333rd Field Artillery Battalion ( United States ) The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion was an African - American unit of the then racially segregated United States Army during World War II . The battalion landed at Normandy at the beginning of July 1944 and saw continuous combat as corps artillery throughout the summer . Beginning in October 1944 it was located in Schoenberg , Belgium as part of the U . S . VIII Corps Artillery . Partially overrun by the Germans on 17 December 1944 , the remnants of the 333rd FA Battalion were withdrawn to the west , where the men fought in the Siege of Bastogne . Service and C Batteries suffered heavy casualties , and eleven men of the 333rd were massacred near the Belgian hamlet of Wereth . After the war , the battalion was inactivated and reactivated during various Army reorganizations . Formation and history prior to the Ardennes Offensive . Organized as the 333rd Field Artillery ( FA ) Regiment on 5 August 1917 and subordinated to the 161st Field Artillery Brigade , 86th Infantry Division . The regiment subsequently served in France during World War I , but did not see action . The regiment was demobilized in January 1919 at Camp Grant , Illinois . The regiment was part of the Organized Reserves in Chicago from 1930 through 1937 , at which time it was inactivated until World War II . On 5 August 1942 , the 333rd FA Regiment was activated at Camp Gruber , Oklahoma . As part of an army - wide artillery reorganization , the 1st Battalion was retitled the 333rd FA Battalion and the 2nd Battalion became the 969th FA Battalion . Regimental Headquarters became Headquarters and Headquarters Battery of the 333rd FA Group on 12 February 1943 . The group subsequently served in Normandy , Brittany , participated in the siege of Brest and battled across Northern France before arriving in the Ardennes sector as part of the corps artillery of the U . S . VIII Corps . Ardennes Offensive & the Wereth 11 Massacre . The 333rd FA Group ( 333rd { 155mm } , 969th { 155mm } and 771st { 4 . 5 - inch } FA Battalions ) initially supported the 2nd Infantry Division ( United States ) and its replacement , the 106th Infantry Division . At the onset of the Battle of the Bulge they were eleven miles behind the front lines . With the rapid advance of the Germans , the 333rd FA Battalion was ordered to withdraw further west , but C and Service Batteries were ordered to stay behind to give covering fire to the 106th Division . On 17 December they were overrun with most killed or captured . Eleven of its soldiers became separated from the unit after it was overrun early on the second day of the battle . In an effort to reach American lines they made their way to the hamlet of Wereth , Belgium ( near Amel ) , where a farmer , Mathias Langer , sheltered them . However , later that day , a Nazi sympathizer revealed their presence to members of the 1st SS Division . They surrendered , but were taken to a field , where they were tortured , maimed , and shot on 17 December 1944 . Their remains were found by Allied soldiers two months later , after the Allies re - took the area . The soldiers had their fingers cut off , legs broken , and at least one was shot while trying to bandage a comrade ' s wounds . A memorial stands ( since 1994 ) on the site of their murders , dedicated to the 11 ( " Wereth 11 " ) and all African - American soldiers who fought in the European theatre . It is believed to be the only memorial to African - American soldiers of World War II in Europe . The remnants of the 333rd FAB were ordered to Bastogne and incorporated into its sister unit the 969th Field Artillery Battalion . Both units provided fire support for the 101st Airborne Division in the Siege of Bastogne , subsequently being awarded the Presidential Unit Citation . The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion suffered more casualties during the Battle of the Bulge than any other artillery unit in the VIII Corps . Six officers ( including the commanding officer ) and 222 enlisted men became either casualties or prisoners of war . The 333rd FA Group subsequently served in the Central Europe campaign until the end of the war , while the 333rd FA Battalion subsequently served in the Rhineland Campaign . Post World War II . The 333rd FA Battalion was inactivated 10 June 1945 in Germany , while the 333rd FA Group was inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry , Virginia on 30 December 1945 . Both the 333rd and 969th FA Battalions were later reactivated , although further reorganizations ensued , with the 333rd FA Battalion renumbered as the 446th FA Battalion . On 1 July 1959 the 333rd FA Group was reactivated as the 333rd Artillery Regiment with the 446th and 969th FA Battalions subordinated to it . On 1 September 1971 , the regiment was retitled the 333rd Field Artillery Regiment . Four target acquisition batteries of the 333rd Field Artillery served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 . Today , there is only one target acquisition battery in the Army which still bear the number of the 333rd Field Artillery . Names of the " Wereth 11 " . The victims were : Curtis Adams was a medic . Thomas J . Forte was a mess sergeant .