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)