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Eleven Black soldiers who were tortured and killed at the hands of Nazis during World War II have finally received recognition for their bravery. According to the New York Daily News the soldiers, whose heroic story was brushed under the rug, were honored posthumously by the U.S. government.

From the New York Daily News:

The dead were assigned to the 333rd Field Army Battalion, members of a unit lauded for its deadly aim in battle. Yet theirs was a sacrifice long ignored by their country.

In 1949, a U.S. Senate subcommittee released an official report exhaustively detailing 12 similar massacres. Every last casualty was listed — but the Wereth 11, as they came to be known, didn’t warrant mention.

The soldiers of the segregated 333rd FAB were among the first blacks to be trained for actual combat, rather than shunted into service positions. Under the command of VIII Corps, they landed on Utah Beach on June 19, 1944.

According to the New York Daily News, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution in 2013 that called for the 1949 report to include the names of the Black soldiers. The soldiers were awarded Purple Heart medals.

In 2004, funds had been raised to create a monument dedicated to the eleven soldiers, reports the outlet. There are memorial services held at the monument each year.

SOURCE: New York Daily News

SEE ALSO:

America’s Shameful History Against Black Veterans Revealed

House Abandons Confederate Flag Ban At Veteran Cemeteries