"Sacrifice: The 333rd Field Artillery at the Battle of the" Topic

…Bulge

"An act of heroic self-sacrifice highlighted the dedicated service of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, a segregated African American unit that bolstered American forces in Western Europe during World War II. That sacrifice unfortunately ended in tragedy for 11 American soldiers, murdered in one of the many atrocities committed by German Waffen-SS troops, in this case with particular savagery because the victims were black. Compounding the tragedy, this atrocity was not officially recognized in the United States until many decades after the war had ended.

The 333rd was originally organized as a regiment in 1942, and trained at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. In 1943, however, it was reorganized as the 333rd Field Artillery Group, consisting of the 333rd and 969th Field Artillery Battalions, both African American units with mostly white officers. Subsequently, two other field artillery battalions would be added to this group. The 333rd and 969th battalions were equipped with the M1 155mm howitzer, a versatile and effective truck-drawn weapon used by the US Army until the Vietnam War, and still in use in some parts of the world today…"

Full article here
link

Armand

This is 'old' news as its been reported upon for a number of years. There is even a book and a movie about this unfortunately 'hidden' incident. Three of the gunners were from my home state, Mississippi.

Book -- link [The cover illustration is incorrect since this was a field artillery battalion, not an anti-aircraft artillery battalion.]
Movie -- imdb.com/title/tt1641253

Jim

Thanks!.

Armand

It deserves to be well known for another reason: it highlights the vileness and cruelty of the Waffen SS, an organization that too often gets a far gentler treatment from historians than it earned.

IIRC even in 1940 in France, German troops/SS killed captured French colonial troops from Africa outright.

Also in 1940 they massacred a unit of British infantry during the fighting withdrawal to Dunkirk.

Jim

Yep. They had many, many atrocities to their credit.

Sadly very true … And the only way to stop this evil was to destroy it completely. Which the Allies did …

The cornerstone of Nazi ideology was and remains white supremacy (a fact often overlooked by quite a few historians and WW2 military reinactors). It's terrifying and sad, but not surprising that this atrocity was the outcome for captured Black US troops.

Yes, which is why I am always surprised, bewildered, and a little irritated when I hear someone gush over the SS.

We know the answer, but we are ashamed to admit it. With exceptions, the Waffen SS were an elite, in what would now be described as "cool" (a term I have not used in decades as I do not live in LA or SF and I have not seen the Grateful Dead live since the early 70s) so where was I? Oh yes, their uniforms. Hard to recreate in any scale, but, if you do get it right.

Bunch of murdering thugs, who got beaten by Eastern Untermensch, who got better, and Allied better planning and supply, in the hands of equally brave Western Allies. Totally overated lunatics in very nice rig

bewildered, and a little irritated when I hear someone gush over the SS.

So very true … but like all history, the good, the bad and the ugly needs to be studied, from all standpoints including military aspects, political, etc., etc.

As we know we study history to [hopefully?] not make the same mistakes, etc., etc. and do "it" again …

Regardless the SS's record is horrendous to say the least …

white supremacy (a fact often overlooked by quite a few historians and WW2 military reinactors).

Yes, very true, but do we not let WW2 Military reenactors portray the SS ? Sadly it is part of history.

In the US we have a bit of a "conundrum", so to speak, with the CSA during the ACW. Not comparing the CSA with the SS. That is a whole other discussion. But what happened before, during and after the ACW occurred … we can't ignore it.

We must study and learn from history … to prevent war crimes, etc., from occurring again. In the USA currently, some don't see it that way. Which in the long run will be at our peril, IMO …

It is absolutely Orwellian e.g. from his novel 1984 …

We can't and shouldn't rewrite history. We must study, dissect, dig deep, etc., to see, again, what happened, before, during and after.

The stylist uniforming was a key part of the Nazi appeal, which the late Christopher Hitchens identified as "pornographic." The Nazis always used culture and style to advance and hide their true purposes; if we fail to recognize what those uniforms represent, we only demonstrate what an effective strategy it was.

Yes as I said, when it comes to history, we have know and study the good, the bad and the ugly. And as we know … there is a lot of ugly …

Yep. And some of it looks very nice.