00:30:17,515 He put me through grad school. 558 00:30:18,283 --> 00:30:20,218 These guys made the ultimate sacrifice, 559 00:30:20,218 --> 00:30:22,787 and they provided a better life for all of us, 560 00:30:22,787 --> 00:30:24,322 and we've got to do everything we can 561 00:30:24,322 --> 00:30:28,026 to make sure they get the recognition that they deserve. 562 00:30:28,593 --> 00:30:30,662 Voiceover: The other men comprising the Wereth 11 563 00:30:30,662 --> 00:30:32,797 mainly hailed from the rural South, 564 00:30:32,797 --> 00:30:36,234 including Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. 565 00:30:41,639 --> 00:30:44,475 Joseph Small along with Robert Hudson and Robert Deshay 566 00:30:44,475 --> 00:30:48,046 have made the trip to Belgium to retrace the 10-mile journey 567 00:30:48,046 --> 00:30:51,616 the Wereth 11 took in their flight to freedom. 568 00:30:53,051 --> 00:30:55,253 As the men made their way northwest, 569 00:30:55,253 --> 00:31:00,124 American POWs were beginning to be brutalized. 570 00:31:01,459 --> 00:31:06,397 George: I found out one thing about the human body. 571 00:31:07,265 --> 00:31:12,203 You can take just so much, then everything blacks out. 572 00:31:12,203 --> 00:31:14,672 Mother Nature takes over, 573 00:31:14,672 --> 00:31:17,475 and they could beat you 'til hell froze over, 574 00:31:17,475 --> 00:31:19,344 and you wouldn't feel it. 575 00:31:19,344 --> 00:31:22,413 I spent the night in Nuremberg stadium 576 00:31:22,413 --> 00:31:24,282 underneath a great big swastika 577 00:31:24,282 --> 00:31:26,684 that you've seen in pictures. 578 00:31:26,684 --> 00:31:29,554 That's where we slept on the snow on the ground. 579 00:31:29,554 --> 00:31:32,957 They used to call us niggers and stuff like that, 580 00:31:32,957 --> 00:31:37,962 but this is stuff that I had heard in the South 581 00:31:37,962 --> 00:31:41,566 way before I went overseas. 582 00:31:41,566 --> 00:31:43,801 My shoulder's messed up right now 583 00:31:43,801 --> 00:31:47,639 from an SS trooper's rifle. 584 00:31:47,639 --> 00:31:48,940 He asked me questions, 585 00:31:48,940 --> 00:31:52,877 and I kept saying my name and my serial number, 586 00:31:52,877 --> 00:31:55,113 which under the Geneva convention, 587 00:31:55,113 --> 00:31:56,514 that's what you're supposed to do. 588 00:31:56,514 --> 00:31:59,684 Name, rank, and serial number. 589 00:31:59,684 --> 00:32:02,921 He swore because I was a sergeant, 590 00:32:02,921 --> 00:32:06,391 that I knew more, or knew a whole lot of information 591 00:32:06,391 --> 00:32:08,393 that they could use. 592 00:32:08,393 --> 00:32:10,495 I didn't know anymore than they did 593 00:32:10,495 --> 00:32:13,998 so he hit me with a rifle butt and knocked me down. 594 00:32:13,998 --> 00:32:16,301 I got up and I laughed at him. 595 00:32:16,301 --> 00:32:18,236 I got hit again. 596 00:32:19,771 --> 00:32:21,439 Erwin: Okay. 597 00:32:21,439 --> 00:32:23,908 We are here now on the other side of the Our River, 598 00:32:23,908 --> 00:32:26,477 on the other side of Schoenberg, 599 00:32:26,477 --> 00:32:31,983 and this is the way the 11 men went through. 600 00:32:33,885 --> 00:32:39,424 Joseph: Well, I just got a feel for what the men endured. 601 00:32:39,424 --> 00:32:42,827 I'm wearing this World War II era gear, 602 00:32:42,827 --> 00:32:47,065 and I'm hot, I'm winded, 603 00:32:47,065 --> 00:32:49,834 and these guys were out here in the elements, 604 00:32:49,834 --> 00:32:55,540 and to come up that hill and not really have 605 00:32:55,540 --> 00:32:56,874 a sense of direction, 606 00:32:56,874 --> 00:33:00,144 and just going through these woods alone, 607 00:33:00,979 --> 00:33:04,115 you really start to feel for them. 608 00:33:05,149 --> 00:33:06,250 Voiceover: The weather conditions 609 00:33:06,250 --> 00:33:08,920 the Wereth 11 endured were brutal. 610 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:10,421 The temperatures kept dropping, 611 00:33:10,421 --> 00:33:12,123 and it began to sleet. 612 00:33:12,123 --> 00:33:14,192 The Battle of the Bulge itself would be fought 613 00:33:14,192 --> 00:33:17,962 during one of the coldest European winters on record. 614 00:33:17,962 --> 00:33:20,331 Hands and feet became frostbitten, 615 00:33:20,331 --> 00:33:22,333 and everything from the water in canteens 616 00:33:22,333 --> 00:33:25,269 to the water-cooled machine guns froze. 617 00:33:25,269 --> 00:33:27,538 Men were lucky if they had a single blanket 618 00:33:27,538 --> 00:33:30,074 to share between three men in a foxhole. 619 00:33:30,074 --> 00:33:33,144 For many, staying alive became secondary 620 00:33:33,144 --> 00:33:35,980 to staying warm. 621 00:33:43,054 --> 00:33:44,255 Erwin: This is the halfway point 622 00:33:44,255 --> 00:33:48,760 between the village of Schoenberg and Wereth. 623 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:53,598 To the right, there's the village of Herresbach, 624 00:33:53,598 --> 00:33:56,234 and this is also a reason that the soldiers 625 00:33:56,234 --> 00:33:57,468 had to take this road 626 00:33:57,468 --> 00:33:59,237 because they were convinced 627 00:33:59,237 --> 00:34:02,373 that was already taken by the Germans. 628 00:34:03,674 --> 00:34:06,778 Joseph: It was the largest battle fought 629 00:34:06,778 --> 00:34:10,915 in the history of modern warfare. 630 00:34:12,116 --> 00:34:15,920 German unit here, an American unit here, 631 00:34:16,521 --> 00:34:20,958 fighting it out with tanks and artillery. 632 00:34:20,958 --> 00:34:24,128 (drums) 633 00:34:43,448 --> 00:34:45,316 It was just so brutal 634 00:34:45,316 --> 00:34:49,320 and the 333rd was a big part of it. 635 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:54,725 Specifically, the 11 men that just walked down this road 636 00:34:54,725 --> 00:34:58,329 to Wereth, which is where we're going to go to next. 637 00:35:03,601 --> 00:35:06,137 Voiceover: Herman Langer was just 12 years old 638 00:35:06,137 --> 00:35:10,108 when the 11 men arrived at his family farm in Wereth. 639 00:35:13,077 --> 00:35:15,813 Herman: That was on 17 December 640 00:35:15,813 --> 00:35:19,150 in the afternoon at 4 o'clock 641 00:35:19,817 --> 00:35:22,553 when the 11 Black American soldiers 642 00:35:22,553 --> 00:35:26,090 came down from the woods towards our house. 643 00:35:29,961 --> 00:35:34,098 They were wet and cold and were hungry, 644 00:35:34,098 --> 00:35:37,168 and they asked if they could possibly have something to eat, 645 00:35:37,168 --> 00:35:40,171 upon which they came into our house, 646 00:35:40,171 --> 00:35:42,273 where my mother and my sister 647 00:35:42,273 --> 00:35:45,042 put bread and water on the table for each of them 648 00:35:45,042 --> 00:35:47,678 so they could eat something. 649 00:35:51,883 --> 00:35:53,818 My father tried to explain to them 650 00:35:53,818 --> 00:35:57,221 that they should quickly take the path behind the house 651 00:35:57,221 --> 00:36:00,024 to look towards St. Vith, 652 00:36:00,024 --> 00:36:04,028 but my father was unable to make them understand. 653 00:36:04,028 --> 00:36:07,031 He tried to point them in that direction 654 00:36:07,031 --> 00:36:11,002 so that they would be in safety. 655 00:36:12,637 --> 00:36:18,476 A woman whose husband also was an SS man met the SS. 656 00:36:18,876 --> 00:36:22,547 She must have told him, one tells oneself, 657 00:36:24,282 --> 00:36:27,418 there are still black people. 658 00:36:27,418 --> 00:36:30,922 Then, suddenly, the SS vehicle drove up 659 00:36:30,922 --> 00:36:34,992 and stopped directly in front of the house. 660 00:36:44,368 --> 00:36:47,205 (shouting in German) 661 00:36:48,172 --> 00:36:49,674 (cocks gun) 662 00:36:51,108 --> 00:36:54,612 I cannot say whether they carried the white flag 663 00:36:54,612 --> 00:36:57,181 when they had gone out, 664 00:36:57,181 --> 00:36:58,683 but when they went out, 665 00:36:58,683 --> 00:37:02,119 they had their hands up and walked out. 666 00:37:02,119 --> 00:37:05,223 They never wanted to get into a shoot out. 667 00:37:05,223 --> 00:37:07,158 (SS officer shouts in German) 668 00:37:09,894 --> 00:37:12,597 It was wet and cold there. 669 00:37:12,597 --> 00:37:20,471 They were freezing and trembling from the cold. 670 00:37:20,471 --> 00:37:24,542 So my father suggested to the chief of the SS group 671 00:37:24,542 --> 00:37:28,079 that they should let the prisoners go in the shed 672 00:37:28,079 --> 00:37:32,383 because we had a shed to shelter for wagons and carts 673 00:37:32,383 --> 00:37:35,386 and you could have easily put the prisoners in there 674 00:37:35,386 --> 00:37:39,090 because it was sleeping. 675 00:37:39,090 --> 00:37:41,359 One soldier said that they would get warm again 676 00:37:41,359 --> 00:37:45,329 walking in front of the car. 677 00:37:51,702 --> 00:37:53,571 When it started to get dark, 678 00:37:53,571 --> 00:37:56,841 they set off, and they had to walk in front of the cars 679 00:37:56,841 --> 00:38:01,012 down to here, and then to this spot. 680 00:38:01,712 --> 00:38:04,215 Voiceover: This part of Belgium before World War I 681 00:38:04,215 --> 00:38:05,983 was still a part of Germany. 682 00:38:05,983 --> 00:38:08,019 Herman Langer's father had taken a great risk 683 00:38:08,019 --> 00:38:10,788 sheltering the American soldiers. 684 00:38:10,788 --> 00:38:13,190 Three of the nine homes in the town at the time 685 00:38:13,190 --> 00:38:16,794 were still loyal to Germany. 686 00:38:17,762 --> 00:38:19,830 The 11 men were led down a path 687 00:38:19,830 --> 00:38:24,669 and told to sit on a wet slope in a pasture and wait. 688 00:38:25,303 --> 00:38:29,674 (music playing) 689 00:38:44,221 --> 00:38:49,593 (car engine) 690 00:38:52,163 --> 00:38:58,169 (footsteps in snow) 691 00:38:59,904 --> 00:39:01,806 (gun clicks) 692 00:39:03,774 --> 00:39:06,344 George: These were guys out of my outfit. 693 00:39:06,344 --> 00:39:10,815 They just mutilated them and murdered them 694 00:39:28,632 --> 00:39:31,702 and left them laying out there in the field. 695 00:39:31,702 --> 00:39:36,006 When spring thaw come, they found their bodies. 696 00:39:43,347 --> 00:39:45,583 Herman: I believe that we went to church, 697 00:39:45,583 --> 00:39:50,388 which was, I think, on second February, 698 00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:59,029 and we saw the bodies that had been left there. 699 00:40:25,956 --> 00:40:27,691 Voiceover: Six weeks after the American soldiers 700 00:40:27,691 --> 00:40:29,460 were brutalized and killed, 701 00:40:29,460 --> 00:40:31,695 word reached command HQ that a grizzly scene 702 00:40:31,695 --> 00:40:33,931 had been discovered at Wereth. 703 00:40:33,931 --> 00:40:35,733 A war crime investigative team, 704 00:40:35,733 --> 00:40:38,702 including a surgeon, an army photographer, 705 00:40:38,702 --> 00:40:41,071 quickly descended upon the sight. 706 00:40:41,071 --> 00:40:42,473 Soldier: That man appears to have been allowed 707 00:40:42,473 --> 00:40:45,342 to dress his own wounds. 708 00:40:45,342 --> 00:40:46,844 Voiceover: It was clear that all had been 709 00:40:46,844 --> 00:40:50,414 savagely tortured before they died. 710 00:40:51,515 --> 00:40:53,484 The men's contorted faces exhibited 711 00:40:53,484 --> 00:40:55,786 multiple face and jaw fractures. 712 00:40:55,786 --> 00:40:58,489 Fingers were severed and legs were broken. 713 00:40:58,489 --> 00:41:02,226 Bayonet wounds were present through the eye sockets. 714 00:41:07,431 --> 00:41:08,899 Soldier: War crime does not begin 715 00:41:08,899 --> 00:41:12,236 to be a strong enough term for this. 716 00:41:22,179 --> 00:41:23,814 Voiceover: By the time the bodies were discovered 717 00:41:23,814 --> 00:41:27,017 in mid-February 1945 at Wereth, 718 00:41:27,017 --> 00:41:32,022 the Battle of the Bulge was over. 719 00:41:32,022 --> 00:41:34,225 After the rapid German gains in mid-December, 720 00:41:34,225 --> 00:41:36,327 the enemy offensive bogged down. 721 00:41:36,327 --> 00:41:39,330 (explosions) 722 00:41:39,797 --> 00:41:42,867 Stiff American resistance by various isolated units 723 00:41:42,867 --> 00:41:45,803 had given time for the US 1st and 9th Armies 724 00:41:45,803 --> 00:41:48,606 to shift against the German northern flank. 725 00:41:48,606 --> 00:41:51,175 The British had sent reserves to secure the Meuse River 726 00:41:51,175 --> 00:41:53,143 and Patton's 3rd Army shut down 727 00:41:53,143 --> 00:41:56,480 the enemy attack in the south. 728 00:41:57,414 --> 00:41:59,583 The cost of victory was heavy. 729 00:41:59,583 --> 00:42:03,120 Nearly 50,000 American soldiers were casualties, 730 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:06,490 including 19,000 dead. 731 00:42:07,958 --> 00:42:10,528 No headlines had trumpeted the battle's end. 732 00:42:10,528 --> 00:42:13,030 The Allies continued their march into Germany 733 00:42:13,030 --> 00:42:15,666 and for American prisoners of war, 734 00:42:15,666 --> 00:42:19,270 their nightmare was finally over. 735 00:42:25,910 --> 00:42:27,244 Moosburg, Germany. 736 00:42:27,244 --> 00:42:30,681 That's where I was finally liberated at in that camp. 737 00:42:30,681 --> 00:42:32,983 That was the last camp I was in. 738 00:42:32,983 --> 00:42:37,354 We saw the German guards pulling off their uniforms 739 00:42:37,354 --> 00:42:38,722 and this was something. 740 00:42:38,722 --> 00:42:41,792 The American troops never done that. 741 00:42:41,792 --> 00:42:44,128 You could be shot as a spy 742 00:42:44,128 --> 00:42:48,599 if you've got civilian clothes underneath your uniform. 743 00:42:49,300 --> 00:42:52,336 These cats would pull off them old baggy ... 744 00:42:52,336 --> 00:42:54,805 I was wondering why that German soldiers' uniforms 745 00:42:54,805 --> 00:42:56,006 were so baggy. 746 00:42:56,006 --> 00:42:57,341 Now I knew, 747 00:42:57,341 --> 00:43:00,244 because they had civilian clothes underneath them. 748 00:43:01,679 --> 00:43:05,516 Patton come through and said we were out of the war. 749 00:43:05,516 --> 00:43:07,418 As soon as the weather permitted, 750 00:43:07,418 --> 00:43:10,788 we'd be flown back to France. 751 00:43:21,565 --> 00:43:25,869 Herman: I had left here in 1961. 752 00:43:25,869 --> 00:43:30,040 I now live 65 kilometers [west]. 753 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,276 When I came up here, 754 00:43:37,181 --> 00:43:43,053 it always bothered me that there was nothing to remember 755 00:43:43,053 --> 00:43:45,122 what we have seen years before, 756 00:43:45,122 --> 00:43:48,425 and 50 years later, I was retired. 757 00:43:48,425 --> 00:43:52,062 I had more time, and I had the idea to build up 758 00:43:52,062 --> 00:43:56,734 a three-meter high wooden cross here. 759 00:43:58,669 --> 00:44:00,971 I had the wood cut already, 760 00:44:00,971 --> 00:44:03,140 but my father-in-law's grave 761 00:44:03,140 --> 00:44:12,616 who had died in 1939 and had to be cleared away in 1994. 762 00:44:12,616 --> 00:44:15,152 I had the stone cross available, 763 00:44:15,152 --> 00:44:18,689 and I thought stone lasts longer than wood, 764 00:44:18,689 --> 00:44:22,393 and so I did this instead. 765 00:44:22,393 --> 00:44:24,828 Anne-Marie No█l-Simon is in charge of 766 00:44:24,828 --> 00:44:26,664 the Wereth Memorial in Belgium. 767 00:44:26,664 --> 00:44:30,934 Anne-Marie: This is Ada Rikken, our president. 768 00:44:30,934 --> 00:44:34,972 For Ada it was really a big important thing, 769 00:44:34,972 --> 00:44:40,911 and overall she talked about the Wereth Memorial, 770 00:44:40,911 --> 00:44:45,783 and the US Memorial Wereth was her baby. 771 00:44:45,783 --> 00:44:53,490 In 2002, we have no money to realize the memorial, 772 00:44:53,490 --> 00:44:59,129 and Louis, Jonckeau, Ada, and myself, 773 00:44:59,129 --> 00:45:04,668 we put money on the table to buy the ground, 774 00:45:04,668 --> 00:45:09,606 to pay the land surveyor, to pay the notary 775 00:45:09,606 --> 00:45:14,845 and to pay all that we must pay. 776 00:45:14,845 --> 00:45:20,050 It was with the help of Ada's friend, 777 00:45:20,050 --> 00:45:22,319 Norman Lichtenfeld in America, 778 00:45:22,319 --> 00:45:27,858 and with the help of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center 779 00:45:27,858 --> 00:45:29,159 in Germany 780 00:45:29,159 --> 00:45:33,397 and the ROCKS Corporation, European Chapter, 781 00:45:33,397 --> 00:45:46,210 that finally we can have 50,000 euros to make this small 782 00:45:46,210 --> 00:45:49,546 but fine, I think, Memorial. 783 00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:54,351 (serene music) 784 00:46:13,637 --> 00:46:15,939 Joseph: Today, we're here in Wereth, Belgium, 785 00:46:15,939 --> 00:46:21,645 to honor 11 members of the 333rd field artillery battalion 786 00:46:21,645 --> 00:46:23,847 that were brutally massacred on this site 787 00:46:23,847 --> 00:46:28,786 December 17, 1944. 788 00:46:28,986 --> 00:46:32,689 The names of the 11 members are as follows: 789 00:46:32,756 --> 00:46:36,093 Technical Sergeant William Edward Pritchett. 790 00:46:36,093 --> 00:46:39,296 Technical Sergeant James A. Stewart. 791 00:46:39,296 --> 00:46:42,699 Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Forte. 792 00:46:42,699 --> 00:46:45,469 Corporal Mager Bradley. 793 00:46:45,469 --> 00:46:50,007 Private First Class George Davis. 794 00:46:50,007 --> 00:46:53,744 Private First Class James Leatherwood. 795 00:46:53,744 --> 00:46:57,848 Private First Class George W. Moten. 796 00:46:57,848 --> 00:47:02,386 Private First Class Due W. Turner. 797 00:47:02,386 --> 00:47:04,888 Private Curtis Adams. 798 00:47:04,888 --> 00:47:06,924 Private Robert Green. 799 00:47:06,924 --> 00:47:10,594 Private Nathanial Moss. 800 00:47:14,865 --> 00:47:19,903 I was really moved and saddened by this story. 801 00:47:19,903 --> 00:47:25,776 I thought that the men's dignity was taken from them, 802 00:47:25,776 --> 00:47:29,213 and that really bothered me. 803 00:47:30,514 --> 00:47:34,718 I set out on a mission to make sure 804 00:47:34,718 --> 00:47:37,654 the citizens of America 805 00:47:37,654 --> 00:47:39,456 and the citizens of Europe, 806 00:47:39,456 --> 00:47:42,192 they knew what happened to those 11 men, 807 00:47:42,192 --> 00:47:45,495 and make sure they knew the contribution 808 00:47:45,495 --> 00:47:51,468 of the 333rd field artillery battalion during World War II. 809 00:47:51,468 --> 00:48:06,750 (sung) Amazing Grace, 810 00:48:06,750 --> 00:48:21,064 (sung) how sweet the sound 811 00:48:21,064 --> 00:48:38,982 (sung) that saved a wretch like me. 812 00:48:38,982 --> 00:48:42,252 (sung) Oh, Lord. 813 00:48:42,252 --> 00:48:55,532 (sung) I once was lost 814 00:48:55,532 --> 00:49:08,178 (sung) but now I'm found. 815 00:49:08,178 --> 00:49:26,496 (sung) Was, I was blind, but now I see. 816 00:49:37,841 --> 00:49:39,977 Voiceover: The murder of the 11 Americans at Wereth 817 00:49:39,977 --> 00:49:42,079 was not the only war crime committed 818 00:49:42,079 --> 00:49:45,315 on December 17, 1944. 819 00:49:46,817 --> 00:49:49,753 Just 25 kilometers to the west, in Malmedy, 820 00:49:49,753 --> 00:49:52,856 in a more well-known atrocity, 821 00:49:52,856 --> 00:49:56,660 90 American soldiers of the 285th Field Artillery 822 00:49:56,660 --> 00:49:58,662 Observation Battalion were mowed down 823 00:49:58,662 --> 00:50:02,232 by men of the Kampfgruppe Peiper, 824 00:50:02,232 --> 00:50:05,135 part of the 1st SS division. 825 00:50:19,449 --> 00:50:24,121 And the very next day, December 18, 1944, 826 00:50:24,121 --> 00:50:27,657 the same SS unit of Kampfgruppe Peiper 827 00:50:27,657 --> 00:50:32,329 systematically executed 130 Belgian civilians 828 00:50:32,329 --> 00:50:35,165 in the village of Stavelot. 829 00:50:41,204 --> 00:50:44,307 Charged with sheltering American soldiers, 830 00:50:44,307 --> 00:50:53,116 67 men, 47 women, and 23 children were brutally executed. 831 00:50:56,219 --> 00:50:57,788 Lt. Col Ellis: Is that your handwriting? 832 00:50:57,788 --> 00:51:00,290 Woman: (translates in German) Yes. 833 00:51:00,290 --> 00:51:01,358 Lt. Col Ellis: That's your signature? 834 00:51:01,358 --> 00:51:03,727 Woman: (translates into German) Yes. 835 00:51:03,727 --> 00:51:05,128 Voiceover: These war crimes committed by 836 00:51:05,128 --> 00:51:08,498 Joachim Peiper's battle group were prosecuted vigorously 837 00:51:08,498 --> 00:51:12,502 at Dachau by lead investigator Colonel Burton Ellis. 838 00:51:12,502 --> 00:51:14,671 Lt. Col Ellis: The 1st SS Panzer regiment, 839 00:51:14,671 --> 00:51:16,006 commanded by the accused, 840 00:51:16,006 --> 00:51:19,676 Peiper passed on this order to subordinate commands 841 00:51:19,676 --> 00:51:22,312 in words and substance to the effect that, 842 00:51:22,312 --> 00:51:25,248 "This fight will be conducted stubbornly 843 00:51:25,248 --> 00:51:29,019 "with no regard for Allied prisoners of war, 844 00:51:29,019 --> 00:51:31,288 "who will have to be shot if the situation 845 00:51:31,288 --> 00:51:34,958 "makes it necessary and compellative." 846 00:51:36,927 --> 00:51:38,095 Voiceover: In what became known as 847 00:51:38,095 --> 00:51:39,930 the Malmady Massacre Trial, 848 00:51:39,930 --> 00:51:43,433 Joachim Peiper, Gustav Knittel, and Sepp Dietrich 849 00:51:43,433 --> 00:51:46,937 were found guilty of war crimes. 850 00:51:47,337 --> 00:51:48,872 Officer: It is a bloody record indeed 851 00:51:48,872 --> 00:51:51,441 that the first SS Panzer regiment set for itself 852 00:51:51,441 --> 00:51:53,110 in this one short week. 853 00:51:53,110 --> 00:51:56,680 These comrades all would have been alive today 854 00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:59,983 if it had not been for the 1st SS Panzer regiment, 855 00:51:59,983 --> 00:52:03,220 and they must not have died in vain. 856 00:52:04,321 --> 00:52:05,655 Judge: It is the members present at the time 857 00:52:05,655 --> 00:52:07,290 the vote was taken concurring, 858 00:52:07,290 --> 00:52:10,360 sentences you to life imprisonment. 859 00:52:18,001 --> 00:52:20,770 Sentences you to life imprisonment. 860 00:52:23,707 --> 00:52:26,977 Present at the time the vote was taken concurring, 861 00:52:26,977 --> 00:52:30,413 sentences you to death by hanging. 862 00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:46,363 Voiceover: All sentences, including Peiper's death sentence 863 00:52:46,363 --> 00:52:49,900 were later reduced to shortened prison terms. 864 00:52:50,667 --> 00:52:52,769 The last Nazi war criminal to leave prison 865 00:52:52,769 --> 00:52:57,641 was Joachim Peiper in late December 1956. 866 00:53:01,645 --> 00:53:03,446 Although an investigation was launched 867 00:53:03,446 --> 00:53:05,081 into the massacre at Wereth, 868 00:53:05,081 --> 00:53:10,053 it was closed administratively on February 19, 1947. 869 00:53:12,956 --> 00:53:15,458 In the final Congressional report on the massacres 870 00:53:15,458 --> 00:53:17,627 committed by the 1st SS division, 871 00:53:17,627 --> 00:53:20,197 all locations of war crimes committed in Belgium 872 00:53:20,197 --> 00:53:21,565 during the Battle of the Bulge, 873 00:53:21,565 --> 00:53:24,000 along with the approximate number of persons murdered, 874 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,470 both civilian and military were listed. 875 00:53:27,470 --> 00:53:30,774 Wereth was absent. 876 00:53:50,694 --> 00:53:52,162 Through the efforts of Herman Langer 877 00:53:52,162 --> 00:53:55,799 and other private citizens in Belgium and the United States, 878 00:53:56,433 --> 00:54:00,170 the Wereth Memorial site survives as hallowed ground, 879 00:54:00,170 --> 00:54:01,705 preserved in lasting remembrance 880 00:54:01,705 --> 00:54:03,974 to the final acts of courage of the 11 men 881 00:54:03,974 --> 00:54:08,111 of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion. 882 00:54:09,579 --> 00:54:13,750 It is the only memorial in Europe dedicated to the service 883 00:54:13,750 --> 00:54:17,721 of African-American GIs in World War II. 884 00:54:17,721 --> 00:54:28,798 (sung) I see the glory, the promised land. 885 00:54:31,801 --> 00:54:37,274 (sung) Promised land. 886 00:54:38,074 --> 00:54:49,419 (sung) Ooh, promised land. 887 00:54:53,623 --> 00:55:00,130 (sung) Seen the promised land. 888 00:55:00,563 --> 00:55:06,136 (sung) Seen the promised land. 889 00:55:07,003 --> 00:55:21,051 (sung) I've seen the promised land. 890 00:55:33,063 --> 00:55:39,269 (music plays) 891 00:58:40,850 --> 00:58:43,453 George: Twenty-one days at sea on the Liberty ship 892 00:58:43,453 --> 00:58:48,291 coming home in a storm 893 00:58:48,291 --> 00:58:52,328 with rivers popping up out the ship and everything, 894 00:58:53,263 --> 00:58:58,601 then you get on land, you see German POWs 895 00:59:00,103 --> 00:59:05,341 dressed in nice uniforms, all clean and everything, 896 00:59:05,341 --> 00:59:09,913 well fed, and they're calling us names. 897 00:59:11,080 --> 00:59:16,953 We came in at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, 898 00:59:17,620 --> 00:59:20,657 and they had to call out the National Guard and everybody 899 00:59:20,657 --> 00:59:24,994 to keep us from killing them German POWs. 900 00:59:27,130 --> 00:59:29,198 I came out of the army with nothing 901 00:59:29,198 --> 00:59:32,101 but the clothes on my back. 902 00:59:33,202 --> 00:59:36,639 That's what happened to black troops down there. 903 00:59:36,639 --> 00:59:39,609 They hand me a train ticket, 904 00:59:39,609 --> 00:59:43,346 my separation papers, that was it, 905 00:59:43,346 --> 00:59:54,791 and I rode in a washroom from Alabama to Washington D.C. 906 00:59:55,825 --> 01:00:01,864 There was a whole empty car in the back of where, 907 01:00:01,864 --> 01:00:04,534 you know, where I was supposed to be sitting at. 908 01:00:04,534 --> 01:00:06,035 They wouldn't let us go in there. 909 01:00:06,035 --> 01:00:08,705 It was just four of us rode in the restroom. 910 01:00:08,705 --> 01:00:11,674 One of the guys was a Lieutenant, 911 01:00:11,674 --> 01:00:15,445 but I didn't mind because after combat and everything, 912 01:00:15,445 --> 01:00:19,716 hell, that was paradise riding somewhere in the train. 913 01:00:20,049 --> 01:00:23,286 I just made the best of it.