Any history buffs know anything about this? If it had happened before slavery ended, I might believe it. But it allegedly happened in 1943, so.... Is it crap? “BLOOD BATH, AN AMERICAN ATROCITY” The 364th Infantry (an all black squadron) was originally stationed in Phoenix Arizona. In 1942, over 3,000 men belonged to the 364th Infantry. They were a proud and dignified bunch; considered uppity by whites. The soldiers refused to accept blatant racism and the harsh punishment and unequal treatment dished out by the military. At one point, the soldiers refused to obey orders from their commanding officer. On Thanksgiving night in 1942, 100 of the men took part in a shootout; there were 15 deaths. 16 men belonging to the 364th were tried by court martial; each received 50 years of hard labor. The army faced big problems with the 364th. The disobedience may influence other black soldiers to disobey. Solution: Send the 364th to the Deep South to be straightened out. Destination: Mississippi. As soon as the 364th hit town (on May 28th, 1943) they demanded equal treatment. Mississippi answered quickly when the Sheriff killed one of the soldiers because a button on his uniform was missing. A race riot ensued between the soldiers and the townspeople. The army’s plan was backfiring. Between May 30th -June 25th, over 3,000 people participated in the riot and 25 black soldiers were killed. The army panicked and allegedly, turned to a final solution. Military operatives infiltrated the 364th to identify the leadership. In the fall of 1943, while the soldiers were doing maneuvers, someone went into the barracks and removed the firing pins from their weapons. Later that evening, the Military Police were called in as well as riot control. Each soldier was awaken by superior officers and instructed to go line up in formation, outside. Over 1200 members of the 364th were lined up. Allegedly, the MP’s and the riot squad opened fire and shot everything that moved. The entire area was sealed off; the men were trapped. They yelled, screamed and begged for their lives as the shooting continued. When it was over, blood was everywhere. 1200 soldiers of the 364th were massacred. Their bodies were loaded in boxcars and shipped to the South gate of the base where they were covered with lime and buried in long trenches dug by bulldozers. The army allegedly notified the next-of-kin, saying, the soldiers were killed in combat. The remaining 1800 members of the 364th were threatened with death if they ever spoke of the massacre. They were all shipped out to Alaska where they remained until the war was over.
Yes, and its a mess of screwed up reporting, missing documentation, and Military personnel records crucial to the incident, along with millions of others, being destroyed in a fire in 1973. Something happened, that is not in question, but exactly the extent of it is the question. There were many racial incidents across the nation during WWII, and many of them instigated by white's in and around Black Military bases, and by racially bigoted military personnel. It is a sad point in the History of the Army, for failure to protect it's own from action of bigotted civilians and those in the Military who couldn't get past their own racial bigotry. I don't see a massacre of 1200 troops being ignored or hidden for 65 years. The fact I can find show death ,some were around 100, and that is unforgivable, but 1200, no. I can also find a lot of AWOL indication, and I wouldn't blame them for going AWOL, and I have a feeling that the Army didn't persue them for the sake of burying the incident. But the loss of the so many Records at the Army Record Center in 1973 will make any clearer picture difficult to assemble. 1973 Fire in St. Louis Destroyed Millions of Military Record... In the summer of 1973, the six-story National Personnel Record Center in ... More records may have been destroyed by water damage than by the fire itself. ... www.associatedcontent.com/article/281544/1973_fi... - 56k - Similar pages They were able to contain the fire to the sixth floor and no lives were lost, but what remained of the 200,000-square foot area was a sodden, smoldering swamp of burnt and waterlogged records. An estimated 16 to 18 million personnel files-the military life histories of America's warriors--were lost. Typical records contained enlistment documents, training forms, discharge papers, performance reports and pay information.
BS... There is no way such a huge loss of life could have been covered up. Hell, in Vietnam they killed ~400 civilians and we still hear about it... OK, I did a little research, it is a mystery, we don't know what happened to about 1000 black soldiers. There might have been individual murders and AWOLs, but I seriously doubt mass murdering 1000+ people...'' http://www.alternet.org/story/10821/the_mystery_of_the_364th/?page=1
Thanks Guys. I was wondering if it was pure BS or something I could pursue reading about. Guess I'm gonna read about it.
There was a book first in 1998 called The Massacre. That started an investigation by the Army, in 1999 ended up with a "nothing happened" verdict, although I don't necesserily trust them. In 2001 there was a special about the mystery on the History Channel and a long article in the Newsweek, but they basicly say the same thing what my link said. The whole story was based on 1 guy's admission, who is dead since. The reason why I don't believe it is because of people's conscience. Even decades after My Lai, soldiers committed suicide because they couldn't bear the burden. So I just can't imagine that a few dozen soldiers (or more) massacre 1000 and nobody comes forward for decades with any proof, not to mention the surviving 2000 black soldiers. Also 1000 bodies aren't something that can be easily get ride off and even decades later it could be found, unless they throw them into the ocean... There is always a little truth in myths. So yes, there were shootings and black soldiers disappeared, but it wasn't in the size of 1000 people. Read the Newsweek article if interested. There is actually a connection between this and My Lai... http://www.newsweek.com/id/79543 ""It was so bad, at least in my barracks, we decided after 5 p.m. not to emerge from our barracks. The latrine was in a separate building, and you had to walk about 50 yards. Man, we were scared to death that one of these white MPs might gun us down. So we decided to pull up some floor boards at one end of the barracks, and some guy had gotten a large bag of lime. So we did whatever we had to do right there and then covered it with lime. It was that bad. It was awful, awful. It has been the most unpleasant experience of my life.""
