The Wereth Eleven: The Rarely Told Story From the Battle of the Bulge

Warning: Graphic Descriptions and Photo of Violence

Steven Hoover, Public Affairs Office of US Army Garrison Benelux/American Forces Press Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I’m having difficulty deciding what this story's most disturbing aspect is. It might be that Jesse Adams was an infant when his mother, Catherine, brought him to Camp Gruber in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where his father, Curtis Adams, trained with the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion. It would be the only time Jesse would meet his father as he went off to fight in World War II. Curtis didn’t make it back home, which happens in war. The annoying part is that Jesse would be 68 years old before discovering the details of his dad’s war experience.

The treatment of the 333rd troops, one of nine segregated units that fought in WWII, was appalling. While training in America to fight for their country, the soldiers weren’t allowed to eat in the restaurants that served German POWs. Enemy combatants were treated better than Black GIs. They were called nigger and worse and subjected to physical abuse at well.

The Wereth 11 Massacre During the Battle of the Bulge