IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 43 

Providing official recognition of the massacre of 11 African-American soldiers 

of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion of the United States Army who 

had been captured in Wereth, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge 

on December 17, 1944. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 4, 2017 

Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself and Mr. RUSH) submitted the following 

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Providing official recognition of the massacre of 11 AfricanAmerican soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion 

of the United States Army who had been captured in 

Wereth, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge on 

December 17, 1944. 

Whereas, during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in December 1944, the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, an African-American unit, was among the units of the United 

States Army overrun in the initial German attack; 

Whereas eleven soldiers from different batteries of the 333rd 

Field Artillery Battalion escaped capture and tried to return to the American lines; 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HCON 43 IH 

Whereas the eleven soldiers were Curtis Adams of South 

Carolina, Mager Bradley of Mississippi, George Davis, 

Jr., of Alabama, Thomas Forte of Mississippi, Robert 

Green of Georgia, James Leatherwood of Mississippi, Nathaniel Moss of Texas, George Motten of Texas, William 

Pritchett of Alabama, James Stewart of West Virginia, 

and Due Turner of Arkansas; 

Whereas, despite the bitter cold and snow, the soldiers walked 

10 miles to the town of Wereth, Belgium, where they received shelter at the farmhouse of Mathias Langer, a 

resident of Wereth; 

Whereas the eleven soldiers were captured by a German patrol composed of SS soldiers, who, after dark, marched 

the unarmed Americans to a nearby field and brutally 

massacred them; 

Whereas, in 1949, a subcommittee of the Committee on 

Armed Services of the Senate conducted an investigation 

in connection with massacres and other atrocities committed by German troops during the Battle of the Bulge; 

Whereas the report of the subcommittee identified 12 locations at which American Prisoners of War, Belgian civilians, or both were murdered during the Battle of the 

Bulge; 

Whereas the massacre of the 11 African-American soldiers of 

the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion in Wereth was omitted from the report, and the occurrence of this massacre 

remains unknown to the vast majority of Americans; and 

Whereas, in 2004, a permanent monument was dedicated in 

Wereth to the 11 African-American soldiers of the 333rd 

Field Artillery Battalion who lost their lives in Wereth 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HCON 43 IH 

during the Battle of the Bulge to defeat fascism and defend freedom: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) officially recognizes the dedicated service 

4 and ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the United States 

5 of the 11 African-American soldiers of the 333rd 

6 Field Artillery Battalion of the United States Army 

7 who were massacred in Wereth, Belgium, during the 

8 Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944; and 

9 (2) calls on the Committee on Armed Services 

10 of the Senate to correct the omission in the 1949 re11 port of its subcommittee and appropriately recognize 

12 the sacrifice and massacre of the Wereth 11. 

Æ 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS