WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.258 (soft music) 3 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:09.676 --> 00:00:12.929 - [Nicholas] Being black, having dark skin in America 5 00:00:12.929 --> 00:00:17.183 75 years ago was linked to being enslaved. 6 00:00:17.183 --> 00:00:21.354 The legacy of slavery was deemed a necessary evil 7 00:00:21.354 --> 00:00:25.442 for the development of a continent and wealth of a nation. 8 00:00:25.442 --> 00:00:28.445 Forever identified as being a characteristic 9 00:00:28.445 --> 00:00:31.573 of the southern states, it was ubiquitous, 10 00:00:31.573 --> 00:00:34.451 existing in northern states like New Jersey 11 00:00:34.451 --> 00:00:35.827 and the New England region. 12 00:00:36.703 --> 00:00:39.539 It eventually took a civil war 13 00:00:39.539 --> 00:00:41.416 to decide the social direction 14 00:00:41.416 --> 00:00:43.585 of the rapidly expanding nation. 15 00:00:44.711 --> 00:00:46.296 A fictitious character, Jim Crow, 16 00:00:46.296 --> 00:00:47.839 (playful piano music) 17 00:00:47.839 --> 00:00:51.843 and popular song, "Jump, Jim Crow" was created in 1828 18 00:00:51.843 --> 00:00:55.055 as a minstrel performance done in blackface 19 00:00:55.055 --> 00:00:58.433 by white composer, Thomas Dartmouth Rice. 20 00:00:59.934 --> 00:01:03.188 ♪ Wheel about and turn about and do just so ♪ 21 00:01:03.188 --> 00:01:07.108 ♪ Every time I wheel about I jump Jim Crow ♪ 22 00:01:07.108 --> 00:01:08.568 - [Nicholas] It lampooned blacks 23 00:01:08.568 --> 00:01:11.946 as slow witted, lazy, and cowardly. 24 00:01:12.906 --> 00:01:16.409 Becoming widely popular by 1838, 25 00:01:16.409 --> 00:01:20.872 Jim Crow became a pejorative term for black Americans. 26 00:01:21.873 --> 00:01:23.083 (intense drum music) 27 00:01:23.083 --> 00:01:26.086 At the close of the civil war in 1865, 28 00:01:26.086 --> 00:01:29.506 the Klu Klux Klan and others were formed 29 00:01:29.506 --> 00:01:31.925 as a paramilitary terror group 30 00:01:31.925 --> 00:01:36.763 with a platform of nativist white racial supremacy. 31 00:01:36.763 --> 00:01:40.433 Their object was to control the social progress 32 00:01:40.433 --> 00:01:42.852 of now freed black Americans, 33 00:01:42.852 --> 00:01:46.064 and they often used violence to accomplish it. 34 00:01:46.064 --> 00:01:49.442 Today, the term, Jim Crow, survives, 35 00:01:49.442 --> 00:01:52.529 reflecting a time period in American history 36 00:01:52.529 --> 00:01:54.906 where racial segregation was made law 37 00:01:54.906 --> 00:01:58.618 by Southern legislatures and would be enforced. 38 00:01:58.618 --> 00:02:01.246 The Klan, as it came to be called, 39 00:02:01.246 --> 00:02:05.959 terrorized the black American communities, and in 1871, 40 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.628 in a response to widespread violence, 41 00:02:08.628 --> 00:02:11.714 Congress passed the Klu Klux Klan Act, 42 00:02:11.714 --> 00:02:13.758 which authorized President Grant 43 00:02:13.758 --> 00:02:17.137 to use military force to suppress the KKK. 44 00:02:18.596 --> 00:02:22.892 Still, problems remained at the close of the 19th century, 45 00:02:22.892 --> 00:02:24.894 and the races remained divided, 46 00:02:24.894 --> 00:02:26.688 and attempts to keep it that way 47 00:02:26.688 --> 00:02:29.023 reached the highest court in the land. 48 00:02:30.733 --> 00:02:33.945 The legal principle of separate but equal 49 00:02:33.945 --> 00:02:37.657 became United States law in 1896, 50 00:02:37.657 --> 00:02:42.328 with the US Supreme Court case, Plessy versus Ferguson. 51 00:02:42.328 --> 00:02:44.831 This cemented disenfranchisement 52 00:02:44.831 --> 00:02:49.502 and discrimination of blacks for the next 60 years. 53 00:02:49.502 --> 00:02:51.421 It was an oppressive time in the South 54 00:02:51.421 --> 00:02:54.591 for most black Americans, so those who could 55 00:02:54.591 --> 00:02:57.969 decided to leave for more racially tolerant northern 56 00:02:57.969 --> 00:03:00.513 and western cities and states. 57 00:03:00.513 --> 00:03:05.476 From 1910 to 1960, over 4 million African Americans 58 00:03:06.352 --> 00:03:07.645 migrated out of the South. 59 00:03:08.771 --> 00:03:10.940 But the reception they received 60 00:03:10.940 --> 00:03:13.860 often was less than welcoming. 61 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.529 In cities like New York and Chicago, 62 00:03:16.529 --> 00:03:19.991 blacks lived in squalid, expensive tenements, 63 00:03:19.991 --> 00:03:22.660 and faced continued social restrictions. 64 00:03:23.870 --> 00:03:26.789 After World War One, in America, 65 00:03:26.789 --> 00:03:31.211 a series of violent race riots ensued across the country 66 00:03:31.211 --> 00:03:34.047 in a period known as the Red Summer. 67 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:39.010 In rapidly growing industrial towns like Chicago, 68 00:03:39.010 --> 00:03:41.387 frustrations and tempers grew short 69 00:03:41.387 --> 00:03:45.808 on a hot summer afternoon in late July, 1919. 70 00:03:47.227 --> 00:03:50.813 The city experienced a brutal five day race riot. 71 00:03:51.981 --> 00:03:56.861 38 people died and more than 500 were injured 72 00:03:57.987 --> 00:03:59.572 because whites accused a black beach goer 73 00:03:59.572 --> 00:04:02.575 of drifting over an implied boundary 74 00:04:02.575 --> 00:04:04.494 on a segregated town beach. 75 00:04:05.703 --> 00:04:09.582 The boy was stoned and eventually drowned. 76 00:04:09.582 --> 00:04:11.542 The city erupted. 77 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:17.257 Fact was, communities like Chicago lacked a plan 78 00:04:17.257 --> 00:04:19.634 that responded to the great migration 79 00:04:19.634 --> 00:04:21.386 and the growth it supported 80 00:04:21.386 --> 00:04:25.098 while others felt threatened and resorted to violence, 81 00:04:25.098 --> 00:04:27.141 which usually went unprosecuted. 82 00:04:28.059 --> 00:04:30.478 This was the society the men 83 00:04:30.478 --> 00:04:35.483 of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion were born into, 84 00:04:36.943 --> 00:04:40.280 many coming from families who remained in the South. 85 00:04:41.948 --> 00:04:44.117 Those families found a way to survive there 86 00:04:44.117 --> 00:04:46.911 as they managed the strict social codes 87 00:04:46.911 --> 00:04:48.913 which limited their mobility, 88 00:04:48.913 --> 00:04:51.582 and endured segregated services, 89 00:04:51.582 --> 00:04:54.460 which were underfunded and not equal. 90 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.383 They lived in a world where their lives did not matter much, 91 00:05:02.677 --> 00:05:04.804 and their vote was not equal to whites. 92 00:05:05.638 --> 00:05:07.140 They were often intimidated 93 00:05:07.140 --> 00:05:09.642 to exercise their rights as citizens, 94 00:05:09.642 --> 00:05:13.354 which could include voting or taking legal action 95 00:05:13.354 --> 00:05:16.649 or reporting a crime if it involved a white person. 96 00:05:18.276 --> 00:05:23.156 In 1945, life in America and civil rights policy 97 00:05:23.156 --> 00:05:26.659 resembled that of the turn of the 20th century. 98 00:05:27.827 --> 00:05:30.705 Racial segregation had become so entrenched 99 00:05:30.705 --> 00:05:33.291 that it would take more than political activism 100 00:05:33.291 --> 00:05:36.586 or new national legislative measures to uproot. 101 00:05:37.754 --> 00:05:41.049 It would take a world changing event. 102 00:05:41.049 --> 00:05:42.592 (intense music) 103 00:05:42.592 --> 00:05:44.886 - [News Anchor] Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, 104 00:05:48.389 --> 00:05:51.059 a date which will live in infamy. 105 00:05:52.643 --> 00:05:55.605 The United States of America was suddenly 106 00:05:55.605 --> 00:05:59.525 and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces 107 00:05:59.525 --> 00:06:02.195 from the empire of Japan. 108 00:06:02.195 --> 00:06:04.447 - [Nicholas] With the attack on Pearl Harbor, 109 00:06:04.447 --> 00:06:08.201 America was now at war in a global conflict 110 00:06:08.201 --> 00:06:11.329 that was tearing apart Europe and the Far East. 111 00:06:12.747 --> 00:06:15.875 Western democracy was fighting for survival 112 00:06:15.875 --> 00:06:20.213 under the crushing totalitarian ambitions of Nazi Germany 113 00:06:20.213 --> 00:06:23.383 and Hitler's warped dreams of a new world order, 114 00:06:23.383 --> 00:06:25.760 led by a master Aryan race. 115 00:06:26.761 --> 00:06:29.138 These plans were familiar to many 116 00:06:29.138 --> 00:06:30.848 of the men who lived in the South. 117 00:06:32.058 --> 00:06:35.311 This new master race, which Hitler envisioned 118 00:06:35.311 --> 00:06:38.231 as a racially pure hierarchy, saw Germans at the top 119 00:06:38.231 --> 00:06:43.236 and Jews and dark skin people at the very bottom. 120 00:06:44.487 --> 00:06:47.407 To achieve his goals, Hitler set out 121 00:06:47.407 --> 00:06:51.202 on a policy of extermination and genocide, 122 00:06:51.202 --> 00:06:53.746 with his intention to wipe out the Jewish people. 123 00:06:54.831 --> 00:06:56.499 Dark skinned people would be next. 124 00:06:57.750 --> 00:06:59.919 Black Americans who had suffered the burden 125 00:06:59.919 --> 00:07:02.422 of racism and segregation at home 126 00:07:02.422 --> 00:07:06.134 now had to face an even greater peril, 127 00:07:06.134 --> 00:07:09.303 their annihilation from a fanatical leader 128 00:07:09.303 --> 00:07:11.931 who planned to take over the world 129 00:07:11.931 --> 00:07:14.517 and who wanted to eliminate their race. 130 00:07:14.517 --> 00:07:19.522 - They hated our guts, inferior, call you monkeys, whatever, 131 00:07:22.608 --> 00:07:24.235 you weren't as good as a monkey. 132 00:07:25.403 --> 00:07:28.281 Most of them were blonde hair, blue eyes. 133 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:34.704 They were the pure, pure people, so-called, 134 00:07:36.122 --> 00:07:38.916 but I've seen SS troopers shoot their own people down. 135 00:07:40.293 --> 00:07:44.172 They didn't wanna fight, that's the way they were, fanatics. 136 00:07:47.967 --> 00:07:49.343 - [Nicholas] Answering their nation's call, 137 00:07:49.343 --> 00:07:50.511 (soft music) 138 00:07:50.511 --> 00:07:52.847 black Americans enlisted in great numbers. 139 00:07:54.056 --> 00:07:57.477 They saw World War II as blacks before them 140 00:07:57.477 --> 00:07:59.937 had seen their wars as an opportunity 141 00:07:59.937 --> 00:08:04.358 to prove themselves equal to fellow white Americans. 142 00:08:04.358 --> 00:08:07.653 The equality and respect they have long sought 143 00:08:07.653 --> 00:08:09.822 since the end of the Civil War, 144 00:08:09.822 --> 00:08:13.743 they believed was almost within their grasp. 145 00:08:13.743 --> 00:08:16.871 Many black soldiers would go on to distinguish themselves 146 00:08:16.871 --> 00:08:19.332 in heroic acts of valor, 147 00:08:19.332 --> 00:08:24.337 including the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion. 148 00:08:26.255 --> 00:08:27.715 (bright music) 149 00:08:27.715 --> 00:08:32.428 The story of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion 150 00:08:33.763 --> 00:08:36.557 began here in the desolate southwest expanse 151 00:08:36.557 --> 00:08:41.562 on the edge of the Great Plains, Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. 152 00:08:42.188 --> 00:08:43.105 (intense music) 153 00:08:43.105 --> 00:08:44.357 Both black and white soldiers 154 00:08:44.357 --> 00:08:46.734 trained here in segregated units. 155 00:08:48.194 --> 00:08:52.990 The 333rd drew a majority of men from the Jim Crow South, 156 00:08:54.408 --> 00:08:56.536 who rarely traveled beyond their own town borders. 157 00:08:57.912 --> 00:09:01.541 Among those men were James Aubrey Stewart of West Virginia, 158 00:09:02.708 --> 00:09:05.127 Curtis Adams from South Carolina, 159 00:09:06.045 --> 00:09:08.005 and Robert Green of Georgia. 160 00:09:09.173 --> 00:09:11.842 They were among the men who would become known 161 00:09:11.842 --> 00:09:14.011 as the Wereth 11. 162 00:09:14.011 --> 00:09:15.179 (glass shattering) 163 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:17.223 These men were no strangers to prejudice, 164 00:09:17.223 --> 00:09:20.059 segregation, or racial violence. 165 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:20.977 (soft piano music) 166 00:09:20.977 --> 00:09:24.313 Thomas forte bore witness to one 167 00:09:24.313 --> 00:09:26.774 of the bloodiest race riots of the era, 168 00:09:27.900 --> 00:09:31.571 the Lee Street riots in January 1942. 169 00:09:33.072 --> 00:09:34.991 Sparked by tensions between black 170 00:09:34.991 --> 00:09:38.160 and white recruits from rival army bases, 171 00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:40.663 the number of dead black soldiers 172 00:09:40.663 --> 00:09:43.249 remains in dispute still today. 173 00:09:44.834 --> 00:09:47.378 Against this backdrop, one month later, 174 00:09:47.378 --> 00:09:48.879 (bright music) 175 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.174 the Double V Campaign was born via an announcement 176 00:09:52.174 --> 00:09:54.760 in a black owned Pittsburgh newspaper. 177 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:00.725 The slogan was "Democracy, victory at home and abroad." 178 00:10:02.184 --> 00:10:05.438 The campaign and slogan swept the nation 179 00:10:05.438 --> 00:10:07.607 as many black recruits envisioned 180 00:10:07.607 --> 00:10:10.610 a new era of racial equality at home 181 00:10:10.610 --> 00:10:12.945 once they defeated the Nazis abroad. 182 00:10:16.490 --> 00:10:19.201 - The catalysts for the Pittsburgh Courier's launch 183 00:10:19.201 --> 00:10:22.288 of the Double V Campaign was a letter 184 00:10:22.288 --> 00:10:26.542 from James G. Thompson from Wichita, Kansas, 185 00:10:26.542 --> 00:10:29.754 a 26 year old African American man. 186 00:10:29.754 --> 00:10:33.466 Thompson was aware of the Pittsburgh Courier's role, 187 00:10:33.466 --> 00:10:35.301 and felt that this publication, 188 00:10:35.301 --> 00:10:38.929 which may have had as many as a million readers, 189 00:10:38.929 --> 00:10:43.559 was the one he should direct his letter to. 190 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.562 And as a matter of fact, then other newspapers 191 00:10:46.562 --> 00:10:51.525 such as the Chicago Defender, the Baltimore Afro-American, 192 00:10:52.735 --> 00:10:54.904 picked up on the Double V Campaign 193 00:10:54.904 --> 00:10:59.575 and became an important ally in this effort. 194 00:10:59.575 --> 00:11:03.079 One that FDR opposed by the way, 195 00:11:03.079 --> 00:11:05.498 felt that if there wasn't sort of 196 00:11:05.498 --> 00:11:08.417 unqualified acceptance of the war effort, 197 00:11:08.417 --> 00:11:12.505 that it could be detrimental to the cause 198 00:11:12.505 --> 00:11:16.133 and pressured the newspapers to change their tone, 199 00:11:16.133 --> 00:11:18.969 change the subject and not to push this issue, 200 00:11:18.969 --> 00:11:20.680 but they proceeded. 201 00:11:20.680 --> 00:11:23.641 Some interesting things happening around the country. 202 00:11:23.641 --> 00:11:28.479 During the war, there were the zoot Suit Riots in LA, 203 00:11:28.479 --> 00:11:33.067 course, the zoot suit was this symbol of black 204 00:11:33.067 --> 00:11:38.072 sort of opposition to sacrifice in terms of rationing, 205 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:43.119 so the zoot suit was seen as a symbol of excess, 206 00:11:43.119 --> 00:11:48.124 and these navy guys, Marines and members of sailors 207 00:11:49.291 --> 00:11:53.379 in California attacked Mexican Americans 208 00:11:54.338 --> 00:11:55.881 who were wearing the zoot suit, 209 00:11:55.881 --> 00:12:00.803 and then blacks joined in to support the Mexican Americans, 210 00:12:02.012 --> 00:12:03.889 and of course, the zoot suit was very popular 211 00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:07.226 with African Americans, and Malcolm X, 212 00:12:07.226 --> 00:12:09.854 of course, in his autobiography, 213 00:12:09.854 --> 00:12:12.940 talks about his experience with the zoot suit. 214 00:12:14.066 --> 00:12:15.901 - [Nicholas] During this time, 215 00:12:15.901 --> 00:12:17.069 (soft music) 216 00:12:17.069 --> 00:12:18.988 Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out with support. 217 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:23.701 There can be no democracy in the United States 218 00:12:23.701 --> 00:12:27.037 that does not include democracy for blacks. 219 00:12:27.037 --> 00:12:29.707 Americans only want to talk about 220 00:12:29.707 --> 00:12:32.126 the good features of American life, 221 00:12:32.126 --> 00:12:35.129 and hide our problems like skeletons in the closet. 222 00:12:36.589 --> 00:12:40.342 - There are a couple of things that really sort of highlight 223 00:12:40.342 --> 00:12:45.097 why the black community so embraced Eleanor Roosevelt. 224 00:12:45.097 --> 00:12:48.225 She brought sharecroppers to the white house, 225 00:12:48.225 --> 00:12:50.811 she opposed segregated seating 226 00:12:50.811 --> 00:12:55.733 at the Southern Conference for Human Welfare, 227 00:12:57.193 --> 00:13:01.822 she supported the NAACP and its efforts to stop lynching, 228 00:13:03.157 --> 00:13:07.244 there was a Wagner-Costigan anti-lynching bill 229 00:13:08.370 --> 00:13:10.581 that she supported when Franklin did not, 230 00:13:11.957 --> 00:13:14.710 and she often voiced opinions that he could not 231 00:13:14.710 --> 00:13:19.715 because he was afraid of losing Southern democratic support. 232 00:13:20.633 --> 00:13:22.051 - [Nicholas] The men of the 333rd 233 00:13:22.051 --> 00:13:23.302 (upbeat drum drill music) 234 00:13:23.302 --> 00:13:25.304 carried the dream of equality with them 235 00:13:25.304 --> 00:13:28.015 into training and into battle. 236 00:13:29.725 --> 00:13:33.646 They knew that they had to stand out, train harder, 237 00:13:33.646 --> 00:13:37.107 fight tougher, and win their victory at home. 238 00:13:39.235 --> 00:13:42.738 Still, they had to deal with rampant discrimination 239 00:13:42.738 --> 00:13:46.492 that had become even more pointed in basic training. 240 00:13:47.701 --> 00:13:50.412 - As a black soldier in the United States Army, 241 00:13:50.412 --> 00:13:54.750 you weren't as good as a dog, especially in the South. 242 00:13:56.210 --> 00:13:58.963 I was sitting on a barrack step reading a comic book 243 00:14:00.464 --> 00:14:03.843 and a state side officer come by, 244 00:14:03.843 --> 00:14:06.929 told me to cut the grass, I stood up, saluted him 245 00:14:06.929 --> 00:14:10.432 and told him that as a noncommissioned officer, 246 00:14:10.432 --> 00:14:13.018 I'm not required to do manual labor, 247 00:14:13.018 --> 00:14:15.187 you can put me in charge of a detail, 248 00:14:16.355 --> 00:14:18.691 but I'm not gonna cut that grass. 249 00:14:18.691 --> 00:14:20.943 He hollered, "Jail that nigger!" 250 00:14:23.988 --> 00:14:25.865 There I go, man, them damn peas dropped 251 00:14:25.865 --> 00:14:27.491 out of the sky from somewhere. 252 00:14:28.576 --> 00:14:30.077 (bright music) 253 00:14:30.077 --> 00:14:33.622 - [Nicholas] One blustery afternoon in March 1943, 254 00:14:33.622 --> 00:14:37.918 the 333rd thought they had their opportunity 255 00:14:37.918 --> 00:14:40.588 with the arrival of the army's newest 256 00:14:40.588 --> 00:14:42.673 and most complicated field gun, 257 00:14:44.758 --> 00:14:47.386 the 155 millimeter Howitzer. 258 00:14:48.804 --> 00:14:52.433 It was the US Army's answer to the German's 88 gun. 259 00:14:54.143 --> 00:14:55.394 (dark drum drill music) 260 00:14:55.394 --> 00:14:58.439 (crickets chirping) 261 00:14:58.439 --> 00:15:01.901 - Man, Oklahoma's cold, sure ain't South Carolina. 262 00:15:01.901 --> 00:15:04.278 How come we bunking out here in these tents? 263 00:15:04.278 --> 00:15:05.446 - What? 264 00:15:05.446 --> 00:15:06.572 You expect to be bunking with white boys? 265 00:15:06.572 --> 00:15:07.615 - Yeah, why not? 266 00:15:09.033 --> 00:15:12.369 - Listen, everything's separate out here, Adams, 267 00:15:12.369 --> 00:15:16.290 sleep, eat, train, just like home, but it works. 268 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:19.835 - Well, at least I get to take 269 00:15:19.835 --> 00:15:21.921 my frustrations out shooting them guns. 270 00:15:21.921 --> 00:15:24.256 (chuckling) 271 00:15:25.674 --> 00:15:29.511 - Adams, you ain't got the sense God gave a goose, 272 00:15:29.511 --> 00:15:31.764 we ain't gonna be shooting no guns, 273 00:15:31.764 --> 00:15:35.225 we'll be stacking shelves, cleaning out barrels. 274 00:15:35.225 --> 00:15:38.437 The new guns, them new guns for the white boys to shoot. 275 00:15:38.437 --> 00:15:39.271 - What? 276 00:15:40.439 --> 00:15:42.775 - Let's let it serve for justice, you know? 277 00:15:44.318 --> 00:15:45.527 It's the best we gon do. 278 00:15:47.863 --> 00:15:48.864 It's all right, man. 279 00:15:50.616 --> 00:15:51.992 It's all right. 280 00:15:51.992 --> 00:15:54.161 (panting) 281 00:15:56.121 --> 00:15:58.999 - [Nicholas] The commander of the 333rd, 282 00:15:58.999 --> 00:16:01.669 Harmon Kelsey's orders were clear, 283 00:16:01.669 --> 00:16:04.588 all soldiers would begin training 284 00:16:04.588 --> 00:16:07.841 on the 155s, including black recruits. 285 00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:12.054 It was a daunting task from the outset for the men. 286 00:16:13.806 --> 00:16:17.267 First, they had to learn the 200 page field manual, 287 00:16:17.267 --> 00:16:19.895 then train together in highly specialized 288 00:16:19.895 --> 00:16:22.439 orchestrated roles to operate the gun. 289 00:16:23.816 --> 00:16:27.778 Each 155 Howitzer required a six man gun crew. 290 00:16:29.655 --> 00:16:31.156 (dark piano music) 291 00:16:31.156 --> 00:16:33.659 - First time I saw Kelsey was in Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, 292 00:16:33.659 --> 00:16:35.703 and he made his little speech, 293 00:16:36.870 --> 00:16:38.539 and the only way you get out of this outfit 294 00:16:38.539 --> 00:16:41.458 is die out of it, there's no transfers. 295 00:16:42.668 --> 00:16:43.794 (upbeat drum drill music) 296 00:16:43.794 --> 00:16:45.254 - [Nicholas] Serving under Kelsey 297 00:16:45.254 --> 00:16:49.842 was a plainspoken Oklahoman, Captain William McCleod, 298 00:16:51.051 --> 00:16:52.678 who established a bond with the men. 299 00:16:52.678 --> 00:16:55.014 - There was a lot of grumbling about, you know, 300 00:16:56.640 --> 00:16:58.017 guys wanting to kick his butt. 301 00:16:58.017 --> 00:16:59.810 He called the company together, 302 00:16:59.810 --> 00:17:03.022 says "Anybody that wants to fight me, 303 00:17:03.022 --> 00:17:05.858 I'll take off my shirt, you take off yours 304 00:17:05.858 --> 00:17:09.528 and we'll have a go at it, man to man. 305 00:17:09.528 --> 00:17:12.031 If you beat me, I'll shake your hand, 306 00:17:12.031 --> 00:17:15.367 if I beat you, I expect you to shake my hand 307 00:17:15.367 --> 00:17:16.952 and it's off the record." 308 00:17:16.952 --> 00:17:18.787 Nobody made another sound. 309 00:17:19.663 --> 00:17:20.873 (intense music) 310 00:17:20.873 --> 00:17:22.791 - [Nicholas] McCleod oversaw the men's long 311 00:17:22.791 --> 00:17:25.044 and arduous training schedule, 312 00:17:25.044 --> 00:17:30.049 from spring 1943 into early 1944, 313 00:17:31.216 --> 00:17:32.885 bringing them together into a cohesive unit. 314 00:17:34.053 --> 00:17:36.972 Mastering the 155 became a matter 315 00:17:36.972 --> 00:17:39.683 of accomplishment and pride for the unit. 316 00:17:41.393 --> 00:17:46.398 In early February 1944, with their training complete, 317 00:17:47.274 --> 00:17:49.401 the 333rd embarked for England. 318 00:17:51.278 --> 00:17:52.321 (bright orchestra music) 319 00:17:52.321 --> 00:17:53.530 Looming just four months away 320 00:17:53.530 --> 00:17:56.700 was a massive secret allied operation 321 00:17:56.700 --> 00:17:59.745 to invade German occupied France. 322 00:17:59.745 --> 00:18:03.082 D-Day would change the course of the war, 323 00:18:03.082 --> 00:18:07.127 and the 333rd would be right on the front lines. 324 00:18:09.254 --> 00:18:12.758 There are few adjectives which have not been applied 325 00:18:12.758 --> 00:18:17.304 to the combined amphibious and airborne assault operation 326 00:18:17.304 --> 00:18:21.558 which took place on the 6th of June, 1944. 327 00:18:22.976 --> 00:18:26.855 Two and a half years in the planning, Operation Overlord, 328 00:18:26.855 --> 00:18:30.150 the invasion of German occupied France, 329 00:18:30.150 --> 00:18:33.403 would require men and might the likes of which 330 00:18:33.403 --> 00:18:36.865 had never been seen on the face of the Earth. 331 00:18:38.408 --> 00:18:42.454 The men of the 333rd knew what they had to do 332 00:18:42.454 --> 00:18:44.873 and what was at stake. 333 00:18:44.873 --> 00:18:46.792 - Once you hit them beaches and get out 334 00:18:46.792 --> 00:18:50.420 of the cold water of the English Channel, 335 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:52.464 you're a different person, 336 00:18:52.464 --> 00:18:55.425 it's kill or be killed, you know this. 337 00:18:57.845 --> 00:19:00.889 - [Nicholas] Once the 333rd arrived in France, 338 00:19:00.889 --> 00:19:04.810 they quickly gained a reputation for their deadly accuracy. 339 00:19:06.562 --> 00:19:08.689 During the battle of Lis Depuis, 340 00:19:09.982 --> 00:19:14.027 the 82nd airborne, struggling with a tiger tank, 341 00:19:14.027 --> 00:19:17.156 called on the 333rd to take it out. 342 00:19:18.574 --> 00:19:23.537 Battery C fired four rounds from four 155 howitzers. 343 00:19:24.705 --> 00:19:26.540 Two of the shells were direct hits on the tank. 344 00:19:26.540 --> 00:19:27.791 (explosions booming) 345 00:19:27.791 --> 00:19:30.169 The distance from battery C's guns 346 00:19:30.169 --> 00:19:33.297 to the tiger tank was nine miles. 347 00:19:36.508 --> 00:19:38.177 As allied troops made their push 348 00:19:38.177 --> 00:19:41.930 out of Normandy in July, 1944, 349 00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:46.935 the 333rd was called upon time and time again 350 00:19:48.061 --> 00:19:50.147 to soften up targets for the infantry advance 351 00:19:50.147 --> 00:19:54.860 at places such as Saint-Malo and Brest, 352 00:19:57.613 --> 00:20:01.533 and further east, outward from the continent peninsula. 353 00:20:05.245 --> 00:20:06.788 (bright fanfare music) 354 00:20:06.788 --> 00:20:10.000 (people cheering) 355 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.463 In late August, Paris was finally liberated, 356 00:20:14.463 --> 00:20:16.632 and although not strategic, 357 00:20:16.632 --> 00:20:20.219 its symbolic significance was not lost on anyone. 358 00:20:20.219 --> 00:20:22.054 (soft music) 359 00:20:22.054 --> 00:20:25.849 With the prize of Paris now in allied hands, 360 00:20:25.849 --> 00:20:29.061 General Eisenhower had a standing bet 361 00:20:29.061 --> 00:20:31.355 that the war would be over by Christmas. 362 00:20:32.773 --> 00:20:37.444 The refrain and the war in '44 was on everyone's lips. 363 00:20:39.321 --> 00:20:41.573 Just days after liberation, 364 00:20:41.573 --> 00:20:44.201 Paris showed little trace of German occupation. 365 00:20:45.994 --> 00:20:48.580 In these late summer days of 1944, 366 00:20:48.580 --> 00:20:49.623 (soft piano music) 367 00:20:49.623 --> 00:20:53.418 men of the 333rd began once again 368 00:20:53.418 --> 00:20:55.462 to dream of their lives back home. 369 00:20:57.714 --> 00:21:02.386 Curtis Adams of South Carolina had a newborn son, Jesse, 370 00:21:02.386 --> 00:21:04.972 whom his wife had brought to meet his dad 371 00:21:04.972 --> 00:21:06.556 while he was at Camp Gruber. 372 00:21:07.933 --> 00:21:11.353 James Aubrey Stewart dreamt of spring baseball 373 00:21:11.353 --> 00:21:13.814 with his beloved Piedmont Giants, 374 00:21:13.814 --> 00:21:15.565 where he excelled as a pitcher. 375 00:21:17.067 --> 00:21:21.655 - I am among a number of scholars 376 00:21:21.655 --> 00:21:25.909 who believe that the military experience 377 00:21:25.909 --> 00:21:30.122 is as central to the African American experience 378 00:21:30.122 --> 00:21:32.332 and the black freedom struggle 379 00:21:32.332 --> 00:21:35.377 as any other kind of experience. 380 00:21:36.795 --> 00:21:41.258 Seven blacks receive the medal of honor in World War Two. 381 00:21:45.053 --> 00:21:46.471 (soft music) 382 00:21:46.471 --> 00:21:48.473 Only two blacks have received the medal of honor 383 00:21:48.473 --> 00:21:53.437 as a result of their actions in World War One. 384 00:21:55.230 --> 00:22:00.193 One of those was Henry Johnson, who received his in 2015. 385 00:22:01.570 --> 00:22:03.572 First was Freddie Stowers of South Carolina 386 00:22:03.572 --> 00:22:06.908 who received his in 1993, 387 00:22:06.908 --> 00:22:09.661 and this is only as a result of pressure 388 00:22:09.661 --> 00:22:12.497 that was brought to bear on the authorities, 389 00:22:13.957 --> 00:22:18.503 but we believe those behind the valor medal taskforce 390 00:22:19.671 --> 00:22:23.425 and review believe that there are many more 391 00:22:23.425 --> 00:22:25.510 who are worthy of consideration 392 00:22:25.510 --> 00:22:30.307 and are undertaking a systematic review 393 00:22:31.475 --> 00:22:35.520 to try to right the historic wrong 394 00:22:35.520 --> 00:22:39.107 that has been committed against African Americans. 395 00:22:40.442 --> 00:22:41.985 (intense music) 396 00:22:41.985 --> 00:22:46.031 - [Nicholas] The allied push into the continent was rapid, 397 00:22:46.031 --> 00:22:48.033 and the US War Department 398 00:22:48.033 --> 00:22:51.536 began shifting troops to the Pacific Theater. 399 00:22:51.536 --> 00:22:54.623 No one suspected that within four short months, 400 00:22:54.623 --> 00:22:58.418 the war in Europe would not only not be over, 401 00:22:58.418 --> 00:23:01.671 but that the toughest fighting yet still lay ahead. 402 00:23:03.882 --> 00:23:08.595 By mid December, 1944, the extreme Western front 403 00:23:08.595 --> 00:23:12.474 in the Belgian Ardennes had grown eerily quiet. 404 00:23:14.101 --> 00:23:15.560 (wind whistling) 405 00:23:15.560 --> 00:23:17.562 Many allied commanders called it the ghost front. 406 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:22.984 Supply problems in the wake of Operation Market Garden 407 00:23:22.984 --> 00:23:27.447 had left this weakly defended sector virtually on its own. 408 00:23:28.573 --> 00:23:33.286 The 333rd comprised of batteries A, 409 00:23:33.286 --> 00:23:37.374 B, C, and headquarters battery, 410 00:23:37.374 --> 00:23:41.753 settled into the Belgian Ardennes ghost front in October. 411 00:23:43.130 --> 00:23:46.842 They were fire support for the combat experienced 412 00:23:46.842 --> 00:23:49.261 Second Division Artillery. 413 00:23:49.261 --> 00:23:53.265 As October faded into a miserably cold and wet November, 414 00:23:54.433 --> 00:23:57.269 McCleod receives word that the Second Division 415 00:23:57.269 --> 00:24:01.565 was being replaced by the 106th Infantry. 416 00:24:01.565 --> 00:24:02.858 (bright music) 417 00:24:02.858 --> 00:24:04.276 They would arrive by December 11th. 418 00:24:06.069 --> 00:24:10.157 The 106th Goldenlions had never seen combat. 419 00:24:11.783 --> 00:24:15.328 They were as green and inexperienced as any troops could be. 420 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:20.709 The 106th would be responsible for holding 421 00:24:20.709 --> 00:24:25.714 a 22 mile front line, three times the distance 422 00:24:26.590 --> 00:24:28.425 normally assigned to a division. 423 00:24:30.010 --> 00:24:33.972 But since this area was known as the quiet sector, 424 00:24:33.972 --> 00:24:35.724 no one considered it a problem. 425 00:24:37.350 --> 00:24:42.272 Hitler's ultra secret plan known as the Ardennes offensive 426 00:24:42.272 --> 00:24:43.482 (dark intense music) 427 00:24:43.482 --> 00:24:44.983 had been hatched during the summer. 428 00:24:46.318 --> 00:24:49.571 His operation would employ half a million men 429 00:24:49.571 --> 00:24:52.657 and over 2000 pieces of artillery, 430 00:24:54.159 --> 00:24:57.412 spearheading the offensive were Hitler's hand chosen 431 00:24:57.412 --> 00:25:01.458 and fanatical Waffen SS, which were ordered 432 00:25:01.458 --> 00:25:03.877 to spread a new wave of terror, 433 00:25:03.877 --> 00:25:06.588 unrestricted by human inhibitions. 434 00:25:08.507 --> 00:25:12.302 Leading the effort was the Sixth Panzer Army, 435 00:25:12.302 --> 00:25:15.889 commanded by one of Germany's most decorated soldiers, 436 00:25:17.015 --> 00:25:20.936 World War One and Russian front veteran, 437 00:25:20.936 --> 00:25:23.313 General Sepp Dietrich. 438 00:25:23.313 --> 00:25:27.025 Hitler's former body guard, Dietrich was despised 439 00:25:28.109 --> 00:25:29.569 by most of the higher officer class, 440 00:25:29.569 --> 00:25:31.655 who thought he lacked intelligence, 441 00:25:31.655 --> 00:25:34.783 but he had a hard won reputation for bravery, 442 00:25:34.783 --> 00:25:38.495 and was known as a brutal division and core commander. 443 00:25:40.205 --> 00:25:42.582 The Sixth Panzer Army would follow 444 00:25:42.582 --> 00:25:45.835 a path cut by Colonel Joaquin Piper, 445 00:25:45.835 --> 00:25:49.965 who was greatly admired by Hitler for his fanaticism. 446 00:25:49.965 --> 00:25:51.841 He was a charismatic leader, 447 00:25:51.841 --> 00:25:54.594 who inspired fierce loyalty in his men. 448 00:25:54.594 --> 00:25:56.221 His orders were simple, 449 00:25:57.556 --> 00:26:01.434 move as rapidly as possible to the Muse river, 450 00:26:01.434 --> 00:26:03.728 and take no prisoners. 451 00:26:05.438 --> 00:26:07.857 Squarely in the path of the German offensive 452 00:26:07.857 --> 00:26:12.862 were the unsuspecting 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, 453 00:26:13.738 --> 00:26:15.073 located now just six kilometers 454 00:26:15.073 --> 00:26:18.243 from the German border at Schoenberg, Belgium. 455 00:26:20.745 --> 00:26:22.247 (explosions booming) 456 00:26:22.247 --> 00:26:24.916 (intense music) 457 00:26:31.590 --> 00:26:36.595 Just after dawn, the morning of 16 December, 1944, 458 00:26:37.762 --> 00:26:39.389 Adolf Hitler's Ardennes offensive 459 00:26:39.389 --> 00:26:42.517 swung the full might of the German war machine 460 00:26:42.517 --> 00:26:45.895 against British and American troops. 461 00:26:47.272 --> 00:26:50.066 The Germans were throwing everything they had 462 00:26:50.066 --> 00:26:52.944 at the lightly defended American front lines. 463 00:26:54.446 --> 00:26:57.198 Five tube naval warfare batteries 464 00:26:57.198 --> 00:27:00.994 blasted high explosive rockets across the border. 465 00:27:03.997 --> 00:27:07.083 Soldiers called the terrorizing sound they made 466 00:27:07.083 --> 00:27:08.293 screaming mimis. 467 00:27:09.210 --> 00:27:12.213 (rockets screaming) 468 00:27:16.217 --> 00:27:20.138 The most devastating weapon in the German arsenal however 469 00:27:20.138 --> 00:27:21.514 was their 88 gun, 470 00:27:23.558 --> 00:27:25.644 (gun booming) 471 00:27:25.644 --> 00:27:28.355 with a range well over nine miles. 472 00:27:29.689 --> 00:27:31.858 (explosion booming) 473 00:27:31.858 --> 00:27:36.863 Americans trapped by falling 88 shells had almost no chance. 474 00:27:37.739 --> 00:27:39.574 - [Soldier] Keep your head low! 475 00:27:39.574 --> 00:27:41.117 (soldier screaming) 476 00:27:41.117 --> 00:27:44.120 (explosion booming) 477 00:27:53.797 --> 00:27:57.342 - [Nicholas] The 333rd had sprung into action 478 00:27:57.342 --> 00:27:59.761 at the first sound of German artillery, 479 00:27:59.761 --> 00:28:01.262 (intense music) 480 00:28:01.262 --> 00:28:03.431 providing fire support for the frontline infantry. 481 00:28:03.431 --> 00:28:08.353 - Counter battery, fire, cell, HE, charge five, fuse quick. 482 00:28:09.813 --> 00:28:13.566 - [Officer] Base deflection, right two, minor five, XI302. 483 00:28:14.776 --> 00:28:17.946 - Number two, warden, ground, elevation 371! 484 00:28:18.947 --> 00:28:20.407 - Round ready, Sir. 485 00:28:20.407 --> 00:28:21.658 - Fire! 486 00:28:21.658 --> 00:28:24.244 (guns booming) 487 00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:26.663 - Fire! 488 00:28:31.084 --> 00:28:32.585 - [Nicholas] By 17 December, 489 00:28:32.585 --> 00:28:35.714 they had been shelled for the better part of two days. 490 00:28:36.673 --> 00:28:37.882 - [Soldier] Incoming! 491 00:28:37.882 --> 00:28:41.386 (explosions booming) 492 00:28:41.386 --> 00:28:43.138 - [Nicholas] Exhausted with their ammunition 493 00:28:43.138 --> 00:28:48.059 nearly depleted, orders came through to evacuate the unit 494 00:28:48.059 --> 00:28:51.771 with the exception of the forwardmost exposed battery C. 495 00:28:55.734 --> 00:28:56.943 - [Soldier] Incoming! 496 00:28:56.943 --> 00:28:58.778 - [Nicholas] Orders had been issued 497 00:28:58.778 --> 00:29:00.613 for the battery to remain in place 498 00:29:00.613 --> 00:29:04.451 in fire support for the 106th infantry. 499 00:29:05.577 --> 00:29:07.996 Commander Kelsey arrived from headquarters, 500 00:29:07.996 --> 00:29:11.291 evacuating most of the men into three trucks, 501 00:29:11.291 --> 00:29:14.669 leaving Captain McLeod and a handful of men 502 00:29:14.669 --> 00:29:17.213 to withstand the German onslaught. 503 00:29:18.423 --> 00:29:21.468 - We fired till we ran out of ammunition. 504 00:29:21.468 --> 00:29:23.511 (dark music) 505 00:29:23.511 --> 00:29:26.306 Can't kill with just so many with trench knives. 506 00:29:28.266 --> 00:29:31.144 And they had, I'd say the Germans had to walk 507 00:29:31.144 --> 00:29:33.772 over piles of their dead to get to us. 508 00:29:35.774 --> 00:29:38.818 That's a hard thing to do when a man's got a rifle out 509 00:29:38.818 --> 00:29:42.155 coming at you and all you've got is a trench knife, 510 00:29:43.782 --> 00:29:45.408 but I got a couple of them, 511 00:29:45.408 --> 00:29:47.535 some of the other guys got a couple of them. 512 00:29:47.535 --> 00:29:50.455 That was the least of my thoughts, being captured. 513 00:29:50.455 --> 00:29:53.249 Killed, yes, captured, no. 514 00:29:53.249 --> 00:29:57.921 I think the real reason why McCleod surrendered 515 00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:03.551 was to save lives, because weren't nothing else he could do. 516 00:30:05.136 --> 00:30:08.890 We could all die, you know, just fought with what we had, 517 00:30:08.890 --> 00:30:12.060 hand to hand combat until every man was killed, 518 00:30:13.102 --> 00:30:14.604 but he didn't want that, 519 00:30:14.604 --> 00:30:18.107 he wanted to try to save as many lives as he could, 520 00:30:18.107 --> 00:30:20.235 and that's what he did by surrender. 521 00:30:22.237 --> 00:30:24.239 - [Nicholas] Captain McLeod and the men 522 00:30:24.239 --> 00:30:26.616 who could walk were taken prisoner. 523 00:30:28.201 --> 00:30:31.162 The wounded were not. 524 00:30:33.665 --> 00:30:36.501 (gun banging) 525 00:30:36.501 --> 00:30:39.254 - All of us that were left alive, 526 00:30:39.254 --> 00:30:43.424 they moved us out on the road and started walking. 527 00:30:44.467 --> 00:30:47.679 (bright trumpet music) 528 00:30:51.891 --> 00:30:54.936 (speaking in German) 529 00:31:09.492 --> 00:31:11.703 I saw them when they were taking the pictures, 530 00:31:11.703 --> 00:31:13.037 and that was propaganda, 531 00:31:13.037 --> 00:31:15.623 especially when they captured black troops. 532 00:31:17.166 --> 00:31:19.961 They parade you off in these little towns, 533 00:31:21.379 --> 00:31:25.049 and like I said, the diehard Germans have beaten you 534 00:31:26.217 --> 00:31:27.719 and you couldn't do nothing about it, 535 00:31:27.719 --> 00:31:30.638 you just keep walking and look straight ahead, that's all. 536 00:31:32.724 --> 00:31:35.685 - [Nicholas] While the war was over for George Shomo, 537 00:31:35.685 --> 00:31:38.771 Captain McLeod, and the rest of battery C, 538 00:31:39.939 --> 00:31:42.901 Colonel Kelsey and his three trucks 539 00:31:42.901 --> 00:31:45.153 raced back towards St. Vith, 540 00:31:45.153 --> 00:31:47.906 but the Germans had already pushed past him. 541 00:31:49.824 --> 00:31:50.783 (soldier shouting in foreign language) 542 00:31:50.783 --> 00:31:51.659 His convoy was surrounded. 543 00:31:53.077 --> 00:31:56.581 All were forced to surrender and march back towards Germany. 544 00:31:59.250 --> 00:32:04.047 American P47s continue to pound the German columns, 545 00:32:04.047 --> 00:32:06.633 including those with American prisoners of war. 546 00:32:08.092 --> 00:32:11.095 One came upon Kelsey's men. 547 00:32:11.095 --> 00:32:12.931 (intense drum music) 548 00:32:12.931 --> 00:32:14.432 (soldier shouting in German) 549 00:32:14.432 --> 00:32:16.768 (gun booming) 550 00:32:16.768 --> 00:32:20.605 In the chaos and confusion of the American plane strafing, 551 00:32:20.605 --> 00:32:24.442 several of the 333rd were able to escape. 552 00:32:25.818 --> 00:32:28.363 They joined up with other members of the unit 553 00:32:28.363 --> 00:32:32.116 and headed northward through the thick forest. 554 00:32:32.116 --> 00:32:36.204 These men would become known as the Wereth 11. 555 00:32:38.498 --> 00:32:39.499 (wind howling) 556 00:32:39.499 --> 00:32:40.750 (guns firing in distance) 557 00:32:40.750 --> 00:32:42.543 - I can't feel my feet no more, they're frozen. 558 00:32:42.543 --> 00:32:46.089 - Maybe, maybe just take a break. 559 00:32:46.089 --> 00:32:48.174 We ain't seen no Germans for a while now. 560 00:32:50.927 --> 00:32:54.597 Up there, we can take a rest today, come on. 561 00:32:57.558 --> 00:32:59.686 (sighing) 562 00:33:00.645 --> 00:33:03.022 (soft music) 563 00:33:05.650 --> 00:33:07.652 Don't need no bible to prayer, 564 00:33:07.652 --> 00:33:09.404 once you got it memorized by heart. 565 00:33:12.490 --> 00:33:13.491 - Yes, Serge. 566 00:33:14.826 --> 00:33:17.787 - We could all do with a little bit of prayer right now. 567 00:33:19.914 --> 00:33:20.915 - Sorry, Serge. 568 00:33:24.002 --> 00:33:26.754 Just keep getting a real bad feeling about all of this, 569 00:33:28.089 --> 00:33:29.757 afraid we ain't gonna make it. 570 00:33:29.757 --> 00:33:31.384 - We made it this far. 571 00:33:32.593 --> 00:33:34.303 Don't expect you to give up now, Curtis. 572 00:33:39.726 --> 00:33:41.686 We ain't going through all of this, 573 00:33:41.686 --> 00:33:44.355 little walk in the woods stop the 333rd, right? 574 00:33:44.355 --> 00:33:45.940 Right? Right? 575 00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:47.942 - Hey, man, our guys probably kicking 576 00:33:47.942 --> 00:33:49.861 they butt back to Germany by now. 577 00:33:49.861 --> 00:33:51.195 (chuckling) 578 00:33:51.195 --> 00:33:52.030 (uplifting music) 579 00:33:52.030 --> 00:33:53.239 - I hear that. 580 00:33:53.239 --> 00:33:55.950 Hey, maybe we all lost except the 106. 581 00:33:55.950 --> 00:33:58.202 (laughing) 582 00:33:59.328 --> 00:34:03.624 - You see these neckties, shiny shoes, 583 00:34:04.876 --> 00:34:06.210 can't fight a war like that. 584 00:34:07.587 --> 00:34:11.883 - Well, I'm sure they seen their share of action too by now. 585 00:34:16.387 --> 00:34:18.473 - [Nicholas] Heading in the Wereth 11's same direction, 586 00:34:18.473 --> 00:34:19.682 (dark music) 587 00:34:19.682 --> 00:34:23.728 unbeknownst to them, was a four man SS patrol 588 00:34:23.728 --> 00:34:27.732 from Gustave Knittel's 1st SS Recon Battalion. 589 00:34:29.525 --> 00:34:31.360 The men had to keep off the roads 590 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:32.570 (soft music) 591 00:34:32.570 --> 00:34:34.781 inside the tree line to avoid being spotted. 592 00:34:36.491 --> 00:34:38.993 They thought they were heading west, 593 00:34:38.993 --> 00:34:42.622 but became turned around and were actually heading north. 594 00:34:44.457 --> 00:34:47.919 After an ice cold trek of 10 kilometers, 595 00:34:47.919 --> 00:34:51.923 they arrived exhausted at the small hamlet of Wereth. 596 00:34:53.633 --> 00:34:57.095 The first house they encountered was a farmhouse, 597 00:34:57.095 --> 00:35:00.598 owned by Mathias Langer and his family. 598 00:35:00.598 --> 00:35:03.059 They decided to ask for shelter. 599 00:35:03.059 --> 00:35:05.686 The exhausted men were offered bread and butter 600 00:35:05.686 --> 00:35:07.480 and all the Langers could spare. 601 00:35:08.773 --> 00:35:11.609 The welcoming warmth of the farmhouse family 602 00:35:11.609 --> 00:35:13.486 delayed the men from moving on. 603 00:35:14.654 --> 00:35:17.073 Mathias Langer was taking a great risk 604 00:35:17.073 --> 00:35:19.242 inviting the Americans into his home. 605 00:35:20.868 --> 00:35:24.122 This part of Belgium was still part of Germany 606 00:35:24.122 --> 00:35:27.208 before World War One, and several families 607 00:35:27.208 --> 00:35:30.086 in the village remained loyal to Germany. 608 00:35:32.255 --> 00:35:36.717 Mathias also had more than seven children living at home 609 00:35:36.717 --> 00:35:39.178 that he and his wife Maria had to care for. 610 00:35:40.721 --> 00:35:44.600 Their three oldest boys had gone into hiding in Belgium 611 00:35:44.600 --> 00:35:47.854 to avoid becoming conscripts in the German army. 612 00:35:49.105 --> 00:35:51.732 What Matthias and Maria offered these cold 613 00:35:51.732 --> 00:35:55.570 and tired American soldiers was invaluable. 614 00:35:58.322 --> 00:36:01.492 It is easy to imagine that these treasured hours 615 00:36:01.492 --> 00:36:04.495 the 11 men spent with the Langers 616 00:36:04.495 --> 00:36:07.957 were perhaps the most enjoyable and comforting 617 00:36:07.957 --> 00:36:11.085 the men had experienced in a very long time. 618 00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:16.632 Still, Matthias knew they remained in great danger, 619 00:36:16.632 --> 00:36:19.677 and he urged the reluctant men to keep moving. 620 00:36:19.677 --> 00:36:20.887 (dark music) 621 00:36:20.887 --> 00:36:23.890 Soon, however, it became too late. 622 00:36:25.683 --> 00:36:30.313 Gustave Knittle's 1st SS patrol arrived at the Langer home. 623 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:34.358 They had been directed to it by a woman in town 624 00:36:34.358 --> 00:36:36.527 whose husband was in the SS 625 00:36:36.527 --> 00:36:39.614 and knew the Langers were sheltering the Americans. 626 00:36:44.744 --> 00:36:47.330 (soldier shouting in foreign language) 627 00:36:47.330 --> 00:36:48.623 All were taken by surprise, 628 00:36:48.623 --> 00:36:51.626 and they saw it was a German patrol. 629 00:36:51.626 --> 00:36:54.670 The 11 men had two carbines between them, 630 00:36:54.670 --> 00:36:56.714 and outnumbered the four Germans. 631 00:36:57.882 --> 00:36:59.133 (soldier shouting in foreign language) 632 00:36:59.133 --> 00:37:01.469 The Americans, however, decided that best course 633 00:37:01.469 --> 00:37:04.430 was to repay the kindness they had been shown, 634 00:37:04.430 --> 00:37:08.017 surrender and protect the family which had sheltered them. 635 00:37:09.185 --> 00:37:12.021 The men were forced to sit on the frozen ground 636 00:37:12.021 --> 00:37:14.565 beside the Langer home, while the commander 637 00:37:14.565 --> 00:37:17.401 of the patrol entered the farmhouse to eat. 638 00:37:18.694 --> 00:37:21.155 The 11 men remained shivering, 639 00:37:21.155 --> 00:37:23.824 sitting in the cold for over an hour 640 00:37:23.824 --> 00:37:25.368 until the commander returned. 641 00:37:31.832 --> 00:37:35.253 The 1st SS patrol then forced the 11 642 00:37:35.253 --> 00:37:37.004 to march in front of the vehicle. 643 00:37:38.589 --> 00:37:43.010 Tired and barely able to walk, some men fell behind. 644 00:37:43.010 --> 00:37:45.513 William Pritchet was run down, 645 00:37:45.513 --> 00:37:47.640 his leg buckling and breaking 646 00:37:47.640 --> 00:37:49.725 beneath the weight of the patrol vehicle. 647 00:37:50.935 --> 00:37:53.437 Those who could not continue were forced 648 00:37:53.437 --> 00:37:58.442 to march at gunpoint into a field 750 meters to the north. 649 00:38:00.695 --> 00:38:05.116 None could imagine the horror about to descend upon them 650 00:38:05.116 --> 00:38:08.244 as the patrol carried out Hitler's orders. 651 00:38:08.244 --> 00:38:10.788 (gun clicking) 652 00:38:12.123 --> 00:38:15.626 (camera shutter clicking) 653 00:38:18.296 --> 00:38:21.674 The men were tortured, then killed, 654 00:38:21.674 --> 00:38:26.095 in the cruelest and most inhuman manner imaginable 655 00:38:26.095 --> 00:38:29.932 in a grizzly war crime that still shocks the soul. 656 00:38:33.686 --> 00:38:36.147 - These were guys out of my outfit. 657 00:38:36.147 --> 00:38:39.817 They just mutilated them and murdered them, 658 00:38:40.943 --> 00:38:42.987 and left them laying out there in the field. 659 00:38:42.987 --> 00:38:44.488 (dark music) 660 00:38:44.488 --> 00:38:46.991 When the spring thaw come, they found their bodies. 661 00:38:49.160 --> 00:38:51.245 - [Nicholas] The war crime at Wereth 662 00:38:51.245 --> 00:38:53.497 was not the only atrocity committed 663 00:38:53.497 --> 00:38:56.876 by the German 1st SS Division that day. 664 00:38:58.294 --> 00:39:00.546 Just four hours earlier, 665 00:39:00.546 --> 00:39:05.009 20 miles to the northwest at Malmedy, 84 soldiers 666 00:39:05.009 --> 00:39:09.972 from the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion 667 00:39:11.390 --> 00:39:14.101 were mowed down in a field by German machine guns. 668 00:39:14.101 --> 00:39:17.188 20 of the 84 bodies recovered showed 669 00:39:17.188 --> 00:39:20.608 head wounds with burns and powder residue 670 00:39:20.608 --> 00:39:23.194 consistent with a small caliber gun 671 00:39:23.194 --> 00:39:25.946 fired at point blank range. 672 00:39:25.946 --> 00:39:27.990 Although an investigation was launched 673 00:39:27.990 --> 00:39:32.244 into the massacre at Wereth, it was closed administratively 674 00:39:32.244 --> 00:39:36.540 due to inconclusive evidence on February 19, 1947, 675 00:39:38.125 --> 00:39:42.463 by lead war crimes investigator, Colonel Burton Ellis. 676 00:39:43.923 --> 00:39:47.051 The crime was swept under the rug of history, 677 00:39:47.051 --> 00:39:50.554 and in the final 1949 congressional report 678 00:39:50.554 --> 00:39:55.351 on war crimes committed by the 1st SS division 679 00:39:55.351 --> 00:39:57.770 during the Battle of the Bulge, 680 00:39:57.770 --> 00:40:02.650 all names of the victims, both civilian and military, 681 00:40:02.650 --> 00:40:05.820 were listed along with the war crime locations. 682 00:40:07.405 --> 00:40:09.573 Wereth was absent. 683 00:40:11.450 --> 00:40:13.911 (soft music) 684 00:40:14.787 --> 00:40:17.289 Due to the heavy American losses 685 00:40:17.289 --> 00:40:21.585 suffered in the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, 686 00:40:21.585 --> 00:40:24.088 the US army was hard pressed 687 00:40:24.088 --> 00:40:27.425 for reinforcements early in 1945. 688 00:40:28.342 --> 00:40:29.885 The outstanding performance 689 00:40:29.885 --> 00:40:32.179 of African American combat units, 690 00:40:32.179 --> 00:40:35.099 such as the Tuskegee airmen, 691 00:40:35.099 --> 00:40:40.104 the 761st Tank Battalion under General George S. Patton, 692 00:40:41.355 --> 00:40:44.150 and the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion 693 00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:46.610 compelled the US army to call upon 694 00:40:46.610 --> 00:40:49.989 African-American volunteers from service units. 695 00:40:51.782 --> 00:40:55.786 These volunteers were to train as infantry soldiers 696 00:40:55.786 --> 00:40:58.956 and to be integrated into white units. 697 00:40:58.956 --> 00:41:03.586 The men were formed into 52 all black platoons, 698 00:41:03.586 --> 00:41:06.422 comprised of about 50 men each. 699 00:41:06.422 --> 00:41:09.467 Typically, four platoons made a company. 700 00:41:09.467 --> 00:41:12.303 They were added, making a fifth platoon. 701 00:41:13.471 --> 00:41:16.724 (upbeat fanfare music) 702 00:41:21.187 --> 00:41:25.149 At the close of the war, like the men a generation earlier 703 00:41:25.149 --> 00:41:27.818 who had returned from fighting World War One 704 00:41:27.818 --> 00:41:32.156 expecting well earned respect after fighting for democracy, 705 00:41:32.156 --> 00:41:34.200 these veterans quickly learned 706 00:41:34.200 --> 00:41:37.453 they would have to fight again for victory at home. 707 00:41:39.497 --> 00:41:41.749 Jim Crow America too survived the war. 708 00:41:41.749 --> 00:41:44.335 In some respects, stronger than ever. 709 00:41:50.007 --> 00:41:52.718 Black veterans who played an equal part 710 00:41:52.718 --> 00:41:55.346 in America's victory abroad discovered 711 00:41:55.346 --> 00:41:59.808 that their hopes of a second double V victory at home 712 00:41:59.808 --> 00:42:03.145 seemed to have died with their brothers on the battlefield. 713 00:42:03.145 --> 00:42:05.689 - Lynching was a very important element 714 00:42:05.689 --> 00:42:10.069 in the Double V Campaign because it was the most blatant 715 00:42:11.529 --> 00:42:16.367 and brutal and barbaric expression of the fascism 716 00:42:17.535 --> 00:42:18.786 that existed in the United States 717 00:42:18.786 --> 00:42:22.373 or the racial discrimination. 718 00:42:22.373 --> 00:42:23.791 (soft music) 719 00:42:23.791 --> 00:42:26.001 The Japanese were watching this very carefully, 720 00:42:27.586 --> 00:42:31.840 long before World War Two. 721 00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:35.219 As a matter of fact, blacks and the Japanese, 722 00:42:35.219 --> 00:42:37.888 black Americans and Japanese had, 723 00:42:37.888 --> 00:42:42.893 had actually been on the same page for some time, 724 00:42:44.520 --> 00:42:48.524 and especially around the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, 725 00:42:50.901 --> 00:42:55.906 and William Monroe Trotter actually presented 726 00:42:56.824 --> 00:43:01.370 to the conference a 15th point, 727 00:43:02.997 --> 00:43:07.918 and that was to end racial discrimination among nations. 728 00:43:10.129 --> 00:43:15.134 And the Japanese actually put this proposal on the table 729 00:43:17.595 --> 00:43:21.765 and it was rejected by the United States and other nations 730 00:43:21.765 --> 00:43:23.976 as a result of the United States' 731 00:43:23.976 --> 00:43:28.981 and Great Britain's, you know, disapproval of it. 732 00:43:30.566 --> 00:43:32.109 - [Nicholas] America in 1945 733 00:43:32.109 --> 00:43:33.569 (soft music) 734 00:43:33.569 --> 00:43:37.531 remained rigidly mired in racial discrimination, 735 00:43:37.531 --> 00:43:40.034 which had only become more entrenched. 736 00:43:42.578 --> 00:43:43.495 - I came out of the army with nothing 737 00:43:43.495 --> 00:43:44.622 but the clothes on my back. 738 00:43:46.957 --> 00:43:49.460 That's what happened to black troops down there. 739 00:43:50.336 --> 00:43:53.088 They hand me a train ticket, 740 00:43:53.088 --> 00:43:56.300 my separation papers, that was it. 741 00:43:57.259 --> 00:43:59.345 And I rode in a washroom 742 00:44:01.555 --> 00:44:06.477 from Alabama to Washington DC. 743 00:44:09.563 --> 00:44:11.482 And there was a whole empty car 744 00:44:14.234 --> 00:44:15.944 in the back of where, you know, 745 00:44:15.944 --> 00:44:18.155 where I was supposed to be sitting at, 746 00:44:18.155 --> 00:44:19.448 they wouldn't let us go 747 00:44:19.448 --> 00:44:22.284 and it was four of us rode in the restroom, 748 00:44:22.284 --> 00:44:26.664 one of the guys was a lieutenant, but I, 749 00:44:26.664 --> 00:44:29.166 I didn't mind 'cause they had the combat and everything, 750 00:44:29.166 --> 00:44:32.336 hell that was paradise riding somewhere in the train, 751 00:44:34.004 --> 00:44:35.589 I just made the best of it. 752 00:44:38.801 --> 00:44:40.219 - [Man] The GI Bill of Rights 753 00:44:40.219 --> 00:44:44.181 is not a reward or a handout for a gravy train, 754 00:44:44.181 --> 00:44:47.309 but rather an American way to make it easier 755 00:44:47.309 --> 00:44:50.896 for each man to take his place once again in the community 756 00:44:50.896 --> 00:44:54.024 and get some of those things for which you went to war. 757 00:44:54.024 --> 00:44:55.859 - [Nicholas] The GI bill legislation, 758 00:44:55.859 --> 00:44:58.946 created to financially assist US veterans 759 00:44:58.946 --> 00:45:01.615 in building their lives once back at home 760 00:45:01.615 --> 00:45:05.703 was not distributed fairly to all former servicemen. 761 00:45:05.703 --> 00:45:08.706 Black veterans discovered that its benefits 762 00:45:08.706 --> 00:45:11.208 were designed with Jim Crow laws in mind, 763 00:45:11.208 --> 00:45:13.419 and were blatantly discriminatory. 764 00:45:14.753 --> 00:45:18.090 In the New York and Northern New Jersey suburbs, 765 00:45:18.090 --> 00:45:22.594 67,000 mortgages were insured by the GI bill. 766 00:45:22.594 --> 00:45:26.515 Fewer than 100 were granted to non-whites. 767 00:45:26.515 --> 00:45:29.393 Many banks and mortgage agencies in the South 768 00:45:29.393 --> 00:45:31.937 simply refused loans to blacks. 769 00:45:33.230 --> 00:45:36.233 Culturally, America had not changed 770 00:45:36.233 --> 00:45:39.903 after her sons and daughters died fighting for her freedom. 771 00:45:42.197 --> 00:45:46.326 Even though the US lacked a comprehensive plan 772 00:45:46.326 --> 00:45:48.412 to equally support its African American 773 00:45:48.412 --> 00:45:52.124 veterans and civilians, in the mid 20th century, 774 00:45:52.124 --> 00:45:54.752 change slowly came nonetheless. 775 00:45:55.919 --> 00:45:59.923 In 1948, the same year the Wereth incident 776 00:45:59.923 --> 00:46:03.594 was omitted from the official record of war crimes. 777 00:46:03.594 --> 00:46:07.973 President Truman's executive order, 9981, 778 00:46:07.973 --> 00:46:09.266 (soft piano music) 779 00:46:09.266 --> 00:46:10.559 removed the policy barriers 780 00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:14.104 of racial discrimination in the US armed forces. 781 00:46:14.104 --> 00:46:18.317 - [President Truman] There is no justifiable reason 782 00:46:18.317 --> 00:46:22.404 for discrimination because of ancestry 783 00:46:22.404 --> 00:46:26.200 or religion, or race, or color. 784 00:46:27.701 --> 00:46:30.287 - [Nicholas] This is one of the few, 785 00:46:30.287 --> 00:46:34.124 if not the first instance where the military 786 00:46:34.124 --> 00:46:37.294 led its own nation on a social policy 787 00:46:37.294 --> 00:46:41.006 which took its government another 17 years to enact 788 00:46:41.006 --> 00:46:44.802 in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 789 00:46:44.802 --> 00:46:48.555 a law which finally abolished racial discrimination 790 00:46:48.555 --> 00:46:51.517 at all levels of public life. 791 00:46:51.517 --> 00:46:54.728 The service and sacrifice of the Wereth 11, 792 00:46:54.728 --> 00:46:59.733 Forte, Stewart, Adams, Moss, Davis, 793 00:47:03.403 --> 00:47:08.325 Mootton, Turner, Green, Pritchet, 794 00:47:10.285 --> 00:47:14.915 Bradley, and Leathewood, along with countless others. 795 00:47:17.417 --> 00:47:19.127 The brutal murder of these lost 796 00:47:19.127 --> 00:47:22.631 and until recently forgotten 11 soldiers 797 00:47:22.631 --> 00:47:24.508 should not be forgotten, 798 00:47:24.508 --> 00:47:26.969 but is not what should identify them. 799 00:47:28.929 --> 00:47:33.475 To do so diminishes the ultimate impact of their sacrifice 800 00:47:33.475 --> 00:47:35.978 and what they exhibited in life. 801 00:47:37.479 --> 00:47:40.524 Their story is a human one, 802 00:47:40.524 --> 00:47:44.027 underscored by the selfless humanitarian act 803 00:47:44.027 --> 00:47:48.031 of one Belgian family and the sacrificial gratitude 804 00:47:48.031 --> 00:47:51.785 of 11 war weary American soldiers, 805 00:47:51.785 --> 00:47:54.496 seven of whom eternally rest 806 00:47:54.496 --> 00:47:57.583 at Henri Chapelle American Cemetery. 807 00:47:59.293 --> 00:48:03.505 This is a story that confirms our humanity, 808 00:48:03.505 --> 00:48:07.009 sense of dignity, and shared values, 809 00:48:07.009 --> 00:48:09.595 despite a world war's horrors, 810 00:48:09.595 --> 00:48:13.098 summed up best by American general Dennis Via, 811 00:48:13.098 --> 00:48:16.310 speaking at a memorial ceremony in Wereth. 812 00:48:17.394 --> 00:48:21.565 These men were brothers, sons, and fathers. 813 00:48:22.774 --> 00:48:26.153 They served because, like us, 814 00:48:26.153 --> 00:48:29.323 they believed in the values we hold dear, 815 00:48:29.323 --> 00:48:34.077 freedom, justice, liberty. 816 00:48:36.788 --> 00:48:38.749 They believed in the greater good. 817 00:48:40.083 --> 00:48:43.086 For this, we are thankful for their service. 818 00:48:46.256 --> 00:48:47.507 (soft music) 819 00:48:47.507 --> 00:48:50.260 In October, 2017, after 73 years, 820 00:48:50.260 --> 00:48:52.512 the 11 were finally recognized 821 00:48:52.512 --> 00:48:55.474 with unanimous passage of joint house 822 00:48:55.474 --> 00:48:58.769 and Senate Resolution 99, which corrected 823 00:48:58.769 --> 00:49:03.732 the 1949 Congressional War Crime Report omission, 824 00:49:03.732 --> 00:49:07.194 and honored the dedicated service and ultimate sacrifice 825 00:49:07.194 --> 00:49:12.199 of the soldiers from the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion 826 00:49:13.241 --> 00:49:15.535 known as the Wereth 11. 827 00:49:19.998 --> 00:49:22.918 (drum drill music)