In recent news, it has become clear that certain books are now banned. This has been reported in several news outlets and blogs online, such as the Washington Post in an article titled Park gift shops could remove books on slavery and the Civil War and the NY Post in the article Redwood National Park flags nine books to ban under Trump directive. It is also reported on SFGate in an article titled Trump admin to ban book from Yosemite National Park, says author. Blogs also picked up on the topic, like The Reconstruction Era in Interior Department Looking to Ban Historical Books from National Park Service Bookstores.

The banned books focus on slavery and the U.S. Civil War. My work focuses on World War II and the experiences of Black Americans during that conflict: the Tuskegee Airmen, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion or the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. But the Civil War generation is essential to understand Black American history. The men who fought in the USCT, the women who supported them, and the writers who recorded their stories, they are the reason there is a story to tell about Black soldiers in the Second World War at all.

So I did something practical. I've added several public domain books to the Sources page of this website. Every book can be downloaded as a PDF for free, directly from the page. I don't charge any money for it. They fall into two categories: memoirs and histories written by Black Americans during or shortly after the Civil War, and firsthand accounts by white officers who served in Black regiments. These are not obscure academic texts. They are primary sources written by people who were there. The public domain exists precisely so that no one can control who reads these books. The public domain exists precisely so that no one can control who reads these books.

Among them:

Susie King Taylor, who served with the 33rd United States Colored Infantry and published her memoir in 1902. It is the only known account of the war written by a Black woman who lived it.

Elijah P. Marrs, born into slavery in Kentucky, who enlisted in the 12th U.S. Heavy Artillery (Colored) and later wrote about his journey from slavery to freedom.

Peter Bruner, also formerly enslaved, who served in the USCT and left behind one of the more personal soldier memoirs of the era.

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, colonel of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers. It is the first enslaved regiment officially mustered into U.S. service and whose Army Life in a Black Regiment is one of the great eyewitness accounts of the war.

Luis F. Emilio, a captain in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, whose meticulous regimental history documents the regiment from its first recruits through the assault on Fort Wagner and beyond.

Why this matters

The argument for removing these books from National Park bookstores, to the extent that there is an argument, is that they are divisive, or that they present a one-sided view of history. I'd suggest the opposite is true. A soldier writing about his own service during the U.S. Civil War is not divisive. It's essential for understanding history and the full context of the conflict. A woman recording what she saw and did in camp is not propaganda, but a wtiness giving testimony to her experiences. These books are evidence and records of people whose service was doubted at the time and whose memory has been contested ever since.

History does not become less true because it is inconvenient. If you find them useful — for research, teaching, or simply reading — I'd love to hear about it. If you have recommendations for books I should upload, send me a message! You can find my contact details here.

Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in St. Avold

There are over 10.487 Americans buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery, as well as 444 more commemorated on the Wall of Missing. 14 of these casualties are from the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, about whom I wrote a book, as well as a soldier of the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (AAA), which unit I also wrote a book about, and soldiers from the 827th Tank Destroyer Battalion. It's a unique experience to visit each of their graves. It makes history much more real. They aren't just names in a document, but people who lived and breathed. The casualties and grief are not just numbers or abstract, but people who had a family. One of these soldiers is Private Stafford Rimes of the 452nd AAA, with whose family I connected during my research. Knowing the stories, how they died, and in some cases what they looked like, and then standing in front of their headstone, it shows the human side of the war. They are not just statistics or casualties, but real people.

Visiting Climbach

The next day, we were in Climbach, France. I was greatly assisted by two local people: Marcel Lorentz and David Foxwell. Both men live in the area and know a lot about the history. We visited the area from which Third Platoon, Company C, 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, approached the village as part of Task Force Blackshear and deployed their towed three-inch guns in view of the enemy. Third Platoon, Company C, 614th TD, would later receive the Distinguished Unit Citation (now known as the Presidential Unit Citation) and Charles Thomas would be awarded the Medal of Honor. The area is much more different now, trees having risen up that weren't there before, but with the aid of wartime maps, you can recognize aspects of the battlefield. We also visited other old French fortifications from the Maginot line. In Climbach, there are plans to establish a monument for Third Platoon, Company C, 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion and I follow the process.

Wereth Eleven

After Climbach, we started on the road back. While sitting in the car, we made the spontaneous plan to stop at the Wereth Eleven memorial in Belgium. Eleven Black American soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, who had evaded capture during the Battle of the Bulge, were betrayed by a local civilian and murdered by Waffen-SS soldiers of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. The site still hosts annual commemorations. It's quite a contrast to the earlier locations I had visited, but equally interesting.

Closing reflection

By the end of the weekend, what stayed with me most was how these places connect: the graves at Lorraine, the battlefield at Climbach, and the field near Wereth. Each site represents a different moment in the history of Black American service in Europe. Combat, sacrifice, and in the case of the Wereth Eleven, a war crime and silence that followed. Being able to visit these sites in person makes the history, which you normally read in documents or archives, much more real. It also strengthened my resolve to keep assisting in ensuring that Black Americans' contributions to World War II are honored and commemorated.

• Introduction
• Thomas Reinhardt: How History Is Silenced
  • Total omission
  • Decontextualization and drowning it in background noise
• Andrea Orzoff: “Holocaust-Minimizers” and Nazi Reenacting
  • Holocaust-minimizers
• From Holocaust-Minimizers to Race-Minimizers
  • Race-minimizers
• Race Minimalization In Practice
  • Case Study 1: A World War II Without Black Americans
  • Case Study 2: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. in the Wrong Theater
• Race-Minimizing and the “Good War” Story
• Why This Matters for Dutch and American Audiences
• Asking Better Questions and Neutrality

Introduction

When you read an English-language book about World War II, you expect to read about all aspects of the war: nations, units, different soldiers from around the globe. But often, one group is almost invisible: Black American soldiers. That's not just a mistake. It tells us something about how we remember history.

During the same war, the United States maintained a segregated military and treated Black people as second-class citizens. In June 1945, the Army totaled 8.266.373 men, of which 694.818 (9.33%) were Black, which is similar to their percentage of 10% of the U.S. population at that time.¹ Black Americans fought for what was called a “Double V”: victory over fascism abroad and victory over segregation at home. How that contradiction is remembered, or quietly minimized, matters. To understand this process, it helps to start with two historians who study how uncomfortable histories are pushed aside: Thomas Reinhardt and Andrea Orzoff.

Thomas Reinhardt: How History Is Silenced

In his article “200 Years of Forgetting: Hushing up the Haitian Revolution,” Thomas Reinhardt examines why the Haitian Revolution is often unmentioned in histories of the modern world. Between 1791 and 1804, enslaved people in Saint-Domingue overthrew French colonial rule, freed themselves from slavery, and established Haiti as the first Black republic. It was one of the most important revolutions of the time. Yet many books either ignore it or treat it as a minor side story. Reinhardt argues that this is not a coincidence. He identifies two main strategies for silencing inconvenient history.

Total omission

The first strategy is brutally simple: you do not mention the event at all. Reinhardt writes that authors “just shut the hell up” about the Haitian Revolution.² If people never see it on the page, they will not know it happened. The event drops out of the events that define world history.

Decontextualization and drowning it in background noise

The second is more subtle. An event can be mentioned, but buried under other details or pulled out of its proper context. This can be done by zooming in on a single detail, so that it loses its significance in history or the Haitian Revolution is pulled out of its proper context, such as when it is only viewed from a Western economic perspective. In that frame, it becomes a “failed” revolution instead of a successful slave uprising that terrified slaveholding societies across the Americas. Reinhardt explains that the choices about what is included, what is left out, and how things are framed matter. All of these shape how we remember history.

Andrea Orzoff: “Holocaust-Minimizers” and Nazi Reenacting

Andrea Orzoff brings a similar perspective to a very different topic: Nazi reenacting and fascination for the Waffen-SS. In an article in The Atlantic titled “What's Wrong with Nazi Reenacting,” she discusses the case of Rich Iott, a U.S. congressional candidate who spent years reenacting as a soldier in the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. Many reenactors insist they are just interested in uniforms, tactics, and military history. They claim they are not Nazis and have nothing against Jews or racial minorities. But Orzoff looks at the websites and materials they use. On sites devoted to SS units like Wiking, she notes that there are detailed accounts of campaigns, orders of battle, and equipment, but there is a lack of information about the Holocaust, about war crimes, or about the SS role in carrying out genocidal orders or exterminating people. To describe this pattern, Orzoff uses the term Holocaust-minimizers.

Holocaust-minimizers

Holocaust minimizers do not usually deny the Holocaust or claim the SS did nothing wrong during World War II. But they show little interest in its victims and focus instead on what they admire about the SS: “courage,” “elite” status, or military effectiveness. Orzoff argues that this places them on the same continuum as outright Holocaust deniers. They are at a “milder” end of the spectrum, but they share a goal: rehabilitating aspects of Nazism by disconnecting the soldiers from the genocidal framework within which they operated. Once the Holocaust is treated as optional background, and the SS is remembered mainly as a tough fighting force, a deeply distorted image of the past emerges.

From Holocaust-Minimizers to Race-Minimizers

Both Reinhardt and Orzoff show how powerful actors shape historical memory by silence, by framing, and by selective interest. Those same mechanisms appear in the way many books and films remember Black American soldiers in World War II. In work on Black participation in the war, a parallel category emerges: the race-minimizer.

Race-minimizers

Race-minimizers know that Black Americans served in World War II and often know that the U.S. armed forces were segregated by law and policy, but treat those facts as marginal, awkward, or irrelevant to the main story they want to tell. Within that perspective, segregation, the Double V campaign, experiences of Black Americans, become footnotes or disappear altogether. Race-minimizing does not deny that Black Americans existed, but it decides to treat race as unimportant, to leave it out because it complicates the story they want to tell. Where Holocaust-minimizers focus on “interesting” military aspects and treat genocide as background, race-minimizers focus on weapons, units, and a “good war” narrative while treating segregation and Black service as background or optional.

Race Minimalization In Practice

To see how race minimalization works in practice, it helps to look at two concrete examples: uniform reference books by Andrew Mollo.

Case Study 1: A World War II Without Black Americans

In the book World Army Uniforms Since 1939 written by Andrew Mollo and Digby Smith, there are 349 uniformed figures and 14 depict American soldiers during World War II.³ Not one of these soldiers is a Black American, even though statistically it would have been appropriate to have one of these figures be a Black American. The book does contain an Indian soldier (figure 64), a colonial Italian soldier (figure 70), a British West African soldier (figure 197) and a woman in the Soviet army (figure 175).

No mention that the U.S. Army was segregated, or that Black soldiers served in seperate units. Viewed through Reinhardt's lens, this is a textbook case of silencing by omission: if you “just shut the hell up” about Black troops, they drop out of the visual memory of the war. There isn't even race-minimizing here, because Black Americans aren't featured at all. It's interested in uniforms and weapons, but not in how race and segregation shaped that same army.

The result is a U.S. military that appears raceless and/or inclusive. A reader can leaf through the U.S. plates and never see a Black American. The visual memory of “what World War II looked like” becomes a line of white American soldiers, sailors, and airmen. This might give the impression that World War II was fought by white American troops and various colonial forces, but not by Black Americans in U.S. uniform. That impression is wrong.

Case Study 2: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. in the Wrong Theater

Andrew Mollo's The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia and Organisation is a richly illustrated reference book⁴. It contains 365 drawings of soldiers from many different nations, each in uniform. Out of those figures, 41 depict members of the American armed forces: soldiers, sailors, and airmen. The book also includes colonial troops serving in European armies and even shows a Samoan fighting alongside American forces.

In that book Mollo does include an illustration of Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the first Black general in the U.S. Air Force and commander of the 332nd Fighter Group, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He had a distinguished career in the US military. Including him could have been a good way to show that Black soldiers were part of the history of World War II, because there is no mention elsewhere in the book that the U.S. Army was segregated, or that Black soldiers served in seperate units, such as the 92nd Infantry Division or the 761st Tank Battalion.

However, the problem is that in this book Davis appears in the section on the Pacific Theater of War and the focus is on his uniform, not on the him or his service. The 332nd Fighter Group didn't operate in the Pacific Theater. This disconnects him from the context in which he served. It turns him into a generic American pilot rather than an example of how Black pilots overcame racial barriers. Race is not discussed at all.

In Reinhardt's terms, this is the second kind of silencing: the figure is present, but taken out of context. The zoom is so specific, in this particular case on his uniform, that he as a figure has lost its significance. People can point to Davis in the book and say, “They included a Black officer,” but the way he is presented in does not do justice to what he experienced or represents. Instead of teaching readers about the Tuskegee Airmen's role in the European war and in the struggle against segregation, the image becomes an isolated token.

Race-Minimizing and the “Good War” Story

On their own, these choices might look like simple oversights. However, when people examine many books, they show a broader pattern in how World War II is remembered in popular media and reference works. Racial segregation and discrimination inside the U.S. military are pushed out of view. For Black Americans, the history was never that simple. Many enlisted or were drafted while still denied equal rights at home. They served in segregated units, were often confined to labor and service roles, and had to fight for chances to prove themselves in combat.

The Double V campaign, victory over fascism abroad and over Jim Crow at home, captures the reality that for Black soldiers the war was fought on two fronts. Race-minimizing accounts do not completely erase these facts. Instead, they push them out of sight, treating them as background or specialist knowledge. The central narrative of World War II remains white and relatively uncomplicated.

Why This Matters for Dutch and American Audiences

For Dutch audiences, World War II is often remembered through the lens of occupation, resistance, collaboration, and liberation. American troops appear as liberators who brought an end to Nazi rule. That narrative is true, but incomplete. Among those liberators were Black American soldiers who served in segregated units, encountered discrimination from their own side even as they faced German fire and returned home to a country that still denied them equal rights.

For American audiences, race-minimizing allows a comforting image of the “Greatest Generation” while sidestepping the uncomfortable reality that many of those who fought for democracy abroad were denied democracy at home.

For anyone interested in Black history, the issue is clear: when books and films minimize race in World War II, they minimize the specific achievements and struggles of Black soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Their courage lay not only in facing the enemy, but in doing so within a system that treated them as less than equal.

Asking Better Questions and Neutrality

Race-minimizers do not always have bad intentions. An author might simply think that uniforms and organizations are “neutral” topics. A filmmaker might focus on one particular story and not consider how casting and framing affect who appears at the center of the war. The end result is still the same, that Black soldiers aren't represented. Erasing Black soldiers entirely, as happened at Margraten Cemetery doesn't honor them either.

Race-minimizing is not about accusing people. It is about recognizing that even well-regarded books and films can quietly sidestep the realities of racism and segregation. If World War II is going to remain a central story in our shared historical imagination, whether in the Netherlands, the United States, or elsewhere, it should be presented in a way that includes the full range of those who fought, and the full complexity of what they were fighting for. That means not only adding Black soldiers to the picture, but also restoring the context that makes their service, and their struggles, visible again.

Last update: 23 February 2026.

The Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Margraten is the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands. It is the resting place of 8,301 American casualties from World War II and has 1,722 names recorded on the Wall of the Missing. The site is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Among those buried at Margraten are 174 Black Americans, including Medal of Honor recipient Willy F. James Jr.

Table of Contents

• New Panels Revealed
• Removal of Panels
• What Was On The Panels?
• Official Responses from the American Battle Monuments Commission
• Political and Local Reactions
• English Language Sources
• International News
• Non-English Sources
• Response From The Ambassador
• What Makes It So Sensitive?
• What's the 43rd Signal Construction Battalion?
• My Visit To Margraten
• The Ambassador's Response After His Visit
• What About Willy F. James? Why Don't They Show A Photograph Of Him?
• Are There Three or Four Panels?
• Why Do These Details Matter?
• The Letter From US Congress to ABMC
• What Do The FOIA Emails Reveal?
• The Rationale Behind The Removal
• New Panels Being Placed?
• What's Next?

New Panels Revealed

On the website of the ABMC the new panels had been announced and a wguke later presented in an event at the ambassador's house in The Hague, the Netherlands. The event included Kees Ribbens, senior researcher at NIOD (The Dutch Institute for War Documentation), Mieke Kirkels, who wrote about Black Americans during World War II and founded the Black Liberator foundation, Sebastiaan Vonk, from the Black Liberators foundation, and Allard Krijnen, the mayor of Eijsden-Margraten. The presentation was given by the ambassador Joseph Popolo as well as Robert Edsel, the writer of Remember Us. The new panel now names the units involved explicitly. Also ten new invidiual panels were presented.

The text on the panels is this:

Creating the Cemetery
To support operations in the Netherlands and into Germany, a temporary cemetery was established in Margraten. This site was a coordinated effort to Ensure servicemember remains were laid to rest with dignity. Army Graves registration units were responsible for recovery and identification of war dead. At Margraten, the 611th Graves Registration Company established the cemetery, where field mortuary technicians removed equipment, verified identities, and collected personal effects for return to families prior to preparing the bodies for burial.
When establishing what would become the Netherlands American Cemetery, much of the work of digging groves and burying the dead was conducted by African American soldiers assigned to the 3136th Quartermaster Service Company with support from the 960th Quartermaster Service Company and local Dutch citizens. They laid out the temporary cemetery's alignment and dug graves to uniform size and depth. As burials were conducted, each grave was marked with a wooden cross or Star of David, and a chaplain provided graveside services.

Unfortunately, the panel doesn't mention segregation in the United States military. By presenting their work without that context, it effectively renders the structural racism they faced invisible and thus effectively removed the Black American perspective on the war.

The new panels at Margraten Cemetery explicitly name the units involved, but don't mention segregation at all. (Photograph made by author)

Removal of Panels

In November it was observed that two panels dedicated to the history of Black Americans in the U.S. military and the death of George H. Pruitt (43rd Signal Construction Battalion) were removed from the visitors center at the cemetery. Pruitt himself is interred in Margraten. The removals have sparked questions both locally and internationally.

The discussion began after a Dutch newspaper, NRC, published an article on November 7, 2025: Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders ineens weg: past bij beleid van de regering Trump. The title in Dutch reads: "At Margraten, two panels about black American liberators have suddenly disappeared: this fits in with the Trump administration's policy."

The grave of Willy F. James at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial.

What Was On The Panels?

The two panels contained information in Dutch and English about Black Americans soldiers during World War II.

One panel contained the following text:

African American Servicemembers in WWII: Fighting on Two Fronts

During World War II, the U.S. military followed a strict policy of segregation. Despite the ongoing fight for civil rights at home during an era of racist policies, more than a million African Americans answered their nation's call enlisting in every branch of the military.

Although limited to serving primarily in labor and support positions, Black service members regularly faced the horrors of war. In the fall of 1944, the 960th Quartermaster Service Company (QMSC)-composed primarily of African Americans - arrived in Margraten to dig graves at the newly created cemetery. First Lieutenant Jefferson Wiggins of the 960th QMSC recounted the suffering of service members under his command who "cried when they were digging the graves... they were just completely traumatized."

President Harry S. Truman finally ordered the US military to desegregate in 1948. However, African Americans' fight for civil rights was far from over. Many Black soldiers, including Wiggins, returned home to become leaders in the Civil Rights movement. The achievements of African American service members in WWII served as a powerful claim for equality then and now.

The other highlighted George H. Pruitt, a Technician Fourth Class, who drowned while attempting to save a comrade. He was a member of the 43rd Signal Construction Battalion, also known as the 43rd Signal Heavy Construction Battalion. He was posthumously awarded the Soldiers Medal, which was given to his widow Blanche Pruitt. The panel indicated he was buried at Plot L, Row 4, Grave 4 and contained this text in Dutch and English:

George H. Pruitt was born on March 26th 1922, in Camden, New Jersey. On December 31st 1942, Pruitt enlisted and was assigned to the 43rd Signal Construction Battalion.

On June 10th 1945, Pruilt and his comrades were constructing a telephone line across a river in Bremen, when one of them fell into the fast flowing river. Without hesitation, Pruitt dove into the water to save him. Despite multiple attempts, he was not able to save his comrade. The river also claimed the life of Pruitt, he was 23 years old.

George H. Pruitt was posthumously awarded the Soldier's Medal. His widow, Blanche Pruitt, received the award during an Armistice Day celebration in his hometown on November 13th 1945.

George H. Pruitt of the 43rd Signal Heavy Construction Battalion. Image taken from the book: 43rd Signal Heavy Construction Battalion, 1945, page 78. Book is in possession of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.

Official Responses from the American Battle Monuments Commission

In the article it notes: According to Hélène Chaulin, ABMC spokesperson, “these panels [like the one about Pruitt] were designed to rotate regularly throughout the exhibition's run, so that as many individual stories as possible are featured.” She clarified: “The panel is currently not on display, but not out of rotation.”

When asked specifically about the panel covering Black American gravediggers, there was no answer provided. The spokesperson further noted that two portrait photographs out of 200 on display remain and in a 15-minute documentary there is still a fragment featuring Black soldiers digging graves. One minor note, but the NRC article stated, “a portrait photo has been placed next to the five white soldiers. Of the Black soldier James, only a photo of his gravestone is visible, while photos of him are circulating online." This is incorrect, as no known photographs of Willy F. James exist.

Note: I reached out to ABMC to ask about their policy regarding Medal of Honor winners and cases where no images exist. They have not replied yet.

In the Newsweek article, Memorial to Black US Soldiers Who Died in WW2 Quietly Removed, ABMC also acknowledged that four out of the fifteen panels, used for rotation, feature Black American soldiers. Note: There are three panels, not four, featuring individual Black American soldiers.

Napoleon Black, one of the Black American liberators of WWII, is listed on the Wall of Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Political and Local Reactions

A follow-up NRC article (Nov. 8, 2025) described how several political parties in the provincial executive council of Limburg are now discussing a temporary memorial site to honor Black American soldiers: Limburgse statenleden willen tijdelijke herdenkingsplek voor zwarte bevrijders. The title in Dutch reads: "Limburg provincial council members want a temporary memorial site for Black liberators".

Local Limburg news source L1Nieuws shared additional context from cemetery caretakers: Verdwenen panelen zwarte bevrijders op begraafplaats Margraten onderdeel van roulerend systeem. “Due to the limited space in the visitors center there are often changes in the different panels, so that continually several stories can be told." This echoes the earlier statements from the ABMC in the NRC article.

De Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper, wrote an article titled: Amerikaanse begraafplaats Margraten verwijdert gedenktekens over rol van zwarte militairen in WO II. The article mentions that this appears to be part of the battle against what the Trump government calls 'woke'. The article mentions how the Trump government also made edits to the training videos of American air force pilots and how thousands of web articles were deleted with stories or images about Black, native, LGBTIQ+, or female veterans.

Nu.nl, an Dutch newssite, wrote an article titled: Limburg wil dat VS borden over zwarte soldaten op WO II-begraafplaats terugzet.

NOS, the Dutch state news broadcast, wrote this article on their website: Limburg roept VS op om panelen over zwarte soldaten terug te plaatsen. The title reads: "Limburg calls on US to put back the panels".

NOS also had a follow up article, titled: Beheerder Margraten over weghalen panelen: past niet langer in 'missie'.
Translated to English, it reads: "Caretaker Margraten about removing panels: doesn't fit any longer in 'mission'." The article mentions that there is a new interpretation of "the needs" and that there was no external pressure to remove the panels.

Traces of War, a Dutch World War II war site, had the following article: Worden zwarte soldaten opnieuw gewist uit de geschiedenis? The title translates as: "Are Black soldiers again erased from history?"

English Language Sources

NL-Times, an English-language Dutch news sources, wrote about it here: Limburg demands answers over U.S. whitewashing of Black history at WWII cemetery.
The article is similar to the NRC article and includes the quote that it is "indecent and unacceptable" to remove the panels as well as 'They stated the move "does not do justice to history.'" The article also mentions that Limburg King's Commissioner Emile Roemer shares the concerns and will meet with the US ambassador to talk about the issue.

Dutch News, another English-language Dutch news site, wrote about it here: Calls for permanent memorial in Limburg to black US liberators.
The article is similar to the original NRC articles, including the political parties which asked to replace the plaques.

Dutch News also published a follow-up article: Mayor calls for Black Liberators to be commemorated at Margraten. The article notes that the mayor submitted as request to put back the panels.

Dutch News published a follow-up article on 19 November: Panel on segregation in US army will not return to Margraten The article incorporates the responses from ABMC and the U.S. Ambassador Joseph Popolo.

Dutch News publied this article on the new panels on 27 January 2026: New Margraten cemetery panels aim to quell Black Liberators row.

International News

The newspage Newsweek has published an article titled: Memorial to Black US Soldiers Who Died in WW2 Quietly Removed.
The article is similar to the NRC articles, but also includes extra information from the Black Liberators, such as "might explain the removal of the story of Technician Fourth Class George H. Pruitt, even though it was already the last story to be added, it does not explain why the panel highlighting racial segregation was removed".

The Guardian published this article: A Dutch war cemetery added displays showing black US soldiers. Then they were quietly removed.

The Moderate Voice published this article: A Dark Cloud Hangs over the Margraten American Cemetery this Veterans Day.

Snopes also did an overview, which can be read here: Did Trump admin remove panels honoring fallen Black US soldiers in the Netherlands? What we know.

CNN published this article: Display about Black soldiers in World War II removed from US military cemetery.

The Washington Post published this article: U.S. WWII cemetery in the Netherlands removes displays about Black troops.

The Jewish Telegraph Agency this article: Officials removed exhibit on Black soldiers in WWII over fear of Trump's 'ire,' emails show.

Non-English Sources

Also non-English language newspapers are reporting on the issue.

French:
France24: Quand la politique anti-inclusion de Trump s'en prend à des Afro-Américains enterrés aux Pays-Bas.

Portuguese:
Vero Noticias: Holanda pede memorial para soldados negros americanos em Margraten.

CNN Brasil: Remoção de painel sobre soldados negros dos EUA da 2ª Guerra gera polêmica. Note, this is a translation from the English CNN article.

German:
Aachener Zeitung: Gedenktafeln schwarzer Soldaten am US-Friedhof in Margraten entfernt. Beobachter sind entsetzt.

Response From The Ambassador

The U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, Joseph Popolo, has also responded to the discussion with the following tweet:

"U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands @usambnl 2025 is the also the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. The @USABMC Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten is a solemn testament to those that paid the ultimate price for keeping us free. I understand two panels honoring African American service members were rotated out of a display in the visitor center prior to my arrival as Ambassador. @POTUS and @SecWar have decreed that merit and bravery will be the calling cards of our armed forces. There is ZERO inconsistency in honoring the important role African American soldiers played in WWII. I have only been in country three weeks, but look forward to my first visit to Margraten next week. #VeteransDay"

The tweet from the US ambassador to the Netherlands Joseph Popolo.

What I think is remarkable about this, is the post stresses the importance of merit and bravery. The panels removed weren't questioning merit. They contextualized the system of segregation within which Black soldiers served. These panels actually reinforce merit-based recognition by explaining their achievements despite institutional discrimination. Thus, recognizing their actions would actually part of a merit based recognition.

To push it even further, George H. Pruitt's panel documented how he jumped into the water to save a comrade. He was even awarded a medal for his actions. Unfortunately, the tweet from the Ambassador doesn't address why this panel was rotated.

What Makes It So Sensitive?

Margraten Cemetery is a symbol of international gratitude. It’s the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands and Dutch families have cared for American graves for generations. Black American soldiers played a crucial role in Europe’s liberation in WWII.

For many years, their sacrifice was overlooked, forgotten, or left out of public memory. The panels in the visitors center helped people to get a fuller understanding of history. By focusing on the experiences and sacrifices of Black soldiers, they let visitors understand not just heroism in battle, but also the difficulties and discrimination Black Americans faced, while fighting for freedom. When this aspect of history is removed or minimized, it sends a message about whose contributions are valued, and it makes it harder for current and future generations to learn from both the victories and the struggles of the past.

Honoring all those who served and died for our freedom helps people to understand the present better as well as lead to understanding across social groups. It thus helps create a better society.

What's the 43rd Signal Construction Battalion?

The 43rd Signal (Heavy) Construction Battalion was an American army unit during World War II. The unit had Black enlisted men, one Black Chief Warrant Officer and white officers.

The unit suffered 5 casualties overseas:

• Technician Fifth Grade Joseph Spriggs, Company A, fatally wounded on 3 February 1945 by the accidental discharge of a submachine gun.
• Technician Fourth Grade Burgess M. Harris, Company B, fatally injured on 10 May 1945 in a truck accident. The same incident injured Technician Fourth Grade Spencer Smith and Private First Class Charlie Hankerson.
• Technician Fourth Grade Leroy Kemp, Company A, drowned on 10 June 1945.
• Technician Fourth Grade George H. Pruitt, Company A, drowned on 10 June while attempting to save Leroy Kemp.
• Private First Class Norman Brown, Company A, died on 12 October 1945 when the pole he was working on as a lineman broke.

The battalion received Battle Participation Credit for:
Northern France, Ardennes Rhineland, Central Europe.

The following is a letter that a soldier in the battalion wrote. It gives a glimpse into the experiences of the unit as well as explain why the experiences of Black American soldiers are different than white American soldiers:

The Afro-American Newspapers
Baltimore, Maryland
February 18, 1944
Mr Editor:

You probably have received many letters of this type, but I think that after you read this letter you will be forced to at least investigate the case. On behalf of the two hundred and forty-nine men formerly of the Third Signal Troop, 2nd Cavalry Division, Ft. Clark, Texas, I plead that our case be printed; so that our race will know the true conditions that face the colored soldiers.

January 21, this year, the 2nd Cavalry Division went on the alert for P.O.C. and probable shipment overseas. Our troop wasn't included in the order. We later learned that we were to form a battalion and the ninth and twentyseventh [Cavalry Regiments] were going to be used as dock stevedores, unloading ships. They informed us that since we were such a crack communications unit, supposedly the best in the Third Army, and too intelligent to become stevedores.

February 13, 1944 we left Ft. Clark for Camp Crowder to form a battalion along with the 159th Field Artillery Battalion also a crack Negro unit. Incidentally they were rated ninety-eight per cent of being perfect in their firing tests given by an inspection team composed of Third Army officials.

We had visions of being the Cadre for an operations battalions because our troop is one-third radio operations and radio technicians. To our dismay we found that some brass hat in Washington had given orders to form a Construction Battalion. In this type battalion there isn't anyplace for radiomen. To be frank, we must toss away the months, in some cases, years of training that we have had since our entrance into the army. Of the fact that about seven hundred thousand dollars are being lost doesn't matter since the government will get more from the taxpayers.

If the colored soldiers aren't going to be able to use their training in technical fields why should they waste that time in school. That is why we are making such a fuss. We want to learn but we also want to be able to put this training to use after months of hard work in school.

Take my case for an example. From July 20, 1943 to November 13, 1943, I attended C.S.C.S. radio school and when I was released from school my classification was 766 on R.O.H.S. (radio operator high speed). I returned to my organization, the Third Signal Troop on Dec. 1, 1943 and promoted to technical fifth grade on Dec. 22.

On Jan. 21, this year, the 2nd Cavalry Div. was alerted and that is when the trouble began. They didn't want to make us a stevedore company; so they merged us with the 159 Field Artillery Bn. and gave us the glorified title of Signal Construction Bn.

My case is incidental; there is a technical sergeant that was in charge of repair maintenance for the division. He has spent years in radio, now he will probably be a construction chief.

At the present we are living in a condemned area and the sanitary facilities are outside across the street. We bathe, shave and catch cold in a poorly heated hut called a washroom or latrine. There are German prisoners here and they live better than we do.

With all this existing they even ask us about the four freedoms. Having covered most of the important things, I am quite sure that if you have the welfare of the Negro soldier at heart, you will investigate these claims and then have them printed; so that the secrets of what the Negroes in the army endure will be revealed to the public.

For reasons that you probably know I would prefer my name to be kept out of print because I will probably be weeded out and I will be unable to continue.

I remain:
Sincerely yours,
T/5 Samuel A. Connor
Co. B. 43rd Signal Const. Bn.
Camp Crowder, Missouri.

Taken from: Phillip McGuire, Taps for A Jim Crow Army: Letters from Black Soldiers In World War II, 1993, pages 75-76.

My Visit To Margraten

On 17 November, by co-incidence the same day as the U.S. Ambassador Joseph Popolo visited, I went to Margraten myself to check the visitor center and the cemetery. Among other things, I noticed new flowers and a photograph on the grave of George H. Pruitt, which someone must have left recently. The staff was really helpful and answered many of my questions. They pointed out several more Black Americans, such as Black soldiers who served as infantry volunteers and who are buried there.

Out of the 15 panels on display, there was one dedicated to a Black American soldier, Willmore Mack. He served in the 784th Tank Battalion and many members of the unit are buried on the cemetery or listed on the Wall of the Missing.

One of the panels on the wall, explained how Willmore Mack of the 784th Tank Battalion lost his life. He's buried at Margraten Cemetery.

In addition to it, there are four women buried at the cemetery and one panel, which I saw on display, is dedicated to a woman.

Another panel on the wall, which details the death of Wilma R. Vinsant. She's one of the four women buried at Margraten Cemetery.

The Ambassador's Response After His Visit

The tweets from the US ambassador to the Netherlands Joseph Popolo after his visit.

The full text is this:

The awe-inspring Netherlands American Cemetery is here to honor the incredible sacrifice our troops made in World War II, including the ultimate sacrifice made by many brave African-American soldiers.

The displays at #Margraten are not here to push an agenda criticizing America. There are 15 panels highlighting the stories of individual soldiers, including the one featured here of Pvt. Willmore Mack of the 784th Tank Battalion, who valiantly gave his life in the campaign of 1944. [Note Samuel de Korte: Willmore Mack died in 1945.]

It is my understanding that the @usabmc is refurbishing and rotating panels that celebrate our heroic African-American soldiers who helped to liberate our Dutch allies. Any criticism of @POTUS or the men and women of the ABMC is inappropriate and ill-informed.

Now, in this tweet there is a lot to unpack. I'd like to draw your attention to the following two sentences: "The displays at #Margraten are not here to push an agenda criticizing America." and "Any criticism of @POTUS or the men and women of the ABMC is inappropriate and ill-informed."

The first sentence is a fundamental mischaracterization of the problem. Informing people about segregation in the United States Army and the racism that these Black American soldiers endured is essential understanding the service and sacrifice of these Black American soldiers. Documenting facts is part of historical research and not political critique or "agenda-pushing". By claiming that portraying history accurately or inclusively as "agenda-pushing", you combine historical accuracy with political bias. This will inherently lead to a misrepresentation of history. To push the argument even further, it would imply that any mention of segregation, discrimination or systemic racism automatically means it expresses "criticism" of the United States, which is not correct.

The Ambassador didn't tweet about the merit-based recognition, but removing the historical context actually undermines the exceptional bravery of Black American soldiers and the heroism they displayed during World War II.

There are several ways how the public can be informed, all using relevant topics related to the cemetery, such as the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who buried the dead soldiers at Margraten Cemetery. Another option would be using the 784th Tank Battalion, or the Black American infantry volunteers who served in white divisions, many of whom are buried there.

Without a plan for the regular, sustained visibility of panels dedicated to Black American soldiers, there is a risk that their removal becomes a practical erasure, regardless of institutional intent.

Lastly, calling other people "ill-informed", but then making a factual error doesn't help resolving the issue either. In his tweet Joseph Popolo claims Willmore Mack died "in the campaign of 1944," but on the panel people can read he died in 1945. If people were truly "ill-informed," wouldn't this be a good moment for the Ambassador to educate and to explain why the segregation panel was rotated out? Or when it will return? Or perhaps there are other initiatives to teach visitors about the service of Black Americans? Instead, the ambassador uses it to dismiss rather than engage in a conversation.

Considering the new information that became available, I reached out to the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands and U.S. Ambassador Joseph Popolo asking for an update specifically related to his characterization of public reactions "inappropriate and ill-informed", and the FOIA-request released emails. I received this response:

At this time, we advise you to reach out directly to the American Battle Monuments commission, who operates the cemetery and memorial. However, we will keep you up to date if we have any additional information to share.

The embassy did not address my specific questions or the ambassador’s earlier characterization of public reactions.

What About Willy F. James? Why Don't They Show A Photograph Of Him?

One fact which is included in several articles, is that only a photograph of Willy F. James' grave is used to symbolize him rather than a photograph. As far as I know, no known photograph of Willy F. James exists. Others have researched it as well, inlcuding extensive research and outreach, such as requests to James’s family. However, no verified photograph of Willy F. James Jr. has been found.

I also contacted the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) about this and asked what they normally do in such cases, and they provided the following explanation:

In cases where no verified photograph of an individual exists, including that of Willy F. James Jr., we do not substitute non-verified or speculative imagery. Our approach is to use available contextual photographs when appropriate – for example, a photograph of the family member/spouse receiving the Medal of Honor – as well as images of headstones or other historically accurate materials.

Rather than risk misidentification, the ABMC and cemetery staff adhere to this strict policy: only authenticated photos are used, and in the absence of such, they display James’s gravestone and, where appropriate, images of the Medal of Honor ceremony. The fact that no known photograph of Willy F. James exist is a reminder of the gaps in documenting the past and the challenges that people face when seeking to honor the past.

Are There Three or Four Panels?

Most newsarticles mention four panels, out of the fifteen, featuring Black Americans. After asking for clarification, the cemetery confirmed that there were three individual panels featuring Black American soldiers. 1: George H. Pruitt, of the 43rd Signal Construction Battalion 2: Willmore Mack of the 784th Tank Battalion 3: Willy F. James, of the 104th Infantry Division

Why Do These Details Matter?

First of all, it's important to be accurate and specific when listing a complaint. In this case, while indeed the panel of George H. Pruitt is not on display, there is another panel about a Black American soldier being presented. There is also a panel dedicated to a woman. Thus, it seems that ABMC at least attempts to include women and minority stories in their panel rotation.

However, that doesn't solve the entire problem. There is still the missing information panel about segregation in the U.S. Army. This information, about the struggle for equality and the impact of racial segregation on the U.S. Army, is an important part of the historical context and explains why the service of Black Americans was unique. They had to struggle for equal rights and often fought a "two-front fight". Without it, there is the risk of presenting an incomplete or even sanitized version of history. It also ensures that visitors understand not just who the Black Americans were who served, but also can appreciate their service better. Therefore, it is important that an information panel on segregation in the U.S. Army is on display at the visitors center and currently that's not the case.

By interpreting historical documentation of segregation and racism as “agenda-pushing," the Ambassador implies that any mention of these real events in the historical past are a form of inappropriate criticism rather than fact-based and documented history. This risks signaling that only a sanitized, uncritical version of the past is acceptable for the public. This inherently distorts the actual history and sacrifices of Black American soldiers during World War II.

When discrimination and racism are written out of history, it makes it more difficult for the public to understand the past. Ultimately, it all comes down to whether the U.S. can acknowledge past systemic injustice as historical fact without that acknowledgment being labeled as "agenda-pushing."

The Letter From US Congress to ABMC

The situation about Margraten has even reached U.S. Congress. On 21 November 34 members of the U.S. Congress have sent a letter stating their concern over the removal of displays about Black soldiers at Margraten Cemetery. They place the action within broader attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in U.S. commemorative practices.

Read the full letter here: Letter sent to ABMC (PDF).

What Do The FOIA Emails Reveal?

Several internal emails of the American Battle Monuments Commission were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act and reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency describe the decision-making process. On 19 March ABMC Secretary Charles Djou emailed several people about a new White House executive order titled "Removing Discrimination and Discriminatory Equity Ideology From the Foreign Service".

Although the order did not explicitly apply to ABMC, Djou asked "[...] make sure our agency complies with this Executive Order below. Although it does not specifically target ABMC, it clearly is directed at the Federal agencies with a major workforce located abroad." He then mentioned several examples that might run "afoul" of the order, like the Black American database or the Native American database. He continued with: "Finally, please touch bases with [...] if there might be any panel displays that would get us in trouble at any visitor center. I know the former Netherlands Ambassador pushed us hard to put up a Black-American display at NEAC that I know we just re-directed as a 962nd QM panel - I think should be ok, but let's just double check."

A reply came the next day specifying that internal only material was deemed safe and that the website had been cleared of material that might be flagged. It also identified the panel as something that might be a problem. The reply also recommended removing that, but not removing the individual Black American soldiers, because "honoring the individual achievements without racial environment context" was perceived as okay.

In another email Djou decided to proceed with the removal of the panel and to rotate it "to avoid raising any ire of the administration." In another email, a day later Djou writes: "Let's just keep the 962nd QM panel in storage for the Trump administration."

On 28 March Charles Djou sent out another email about potentially being flagged. In this email he included a link to an Executive Order from 27 March titled Restoring Truth And Sanity To American History and wrote:

"I know this Executive Order (EO) does to explicitly apply to the ABMC. Nevertheless could you help me just do a scrub to be sure we have nothing that might run our agency awry of this EO. I want the ABMC to avoid showing up in the media (or a visitor complaining to the media) for not following the spirit of this order even if it doesn't expressly target us. I'm pretty sure we have nothing that might violate this EO at any of our visitor centers, I'd just like to be sure."

The Rationale Behind The Removal

According to internal ABMC emails the decision to remove the panel was taken to pre-empt possible criticism from the Trump administration. The emails show that Charles Djou explicitly linked the Margraten panel to Trump's March 19 executive order on “discriminatory equity ideology," even though the order did not technically apply to ABMC. A senior staffer flagged the panel as “a problem," and Djou ordered its removal specifically “to avoid raising any ire of the administration," suggesting it be kept in storage until “a new admin in 2029."

That leaves two questions: will the panels return in 2029? And will America's official memory of its dead remain dependent on the political priorities of the moment?

New Panels Being Placed?

In an interview with Elsevier U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Joseph Popolo stated that there was “a lot of misinformation” about Margraten and acknowledged that it is important to talk about racism, discrimination and segregation, but “not at Margraten," which he calls a sacred place. He explained that Black soldiers are still honored on individual panels, insisted there is no political agenda behind the rotation of panels, and announced that this month a new panel will be added about Black American soldiers who died in the liberation of the Netherlands.

This doesn't address everything, because the ambassador mentions “misinformation”, but does not specify what is wrong. He also mentions that there is no political agenda behind the removal, but doesn't speak about the Trump executive order and its impact on ABMC's decisions about racially related content.

What's Next?

This situation is ongoing and it's unknown when or even if the information panel about segregation returns. Local officials and community members are seeking ways to honor the sacrifice of Black American soldiers. The US Ambassador Joseph Popolo has responded via X. I have included my own observations. I hope the ABMC and stakeholders will invite constructive feedback and take concrete steps to restore panels that present the complexity and significance of Black soldiers' wartime experiences, for current and future generations.

As more information becomes available, this article will be updated to remain a comprehensive and reliable resource.

If you have new information, send me message! This article aims to serve as the go-to source for updates on this important issue.
Share this article to help preserve the memory of Black American liberators in WWII!
More about Black American soldiers and DEI can be read here

The grave of Whitney C. Bland, of the 784th Tank Battalion, a Black American unit, at the Margraten Cemetery.

What Is History?

Before diving in, it’s important to clarify a few things. History is defined as what we think happened in the past. The historical past is what actually happened. History is thus an interpretation of the past. History uses certain techniques and methods to determine what happened in the past, as well as providing evidence for claims or statements, via experiments or via annotation.

Why Is This Relevant For AI?

AI comes in a variety of shapes. When dealing with history online, most often Large Language Models (LLMs) are used for generating texts. These texts are generated using tokens, based upon what the AI predicts is the next token, and not really factually accurate. So it is not exactly the truth, but it is giving you the answer that the AI thinks is accurate, based upon the training data and what the algorithm thinks it is the appropriate pattern. Often this is convincing, but not always. AI generated answers have even gone so far as to convince at least one person to kill himself.

AI Slop On Social Media

On social media, there has been a huge wave of AI slop, often with AI-generated images and stories about the Second World War. These stories are all fake and a simple Google search will expose this. However, the catch is, it is all fake. None of it is real. The texts produced are fiction at best and non-sensical at worst. It is an imagining of the past, little better than a work of fiction.

An image of AI slop on Facebook.

Why is this a problem?

Take Kurt Knispel as an example, which I also discussed here. Using the prompt: “I am writing a report on Kurt Knispel. What can you tell me about him?” The AI then gives forth an answer and the answer is historically incorrect. Among other things, it notes that Knispel was “the most successful tank ace” and mentions the “168 confirmed tank kills, a tally that possibly exceeded 195 if unconfirmed kills are counted.” The answer then gives more standard nazi-falsehoods as if it is the truth. Both claims have been debunked.

Yet the AI presents it as if it is factually accurate and even shared the “confirmed” aspect of the kills. However, in the article, “The War, One Great Adventure: The Writer and ‘Historian’ Franz Kurowski” (2018) by Roman Töppel, these claims have convincingly been debunked. However, the training data or the AI decided that the fake history is more important than academic article.

AI slop can be churned out within minutes. A simple prompt will create an easily shareable post. Well-researched content, takes significantly longer, if not hours to make. Let’s take a look at the example below, which at a glance might appear endearing, but is all fake and AI.

The post contains the following text:

“Jul 20
The 30-Minute Wedding - Normandy, 1944
In the middle of World War II, love found a way even if just for a moment.
Amid the rubble of a bombed-out church in Normandy, a young American Gl named Tom married Claire, a local French girl he had met only days before. With war raging around them and the clock ticking, they had just 30 minutes to say "I do." There was no music, no guests, no dress - just two hearts holding onto hope in a world falling apart. Moments later, Tom returned to the front lines, uncertain if he'd ever see Claire again. Sometimes the shortest love stories leave the longest echoes.”
And an AI generated image of a couple, resembling a French woman and a US soldier in a French church.

An image of AI slop in history. This image is fake! Note the lack of shadow under the couple.

If you’re scrolling on your phone or computer, you might assume this is a real image, but once you examine it closely, you’ll see it is fake. Note for example, the lack of a shadow under the couple or the stiff pose in which they are standing.
Once you search for the text or do a reverse image search, you’ll see it appear in the same or very similar ways online. The photo might be different, but the rest is all the same.

An image of AI slop on Facebook.

One result even shows the direct same image, but with a different filter.

The Problem Gets Even Worse

When doing the reverse image search, Google even offered an AI generated answer about the post I was searching and it again showed the exact problem with this post. It is not “an example” of the personal stories, it is a complete fabrication!

An image of ai slop is presented as if it is history by artificial intelligence. Keep in mind that all of this is fake!

The problem is then compounded when other people pick up the “story”. In this case, the AI-generate fake story translated to other languages, which complicates the problem.

An image of AI slop is translated to other languages.

Even when the original AI slop is labeled as artificially generated, it can be reshared, translated and stripped of the original context. This, as well as the other posts, create a feedback loop where AI is used to generate history-like content. This content is then spread online, which is again fed into the AI as data. It can then be presented as a source, as the AI overview in Google shows.

Why Is Fake History AI Slop A Problem For History?

AI lacks the ability to distinguish between credible sources and biased or inaccurate content. It leads to a repetition of myths and misinformation, making it even harder in a time where the truth is already being attacked, to even know what is accurate and real. The AI answers are often short summaries, which lack context or nuance. It is faster to read, but comes at the cost of accuracy and complexity.

In the long term, the problem can be an erosion of trust in scholarly expertise and integrity of the historical profession. To push this argument even further, people with bad intentions can use the AI generated fake history to push propaganda or manipulate the public’s perception of history. Propaganda has existed for centuries, but AI has made it so much more easy to spread it at scale. AI slop is already all over the internet and it will be a matter of time before it will infiltrate history books as well.

History is a continuous process where people make an interpretation of the historical past, debate, new evidence, and then a reinterpretation of the past. Our view of history now might be different twenty or a hundred years from now. Historians also make mistakes, but can at least explain how they reached an answer and are willing to reconsider it depending on the evidence. AI is more like a blackbox where an answer is produced without always knowing how that answer was reached.

AI Benefits

While I do see some benefits for history in employing AI and using AI to assist humans, with aspects of the historical research. Not all AI-generated content is used for harmful purposes and I recommend to be the “human-in-the loop” rather than just outsource everything to AI. AI-generated content can also be used to spark curiosity or engage with history. While this is true, it only works if the distinction between fiction and researched history is made explicit. Blurring the line risks confusion, distrust, and can do long-term factual harm. AI can also be used to brainstorm new project or ideas, but using AI to push fake narratives or to manipulate history simply isn’t the way forward.

An image of two Black Americans getting married during World War II. The woman is a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.

Whereas AI images might be of use in case there is a lack of source material, with World War II, that's simply not the case. A simple search of archival websites will have reavealed many images that can be used, such as the one included here.

The Way Forward

That leaves the current situation and how do we move forward? It would be better if the AI tech companies implemented better fact-checking, more transparency and better guardrails for AI generated content. However, considering that AI companies have been given free reign in exploring their technologies, it pushes the responsibilities for this technologies on to the users. Luckily, there are a few things that people can do against AI slop and history.

What Can You Do?

First, don’t share AI slop as if it is history. Do people need more AI slop in their lives? Isn’t real history much more interesting? The generated love story between Claire and Tom isn’t something that enriches people their understanding of history.

Second, verify! Are there sources? Is there anything that can be verified? In the story that was shared earlier, there is Claire and Tom, but there are no other things that can be verified or trusted. Also be sure to keep sharing your sources when writing or engaging with history.

Thirdly, look at the image? Is there an AI-generated image warning? Is it a historical photograph or is it an AI generated image pretending to be a photograph? If it is an AI generated image, then ask yourself, is the post fake as well.

What does the reverse image search show? Is it nowhere to be found except social media posts? Then there is a good chance it is fake. You can right-click on the image and do “Search With Google Lens” to determine the origin of an image or drag it into the Google “Search by Image” function.

Lastly, is the story or image very dramatic or emotional? In that case, it might be created to gain engagement and attention rather than inform users.

Conclusion

AI generated text is not always accurate and the problem with AI slop is probably going to get worse before it gets better. By asking yourself if something is real and several other questions, you can at least prevent yourself from unintentionally spreading fake history and the problems that come with it. Each time you pause to verify before sharing, you help stop the spread of misinformation and help protect the integrity of real history. Hopefully you found this post enjoyable and learned something new. Want to share your thoughts with me on AI and history? Please send me an email or reach out on social media!

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An impression of the graves at the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery.

Each Grave Is Evidence Of A Worldwide Conflict

This summer I was in India and I used the opportunity to visit several World War II related sites. There’s one site in particular that I wanted to write about the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery in Chennai.

The grave of A. G. Collyer of the 3rd Madras Regiment. He died on 29 September 1944

Chennai wasn’t the site of many famous battles. During World War I, the harbor was shelled by the German cruiser Emden on 22 September 1914 and during World War II the city was bombed by Japanese fighters on 12 October 1943, but no other battles were fought there. However, the city also had a British World War II cemetery that I was eager to see.

The grave of Daphne Mary Margaret McKenzie of the Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) at the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery. She died on 8 July 1944.

What made it so special for me, is that the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery isn’t centered on a famous battlefield. No battle was fought here, yet each grave is testament of a worldwide conflict. Those who lie here gave everything in battle, died in accidents, or of injuries and diseases. In death, they form a unique community: diversity made permanent and visible.

During my visit to the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery in the heart of Chennai, I was struck by how this small cemetery breaks the narrow lens through which we so often view World War II: a conflict between the American or British army against the German army in Europe. Instead, the soldiers were all in Commonwealth service, but came from all over the world and served in a variety of units. You won’t find trenches or bomb craters, but you’ll find history’s true breadth: the names and nations of fallen soldiers from every corner of the globe.

The grave of A. Malinowski of the Polish Forces at the Madras Commonwealth War Cemetery. He died on 22nd November 1944.

Names From All Over The World

As I walked between the rows, I didn’t just see British names, like for example A. G. Collyer of the 3rd Madras Regiment, but I saw the resting place of Christian African soldiers, like Samuel Kwaku Ayisi, and Muslim African soldiers, like Simeli Lagos, a Polish soldier, A. Malinowski, and even a woman with the Women’s Auxiliary Corps, India: Daphne Mary Margret McKenzie. There is also the headstone of the grave of H. W. Munro, a purser on the S.S. Chilka, who was buried at the Port Blair (Aberdeen) Cemetery on the Andaman Islands, but whose original grave is now lost.

The grave of Simeli Lagos of the Gold Coast Regiment. He died on 31 March 1945.

Their names reflect many countries of origin, reminding us that World War II is not the story of one people or one nation, but a mosaic of continents, beliefs, and backgrounds. Each stone here reflects a life interrupted far from home, bound together by their sacrifice for ideals greater than themselves. Many of these soldiers died in service far from their homelands, with the cemetery prepared to care for graves that could not be maintained in scattered sites across India’s southern and eastern regions. Here, in Chennai, is now their resting place, honoring a truly global legacy of sacrifice.

The grave of H. W. Munro. He died in July 1944 and his original grave on the Andaman Islands is lost.

As we remember World War II, let’s not reduce it to the familiar stories of European fronts or Pacific islands. Let’s remember the true global scale, the shared loss, the unexpected alliances, and the hope for peace that unites their memory. Because here, among these headstones, World War II reveals itself not just as a conflict, but as a story that spanned the whole world.

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Legal Differences

To start, we need to clarify a few things related to war crimes. The terminology matters. Let’s drive right in.

Suspected of a War Crime

When someone is suspected of a crime, this means that there is reason to believe, some evidence, or information suggesting the person may have committed a war crime. Suspicion alone is not evidence of guilt, but it’s a starting point for investigation. For example, Allied investigators suspected many German officers of ordering reprisals but lacked the documentation to proceed legally.

Implicated

Someone who is implicated is linked or connected to a crime without formal accusation or legal status. For example, it might be a Wehrmacht officer whose unit was present at an execution, but who was never investigated. Unit records might place them at the scene of the crime, but there has never been a followup.

Accused of a War Crime

An accusation is “a charge of wrongdoing”, which means that the suspect becomes involved in the legal process.¹ Being accused of a war crime means that the case has moved beyond suspicion. The person suspected now becomes involved in a judicial process. But importantly, this doesn’t mean guilt has been proven. The presumption of innocence still applies until there’s a conviction.

Convicted of a War Crime

According to Merriam-Webster, conviction is defined as this: ”1: the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law”. ² The person has been convicted and can be punished for the crime. To be convicted, there needs to be evidence and a trial.

Complicit in a War Crime

Someone complicit was involved in the crime, but might not have directly carried it out.³ This is different than a direct perpetrator, who carried out the crime. A Wehrmacht driver driving prisoners of war to an execution site can be an example of someone complicit in a war crime. He might not have carried out the crime, but he did enable others to do it.

Perpetrator

A perpetrator is the person who directly carries out the crime, which is different than someone who is complicit.⁴ A perpetrator might be a Waffen-SS soldier carrying out the execution of prisoners of war. This is the person pulling the proverbial trigger.

Acquitted

The individual was tried in a court and found not guilty. However, it is important to note that acquittal does not necessarily mean the person was innocent. It just means that the evidence was insufficient for conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. Some defendants at the Nuremberg Trials were acquitted on certain charges despite involvement in the Nazi regime.

Facilitator

Facilitators made the crime possible. This can be through logistics, looking the other way or administration. Think of the civil servants who organized the train schedules, which then carried people to extermination camps. They might have just been doing their job, but in the process they facilitated the extermination of others.

Pardon

Similarly, a person who is pardoned of a sentence, is still legally convicted of the crime. A pardon can be done for pragmatic or political reasons. They don’t erase the crime, just the legal consequences.

Systemic vs. Individual Crimes

A systemic crime is different than an individual war crime. A systemic crime is one carried out by policy and institutions. An example could be the Holocaust, where millions of people were systemically murdered by the Nazi state. An individual war crime could be the execution of a group of Soviet prisoners of war by a group of Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS soldier. However, individual crimes can still be part of a systemic crime.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

In legal systems based on the rule of law, individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is a foundational principle of modern justice and ensures that people are not punished without due process and evidence. However, this legal standard does not mean that someone is factually innocent, it simply means that guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a legal setting. In historical analysis, it is important to recognize that many individuals involved in systemic crimes were never brought to trial, and thus their legal status remained untouched, not because they were innocent, but because justice was incomplete or never pursued. Legally being innocent is not the same as exoneration. Silence in the historical record reflects gaps in justice, not necessarily virtue, and it has become an excuse to ignore history. Saying “we don’t know what this officer did, so let’s assume they did nothing wrong” isn’t neutrality, it’s erasure.

Why These Distinctions Matter in Historical Discussion

Not being convicted of a war crime, does not mean someone is innocent. Many German officers were never tried. Sometimes this was due to lack of evidence, but it could also be pragmatism or political reasons. Others have been accused, but were acquitted. A large number of military and civilian officials were administratively essential to war crimes, meaning they were complicit, but never prosecuted. Lastly, suspicion was often left uninvestigated. The vast scale of Nazi war crimes meant many suspects were never formally processed. In my book Tragedy and Betrayal, there is Walter Bartels, who was complicit of war crimes, but never sentenced, because other cases were deemed more urgent.⁵

The Challenge of Evidence and Fact-Finding in War Crimes

Prosecuting war crimes isn’t just about establishing guilt, it depends on the ability to uncover facts and prove them with credible evidence. This process faces unique challenges in the context of war. Evidence is often lost, destroyed, or deliberately concealed. For instance, as Allied forces approached extermination camps, the Nazis systematically burned documents in an effort to hide the scale of their crimes.

Successful prosecutions also depend on witness testimony, which may be unavailable or lost over time. If all victims are executed and no one survives, there are no eyewitnesses to testify. The Peleus War Crimes Trial, in which German U-boat U-852 surfaced and machine-gunned shipwreck survivors, only occurred because three men lived to tell what happened. Without their survival, there might never have been a trial.⁶ War crimes trials often took place years or even decades after the events. Memories fade, witnesses die, and physical records deteriorate. In some cases, political pressures, especially during the Cold War, impeded investigations or shifted legal priorities. Together, these factors mean that even well-documented atrocities may never result in charges or convictions, not because the crimes didn’t happen, but because they couldn’t be legally proven in court. Combined with the sheer number of suspects, which the courts couldn’t handle, many German soldiers were never tried, although they might have been involved in war crimes or systemic crimes.

Criminal Orders and Systemic Violence

The reason why the German armed forces were all potentially complicit in war crimes, is because of the criminal orders. The Wehrmacht (German army) operated under explicit orders from the Nazi high command. These were not vague suggestions but codified directives that laid the legal and moral groundwork for mass violence: The Commissar Order (1941) instructed troops to summarily execute Soviet political officers captured on the battlefield. The Barbarossa Decree removed legal constraints on soldiers, effectively authorizing the murder of civilians suspected of resistance in occupied Soviet territory. These orders were carried out on a massive scale, contributing to the deaths of millions of civilians and prisoners of war.

It Wasn’t Just the SS

Popular history often isolates the SS as the sole perpetrators of Nazi crimes. While they were certainly at the forefront of genocide, they were far from alone.

Kriegsmarine (Navy)

The German navy, often perceived as “cleaner” than its land-based counterparts, was complicit too. Following the Laconia Incident in 1942, Admiral Karl Doenitz issued the Laconia Order, forbidding U-boat commanders from rescuing survivors, even Allied POWs and civilians, from ships they had sunk. This directive violated international law and cost countless lives.

"1 Efforts to save survivors of sunken ships, such as the fishing swimming men out of the water and putting them on board lifeboats, the righting of overturned lifeboats, or the handing over of food and water, must stop. Rescue contradicts the most basic demands of the war: the destruction of hostile ships and their crews.
2 The orders concerning the bringing-in of skippers and chief engineers stay in effect.
3 Survivors are to be saved only if their statements are important for the boat.
4 Stay firm. Remember that the enemy has no regard for women and children when bombing German cities!”⁷

Kriegsmarine forces also cooperated with occupation authorities in reprisals against civilians, especially in coastal regions like Greece and Norway.

Luftwaffe (Air Force)

The Luftwaffe conducted terror bombings of cities such as Warsaw, Rotterdam, Belgrade, and London, often targeting civilian infrastructure with the aim of spreading fear. These bombings frequently lacked clear military necessity. Moreover, the Luftwaffe benefited from the Nazi slave labor system. Aircraft production relied heavily on forced laborers and concentration camp inmates, particularly at sites like Mittelbau-Dora, where conditions were so brutal that thousands perished.

Why Weren’t More Soldiers Prosecuted?

The Nuremberg Trials, while groundbreaking, focused primarily on the Nazi leadership and major war criminals. Only a fraction of those who enabled, committed, or benefited from war crimes were held accountable. The political realities of the postwar period, including the emerging Cold War, led to many prosecutions being dropped or never initiated. Further, prosecuting the tens of thousands of lower-ranking soldiers and officers would have been impossible logistically. The courts simply could not have handled this. As a result, many returned to civilian life with their past largely unexamined and their guilt or innocence unestablished.

A Note of Nuance

Of course, not every German soldier committed war crimes. There were some individuals who resisted, disobeyed, or were simply not in a position to participate in atrocities. But this is not the same as saying that the absence of accusation proves innocence. In a regime where war crimes were systemic, and accountability was exceptional, silence in the historical record often reflects failure of justice, not exoneration.

Conclusion

If we want to understand the full scope of World War II and the Holocaust, we need to reject the myths that absolve entire institutions by default. Scrutinizing the actions of all branches of the German military isn’t about collective guilt, it’s about historical responsibility.

Free Speech or Historical Revisionism? Analyzing and Warning About Alessandro Pepe His History Distortion, SS Films, Revisionism.",

In recent years, discussions around free speech and historical memory have become increasingly polarizing. I noted in an article recently that there have been changes in how history is presented in the USA. A speech given by Alessandro Pepe, who goes by the name Alexx Hermánn now, associated with the 2016 film My Honor Was Loyalty, brings these issues to the forefront. Previously I wrote about Alessandro Pepe / Alexx Hermánn and how his work romanticize the myth of the Waffen-SS here and how he distorted the Allied bombings in Germany to evoke sympathy for the German soldiers here. The speech is taken from the beginning of the short movie You've Shed Blood, which details a battle between Italian partisans and the German Wehrmacht.

The full speech:

"It's not true that we live in a society where we have freedom of speech. We can't say what we think. We live in a society full of hypocrisy where usually people changes mind according to what is trendy to say. And those people that fight for free speech, free expression and free thinking those who fight for Democracy actually don't really do it. They actually attack you if you are not playing following their rules. If you don't follow those standards of the society we live and that they created. And this also happens if you try to stay neutral. When I realized my film My Honor Was Loyalty for those who watched the film, it's totally clear that the movie tries to stay neutral, no kind of evil is glorified and War Crimes from National Socialism are not denied. But when I also try to show that bad things truly happened from those who we glorify as heroes at that point, I am censored."

This blog post dissects his remarks to understand the rhetoric and identify the problems and their impacts on society in his framing of historical events. Before we do so, it's important to distinguish between censorship, critique and backlash. Censorship is the official suppression of speech by governments or institutions. This can be banning a film or burning a book. Censorship is an official sanction. Critique is when people comment on ideas, which can be done by challenging them. Backlash is a reaction from groups, such as societies. This can be done by calling for boycotts. It means that people disapprove and it's not the same as censorship. Backlash is an informal sanction. It doesn't carry any legal weight, but it doesn't mean that it cannot have consequences.

The Speech: A Breakdown

Pepe's speech criticizes societal norms around freedom of expression, claiming that free speech is suppressed. He asserts that expressing opinions that diverge from "society's standards" leads to censorship. He defends his film as attempting to "stay neutral" in portraying both sides of World War II. He highlights "bad things" committed by both the Nazis and the Allies. While these themes might seem innocuous at first glance, a closer inspection reveals troubling undertones.

Pepe's speech revolves around his opinion that his free speech is under attack, but he interprets societal backlash as censorship. His claim, "I am censored," reflects this confusion. To fully assess his argument, we must examine whether his experiences truly reflect formal suppression or simply societal pushback against his controversial ideas.

Pepe does correctly describe an instance of censorship when he notes that the short film was removed from YouTube, when the following text is shown: "The short film was then censored and taken down from YouTube." However, the film's reupload and current availability complicate this narrative. If he successfully overcame the censorship, it demonstrates that the suppression was temporary and not infinite. This distinction matters because confusing temporary setbacks with lasting censorship undermines the weight of genuine free speech issues. Removing the film from YouTube could be seen as censorship if it violated free speech principles. However, since it's a commercial video platform, they can moderate against content that violates their community guidelines. While at times it can appear to be done inconsistently, it complicates his claim of deliberate suppression.

Victimhood and the Free Speech Argument: What He Claims

Pepe frames himself as a victim of societal censorship, stating, "I am censored if I don't follow those standards." This taps into a broader narrative often used by controversial figures. Rather than address the issue, they portray critique of them as an attack on free speech. In reality, facing pushback for problematic claims is not censorship; it is the exercise of others' free speech to challenge misinformation. Additionally, Pepe's language also reflects a narrative often used by revisionist arguments. By claiming himself as a martyr for truth-telling, he diverts attention from the content of his claims and shifts the focus to a perceived injustice against him.

Equivalence of Atrocities: A Dangerous Rhetoric

Pepe's assertion that "bad things truly happened" on both sides undermines the historical specificity of Nazi crimes. While no side in war is without fault, equating isolated Allied war crimes with the genocidal policies of Nazi Germany distorts historical reality. The Nuremberg Trials and decades of scholarship underscore the unique and systematic nature of Nazi atrocities, which cannot be relativized through a selective focus on Allied misconduct.

The Myth of "Neutrality": A Neutral Examination Of The Waffen-SS?

Pepe's defense of neutrality in My Honor Was Loyalty also demands closer inspection. The film, told from the perspective of a fictional Waffen-SS soldier, has been criticized for humanizing participants in a regime responsible for orchestrating the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. In the film prisoners of war are killed to prevent them from posing a threat in the future or in emotional outbursts. The main character also attempts to protect a Jewish woman against prosecution by the nazis. In addition, the main character claims that he didn't know that Jewish people were killed. He thought they were put to work for the Germans.

The Context Matters: The Context Defines Everything

While exploring a person's individual humanity is valid in art, the context matters greatly. As I wrote earlier about non-political history, in the case of examining a Waffen-SS soldier and leaving out the context, it can minimize the systemic and industrialized nature of Nazi crimes. It can also provide fuel for relativizing the Holocaust by equating it with the wartime actions of the Allies, which were not comparable in scale or intent. By framing his work as censored for revealing uncomfortable truths about Allied actions, the choices made in the creating of this movie are reinforcing false equivalencies. This can be seen when he says that the "movie tries to stay neutral, no kind of evil is glorified and War Crimes from National Socialism are not denied. But when I also try to show that bad things truly happened from those who we glorify as heroes at that point, I am censored." The narrative choices in his film align with patterns commonly seen in historical revisionism. Attempting to save the life of a Jewish woman is directly contrary to the representative behavior of the systemic brutality Waffen-SS unit he portrays in his film. Thus his works reinforce false equivalencies and his work aligns with patterns commonly seen in historical revisionism, which can contribute to obscuring the true Holocaust history with historical distortions.

The Facts Speak Only When The Historian Calls On Them: E. H. Carr

The simple fact is that history is never neutral. As the famous historian E. H. Carr wrote in his book What is History?: "The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context."¹ This act of selection inherently reflects the historian's perspective, biases, and context. A film is not a historical documentary or even a non-fiction book. It's a fictional medium, where the director shapes the final product. Thus neutrality can never be achieved. History is about choices. What's included, and what's excluded? In the case of My Honor was Loyalty, Pepe decided to include certain events or to create the movie from a certain point of view. In this case, the choice for the main character is a Waffen-SS soldier, not a Wehrmacht soldier. This inherently skews the narrative. While some war crimes are shown, the main character also attempts to save a Jewish woman. This is not an act of neutrality, but an active choice to twist the narrative in a certain direction. As has been documented repeatedly, the Waffen-SS was complicit in the murder of Jewish people, not saving them. While I understand that it's a low-budget movie, it doesn't absolve the director and the history advisor Leone Frisa of understanding and treating with care the historical and moral weight of the topic.

Leone Frisa: Responsibility as History Consultant and Actor

Leone Frisa, credited as the film's history consultant and lead actor, held a dual role that gave him significant influence over the movie's portrayal of historical events. Addressing sensitive topics like the Holocaust and the Waffen-SS demands both factual accuracy and careful contextualization to avoid misleading audiences or minimizing systemic atrocities.

Despite his responsibilities, the film includes narrative choices that conflict with established historical records. For instance, the portrayal of a Waffen-SS soldier saving a Jewish woman contradicts the significant amount of documentation of the unit. As history consultant, Frisa was in a position to guide the film away from such inaccuracies, ensuring it did not risk reinforcing false equivalencies between Nazi atrocities and Allied actions, which is a narrative pattern often associated with historical revisionism.

By failing to address these inconsistencies, Frisa missed an opportunity to uphold the historical context essential for an accurate depiction of the Waffen-SS. While the intent may have been to humanize individual characters, these choices risk contributing to broader misunderstandings of the Holocaust and its systemic nature. As both the history consultant and lead actor, Frisa's dual role further blurs the line between artistic freedom and factual integrity. While artistic license is central to filmmaking, when dealing with sensitive topics like this must be balanced with historical accuracy, especially on subjects of such profound moral and historical importance. In this instance, Frisa's contributions fell short, resulting in a narrative that risks distorting historical truths and diminishing the systemic horrors of Nazi crimes.

A Question: Do You Need To Stay Neutral While Examining The Nazis?

When making a film about a participant in a genocidal regime, do you really need "to stay neutral"? Attempting neutrality risks obscuring the simple foundational truth that an inherent part of nazi-ideology was the deportation, starvation or annihilation of large groups of people. The Nazi regime carried out several crimes against humanity and it systematically dehumanized and attempted to annihilate large groups of people. With so many uncovered, unique, and meaningful stories in history, is it truly necessary to humanize members of the Waffen-SS—individuals complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity? Wouldn't a movie about the uprising at the extermination camps at Treblinka or Sobibor be much more interesting? How despite being stuck in terrible situations, the inmates rose up, overcame the guards and some escaped captivity? Then again, a low-budget film might not have the resources to do this.

The Broader Implications of Nazi Revisionism: Why Historical Distortion Is Bad

Pepe's speech and his film illustrate the challenges of confronting historical narratives responsibly. Works like My Honor Was Loyalty may not explicitly deny Nazi crimes, but by focusing on the individual "human" stories of those within the Nazi regime, they can normalize or trivialize participation in an oppressive system. This is not a neutral act; it subtly reshapes public memory of the Holocaust and World War II.

Why This Matters: Risks of Holocaust Distortion in Popular Media

Pepe's rhetoric taps into a broader struggle in Western society about free speech, censorship, and the limits of what's acceptable to say. While free speech is vital, confusing critique with censorship creates a fake contradiction. It weaponizes free speech. Inserting revisionist ideas into public discourse under the guise of free speech undermines legitimate discussions about history. Society must distinguish between protecting expression and challenging dangerous misinformation. It hurts the consensus of what's true. This approach fosters mistrust in scholarly consensus and institutions by framing historical critique as societal hypocrisy. This can weaken public faith in democratic systems that rely on shared truths.

This can be seen directly in the case of one reviewer, who watched the movie and noted: "As I watched 'My Honor Was Loyalty,' the movie changed my view on war, morality, life and love." In his conclusion, he wrote: "What I learned from this movie is that history is written by the victors. Although this movie is not Pro SS, it does tell the story of a simple SS soldier, and how he battles with his conscience as the war approaches an end. I highly recommend watching this movie, which is available on Amazon, and to develop your own opinion."² In other words, after watching the movie, Zac Russ has a different view of World War II, the SS and is seemingly oblivious to how the movie attempts to reshape the perception of the Waffen-SS. This is not a good development, since he repeats the oft-used quote "history is written by the victors", which can be used to delegitimize the current scholarly consensus. Yet at the same time is oblivious to the moral and historical errors of the movie, while encouraging others to watch it. It doesn't spell hopeful for the future.

The movie also actively contributes to discouraging constructive dialogue. One reviewer wrote: "Ignore the bad reviews. The vast majority of them are based solely on the fact that German soldiers are portrayed as humane." It dismisses all negative comments outright, solely on their intent and not on their evidence. It's an argumentum ad hominem. No matter what someone might write, all arguments and reasons to the contrary can be rejected with the claim that the person doesn't wish to see German soldiers portrayed as humane. In such an environment, no constructive dialogue is possible and it only serves to divide people.

What It Means for History: Is it Even Real History?

Pepe's defense of neutrality in representing historical events, particularly those related to Nazism, touches upon ongoing debates about historical revisionism and the risks of false equivalence. While neutrality might seem like an objective or balanced stance, it is, in fact, unattainable when addressing ideologies or events as unequivocally oppressive as National Socialism. By attempting to present an equal weight to both Nazi crimes and Allied misconduct, one falls into the fallacy of false equivalence—a logical error that assumes two opposing sides are morally or ethically equivalent when, in fact, they are not.

The Nazi regime's crimes, particularly the Holocaust, were not mere missteps or mistakes. It was a systematic, state-sponsored act of genocide. It had a deliberate, ideological agenda. The goal was to exterminate groups and populations. The notion of "neutrality" in this context, however, blurs the distinction between aggressor and victim, perpetrator and survivor. By equating Nazi atrocities with Allied actions, it diminishes the historical specificity of the Holocaust. The ideological and racial motivations driving the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis are downplayed, reducing it to just another chapter in the long history of wartime violence, thus failing to recognize the singular nature of the Nazi regime's intent and scope.

The false equivalence inherent in this "both-sides" mentality has broader implications for how people understand the consequences of Nazi actions. By equating the two sides the complexity of history is obscured. The result is a revisionist narrative that obscures the real nature of the Nazis' crimes against humanity, presenting them as part of a more general or even justifiable conflict. This diminishes the historical understanding of the Holocaust not as a tragic side effect of war, but as a premeditated and ideologically motivated atrocity.

Shifting Historical Responsibility: From Nazis as Perpetrators to Nazis as Victims.

In making this false equivalence, historical responsibility is not just blurred; it is shifted. By positioning the Holocaust on the same level as other wartime events, such as the bombing of Dresden, the perpetrators of systemic genocide, the Nazis, are no longer solely held accountable. Instead, there is a tendency to spread the blame across all involved parties. This means that the focus moves away from collective guilt toward individual struggles or errors. It encourages a moral relativism that fails to acknowledge the uniquely evil nature of Nazi ideology and their crimes against humanity.

Opens the Door for Historical Distortion: How That Impacts Society.

Moreover, this form of revisionism and false equivalence has lasting consequences for the preservation of historical truths. It facilitates Holocaust denialism, historical distortion, and minimization of their crimes against humanity. By presenting the Nazi regime's actions as just another form of wartime violence, it becomes easier for those seeking to rewrite history to argue that atrocities like the Holocaust were either exaggerated or part of a larger, less significant narrative. This is part of a larger whole, where people seek to undermine established truths about the Holocaust.

In the long run, treating Nazi crimes as if they're no worse than other wartime actions harms our understanding of history. It makes it harder to teach the truth, remember the past properly, and take responsibility for keeping historical facts alive. Being "neutral" when talking about the Nazi crimes against humanity isn't a fair or balanced approach—it distorts the facts and weakens efforts to prevent Holocaust denial and protect historical accuracy.

What It Means for the Future: History Distortion as Real History.

All of these effects have implications for the future. If such narratives gain traction, they can in time infiltrate academic research or popular history, shaping how future generations understand history. This risks creating a populace less informed about the dangers of fascism and genocide. It weakens democratic resilience because democracy relies on informed citizens. Allowing relativism to take root undermines the ability to learn from history and recognize warning signs of authoritarianism and hate. It weakens cultural memory and accountability. With time we grow more distant from World War II and that makes it all the more important to preserve its lessons. Narratives like Pepe's threaten this preservation, enabling subtle shifts toward glorifying or excusing ideologies that have caused immense harm.

The Path Forward: Is There A Solution?

Not all is doom and gloom. While it's important to confront historical revisionism, there are also ways to prevent this in the future. We can advocate historical literacy. We can encourage critical thinking and engagement with well-researched, diverse sources. We can continue to call out attempts to obscure historical facts while protecting genuine free expression in the public discourse. We can foster open dialogue, which allows space for debate but draws firm lines against rhetoric that seeks to relativize or excuse systemic atrocities. As a society, we must remain vigilant against rhetoric that distorts history or undermines the shared values of truth and justice. Learning from the past isn't just about preserving facts. It's about ensuring that the lessons of history guide our future.

A Victory for Free Speech? You Decide.

True freedom of speech includes the ability to voice dissenting opinions. Pepe's ability to share his views remains intact, but societal critique reflects the collective exercise of free speech by others. Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democratic societies, but it comes with the responsibility to uphold historical truth and resist rhetoric that obscures or minimizes atrocities. Pepe's framing of his film and the surrounding discourse exemplifies how revisionist ideas can be repackaged under the guise of neutrality and free speech. As we engage with art and commentary on history, critical analysis is essential to identify and challenge such attempts at twisting history.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Disclaimer: For this article, I reached out to both Alessandro Pepe / Alexx Hermánn and Leone Frisa for comment. Neither had responded to my request before the deadline. I remain open to including their perspectives should they choose to provide them in the future.

Sources and further reading:

"You've shed blood" on YouTube.

My Honor Was Loyalty on IMDB.

Analysis of historical revisionism at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Holocaust memorial at risk at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

On free speech and its limits at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

When reading a history book, people are presented with history and historical facts. However, is there such a thing as a truly objective historical fact? At first glance, a sentence describing an artillery gun’s specifications seems purely factual. But upon closer inspection, even this simple statement is influenced by the societies, history, and cultures that created it. A historical fact is never just a historical fact, it’s a cultural construct that says something about the historical past. A cultural construct refers to the way in which societies shape and define concept. Earlier I wrote about how non-political history doesn't exist and let’s explore historical facts by analyzing two seemingly straightforward statements about antitank guns from World War II!

The Historical Facts

Facts in history are presented as objective and verifiable. The following two sentences can be interpreted as historical facts: “The American 3-Inch Gun M5 fires a shell with a speed of 793 m/s (AP) and had a maximum firing range of 14.7 km.” and “The 7.5 cm Pak 40 had a muzzle velocity of 933 m/s (AP) and had a maximum firing range of 7,678 metres.” Both sentences describe an antitank weapon used during the Second World War and could appear in a book about antitank guns or in a book describing weapons used during the conflict. It might appear factual and scientific, but it has a cultural aspect as well.

Deconstructing the American 3-Inch Gun M5

Let’s start with the 3-Inch Gun first: “The American 3-Inch Gun M5 fires a shell with a speed of 793 m/s (AP) and had a maximum firing range of 14.7 km.” This sentence is loaded with cultural influences. This is seen in the measurement systems used. The use of meters per second (m/s) and kilometers (km) reflects the metric system, which originated in France during the French Revolution. This system was later adopted internationally as the Système International d’Unités (SI). However, the name of the gun “3-Inch Gun M5” designation showcases the persistent use of the imperial measurement system in the United States, a legacy of the British and their colonial influence on the USA. The inch, as a unit of measurement, has its roots in ancient civilizations but was standardized by the British after the USA became independent. As such, one gallon in the USA is roughly the same as 0.8 gallon in the UK, which equals around 3.7 liters. Another cultural expression is in the use of comma’s or points to denote decimals. For example, the 14.7 km, which is done in the UK and in the USA, while other countries use a comma for that purpose. As demonstrated with the sentence above, a fact is not just a historical fact, but it represents the culture that created it. In this case, it’s a combination of the metric system, the US measurement system, and the UK or US method of noting decimals.

Analyzing the German 7.5 cm Pak 40

We can do the same for the other sentence: “The 7.5 cm Pak 40 had a muzzle velocity of 933 m/s (AP) and had a maximum firing range of 7,678 metres.” It’s again loaded with cultural expressions, which will be shown when closely examined. The metric system is used, as seen by the use of centimeters in the gun’s designation, the meters used in the maximing firing distance and the muzzle velocity. The gun is named a “Pak”, which is is an abbreviation of the German word “Panzerabwehrkanone,” meaning anti-tank gun. This nomenclature is specific to German military culture of the time. The use of a comma in “7,678” to denote thousands is a cultural choice. Some countries use periods instead, while others use spaces. Lastly, and perhaps you glimpsed over it, but meters is spelled as “metres” with “-re” at the end instead of “-er”. This is commonly done in British English, and it’s another cultural expression in a seemingly factual sentence.

The Second as Time Measurement

The second is defined as such by Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

“a: the 60th part of a minute of angular measure.
b: the 60th part of a minute of time : 1/86,400 part of the mean solar day.
specifically: the base unit of time in the International System of Units that is equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.”

In both sentences, a second is used as a measurement of time, but there are many other ways of telling the time. In the past sun dials, hourglasses, casting shadows, or other methods were used. While using a hourglass would be ineffective in expressing the muzzle velocity of an antitank gun, it’s advances in sciences and the standardization of measurement units that allow us to read and interpret the sentence today.

The Arabic Numerals

In both examples examined, Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) are used. They are so common that people might overlook their cultural significance. However, this numeral system has a rich history that further illustrates how deeply cultural constructs are embedded in what people consider “historical facts.” What are called the “Arabic numerals” actually came out of India and arrived in Europe through Arabic speakers in Spain and North Africa. Before that, the Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X) and other systems were used. Eventually, Europe used the Arabic numerals. These numerals spread through trade, exchange, and colonialism throughout the world. Even the letters in which this is written, Latin, is an expression of culture, while there are many alternative possible, such as the Cyrillic alphabet, Devanagari, or Chinese characters.

The Cultural Nature of Historical Facts

With these examples, it’s possible to demonstrate that historical facts are not purely objective truths but are shaped by the cultures that create and interpret them. The measurement systems, naming conventions, and even the way we represent numbers and letters are all products of specific cultural and historical contexts. The metric system, for instance, was born out of the Enlightenment-era desire for rationality and universality. The imperial system, used by the British, evolved from diverse local standards. Even the choice to measure and quantify military equipment in such terms reflects cultural values. Moreover, the very act of sharing or remembering these specific details about artillery pieces is a reflection of what a particular person or culture deems important to remember and study about its history. Other cultures might prioritize different aspects of historical events.

Conclusion

In conclusion, beyond measurement systems, cultural perspectives also shape which events are recorded, how they are interpreted, and whose voices are included or excluded in historical narratives. The next time you read a historical fact, ask yourself: What cultural lens shaped this information? They are products of complex cultural systems, reflecting the values, history, and worldview of the societies that created them. This reinforces the idea that historical facts are never purely objective but are always presented through layers of cultural constructs. Acknowledging these influences doesn’t diminish history. It enriches our understanding of how the past is remembered and interpreted.

In the grand narrative of World War II, certain names dominate our collective memory: Eisenhower, MacArthur, and perhaps most dramatically, General George S. Patton. Patton’s Third Army blazed across Europe with unprecedented speed, earning him the nickname “Old Blood and Guts.” But behind this legendary advance was a crucial support system that made it all possible: the 514th Quartermaster Group. This unit is the subject of the book “Patton’s Wheels.” “Patton’s Wheels” reveals how this quartermaster group became the lifeblood of the Third Army’s operations, managing the extraordinary feat of supplying a rapidly moving force across challenging terrain and hostile conditions.

A Visual History Through Unique Photography

One of the treasures of “Patton’s Wheels” is its collection of previously unpublished photographs documenting daily life in the 514th. These images provide a rare glimpse into the operations behind front lines—mechanics repairing vehicles, quartermasters managing massive supply depots, and soldiers navigating the complex logistics of moving an entire army across Europe.

Black American Contributions: A Story Long Overlooked

Perhaps the most significant contribution of “Patton’s Wheels” is its spotlight on the substantial role played by Black American soldiers within the 514th Quartermaster Group. In the segregated military of World War II, Black American units were frequently assigned to service and support roles rather than combat positions. This book assists in giving long overdue recognition to these soldiers who, despite facing discrimination within their own army, performed important duties.

A Legacy Reconsidered

“Patton’s Wheels” offers a valuable reconsideration of what—and who—truly enables military success. While strategic brilliance and battlefield courage are rightfully celebrated, this book reminds us that the capacity to sustain an army in motion is equally vital to victory. For readers interested in military history, Black American contributions to World War II, or the often-overlooked aspects of logistics and supply, “Patton’s Wheels” provides an essential perspective on how the wheels of war truly turn. It credits the diverse group of Americans whose work and dedication helped secure victory in Europe and reminds us that military success depends as much on supply lines as front lines. Want to know more about this fascinating unit: the 514th Quartermaster Group? Head on over to sources, where you can download it for free.

Is This The Way America Treats Its Military Heroes?

Across America, military heroes have long been celebrated for their courage, sacrifice, and service. Yet today, questions are emerging about how people choose to remember, and sometimes remove, the full stories behind their heroism.

Recent News

In news reports published in the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of talk about how America preserves the legacy of their military heroes. For example, there have been articles about the removal of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots from Air Force training programs and how it would be reinstated.

Military.com highlighted the removal of references to Charles Rogers, a Black Medal of Honor recipient who fought bravely during the Vietnam War, how DEI was inserted in the URL and how the page has been republished.

Another discussion focused on the removal of 26,000 images from government media and databases.

According to Task and Purpose, even Arlington National Cemetery has updated its website to remove DEI-related content.

A Reuters report wrote about changes in military leadership, where Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired, while Pete Hegseth questioned if Brown only got his position because of his skin color.

The history of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, a unit of Japanese Americans that fought during World War II, was removed from the US Army website but has again been republished.

The same goes for the history of Jackie Robinson, the first Black American in the Major League Baseball. It was taken down, but has been added again.

ABC News noted that Alfred Masters, [about whom I have written before]](src\pages\articles\alfred-masters-the-first-black-american-marine.mdx) was removed from the Marine Corps website.

Alone, these events can happen. However, when taken together, these articles prompt an important question: Is this the way the US treats its military heroes?

In this blog post, we delve deeper into these developments and I invite you to reflect on the balance between modern updates and preserving America's full legacy.

Why It Matters

For many people, these changes seem more than just an administrative update. They feel like a rewriting of history. American military heroes come from all walks of life, and the diversity among them tells a rich story of patriotism and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Removing key elements from their stories may diminish public understanding of the struggles and sacrifices they endured. When historical records or images are edited to downplay certain aspects, are people not, in effect, telling a different story of who these heroes were and what they stood for?

Balancing Modern Updates with Historical Truth

There is no question that government websites and archives must evolve to meet new standards and reflect contemporary values. However, when updates mean erasing important parts of the past, the implications are far-reaching.

Updating language or reorganizing content is one thing, but selectively removing records risks presenting a version of history that is less complete, and potentially less honest.

Heroes Regardless of Race

The importance of preserving military history is not just about honoring the soldiers. It’s also about the values they fought for.

During World War II, American forces, alongside their allies, liberated Europe from Nazi tyranny. Among them were segregated units like the Tuskegee Airmen, the 92nd Infantry Division, and the 442nd Infantry Regiment—units that faced discrimination at home yet fought heroically against oppression abroad.

When people erase or downplay aspects of their service, they risk losing critical lessons about unity, diversity, perseverance, and the true cost of defending democracy.

Reflecting on Values

At its core, this controversy forces us to reflect on what values we want to celebrate.

Should the US national narrative embrace every part of its history? Even the parts that show a struggle against prejudice and injustice? Or should it focus on a sanitized version that fits a more current political agenda? Does it do justice to these soldiers when they are taken down and removed for "diversity, equity and inclusion"-reasons?

For all Americans, it’s important to consider: Are you losing part of your collective memory when people decide to remove these pieces of history?

A Call to Consideration

US military heroes deserve to be remembered in their entirety—complete with their battles, both on the field and off it.

Their stories remind us that courage and sacrifice are not bound by race, gender, or background. By preserving the full record of their lives, we not only honor their contributions but also learn valuable lessons about overcoming adversity in all its forms.

So, as you consider the stories of our brave men and women, ask yourself:

Is this the way to treat your military heroes?

Are we honoring them by preserving every chapter of their legacy, or are we inadvertently allowing parts of their truth to fade away?

The answers to these questions will shape how future generations remember the sacrifices made for the freedoms we cherish today.

These citations appear to be legitimate and contribute to the overall understanding of the text. However, how will AI impact history? Is it true that with a few questions, you can have an entire essay? How will historians do their work if a few prompts might yield seemingly satisfactory results?

The Benefits of AI in History

AI might be beneficial for history and assist historians in doing groundwork or legwork for their research. For example, large amounts of data can be ingested, or different sources can be analyzed in a short amount of time. This has the benefit of making large-scale history easier to do while removing some of the tedious tasks that otherwise need to be conducted.

Think about all the research that can be made digitally accessible. In the Netherlands, an experiment indicated that 152,000 pages could be digitized per week. The handwriting could be interpreted by AI and thus make research much easier.

It can even be pushed further, allowing texts to be restored and deciphered where humans struggle with the contents. For example, Ithaca, a neural network developed by Yannis Assael and Thea Sommerschield, can be used to reconstruct missing portions of inscriptions and attribute dates and locations to a text.

Scaling Up Historical Research

AI also offers opportunities for scaling historical research to levels previously unimaginable. For example, in his book The Virtuous Wehrmacht: Crafting the Myth of the German Soldier on The Eastern Front, 1941-1944, Dr. Harrisville analyzed a core sample of 2,018 letters written by thirty Wehrmacht soldiers from 1941 to 1944.² With AI, researchers could potentially examine not just thirty, but hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of soldiers' letters, provided sufficient computing power.

This expanded capacity would allow historians to uncover patterns and narratives on a scale that was once unfeasible. While AI presents exciting possibilities for history, it also comes with inherent risks that require careful consideration.

Making History More Accessible with AI

Another option for making history more accessible is by having AI generate captions for undigitized images. There are countless historical photos that are not yet accessible online or are difficult to locate due to sparse or nonexistent captions and tags. AI could provide a simple description of the visual representation of these images, offering a starting point for historians who can then refine and verify the information.

Rather than having to create captions and tags from scratch, AI can generate a template for historians to review and edit, streamlining the process. This approach enables historians to focus on validation and refinement rather than starting entirely from scratch.

Putting AI to the Test

To see how effective AI might be in this context, I tested ChatGPT 4.0 with an image of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Without adding any context, I prompted the AI to describe the image.

While the results weren’t perfect, they provided a helpful starting point. The AI writes:

This image shows a soldier, likely from the mid-20th century, standing confidently in a wintry or early spring landscape. He is dressed in a military uniform complete with a helmet and boots, holding a bazooka (a type of shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon) over one shoulder. The soldier is casually smoking a cigarette, exuding a calm and composed demeanor despite the weaponry and the surroundings, which appear stark and cold, with bare trees and frost or snow on the ground. The scene conveys a mix of professionalism and nonchalance, characteristic of soldiers during wartime. Let me know if you'd like to refine this description or analyze further details!

ChatGPT 4o seemed particularly interested in details such as the bazooka and the cigarette in the image. I also asked it to generate a list of tags for the image:

Tags

• Soldier
• Bazooka
• World War II
• Korean War
• African-American history
• Military photography
• Winter landscape
• Wartime resilience
• 20th-century military equipment
• Historical documentation

Although some tags weren’t entirely accurate, others like “Soldier,” “Bazooka,” “World War II,” “African-American history,” and “Military photography” would be useful in an archival setting. These tags could make it significantly easier to group images together and create digital collections. For instance, if someone needed an image of a bazooka or Black American soldiers, they could quickly locate relevant content.

Combining AI with Archival Knowledge

The image in question portrays Charlie Rattler, who served in Third Platoon, Company C, of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. While AI couldn’t independently know this level of detail, combining AI-generated descriptions with archival knowledge allows for the creation of more comprehensive captions. This collaboration between human expertise and AI capabilities makes it possible to improve access to historical records, facilitating research and digital archiving. See the result below, which AI generated after input from me.

Revised Caption and Tags

Title

"Charlie Rattler of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion"

Description

This photograph depicts Charlie Rattler, a soldier from Third Platoon, Company C, of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Standing in a wintry field during World War II, Rattler holds a bazooka—a key weapon in neutralizing enemy tanks—slung over his shoulder while casually smoking a cigarette. His confident posture and composed demeanor reflect the courage and professionalism of his unit. The 614th, a segregated African-American tank destroyer battalion, earned distinction for its heroic actions in the European Theater, including a Distinguished Unit Citation. This image is a testament to the contributions of African-American soldiers during the war and their resilience in the face of systemic challenges.

Tags

• Charlie Rattler
• 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion
• Third Platoon, Company C
• African-American soldiers
• World War II
• Segregated units
• Tank destroyer battalions
• Military history
• Heroism
• Winter landscape

These results are much more useful and depending on how the archive works, these captions can be used almost immediately.

The Role of AI in Historical Research

This caption and tag refinement highlights how AI can help historians by generating foundational descriptions, leaving historians to focus on verifying historical accuracy and adding contextual depth. The ability to streamline the captioning and tagging of archival materials can enhance the accessibility of historical records, making searches for specific objects or themes in archives significantly easier. This benefits historians, history content creators, and history enthusiasts worldwide. However, there are still some things to consider.

The Dangers of AI in History

When dealing with detailed subject matter, like for example Black American soldiers during World War II, it's important to have accurate information. Generic information, might not work. I noted this before as well in an article where I asked ChatGPT about the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion For example, I have asked OpenAI's ChatGPT reasoning model o3, for a summary of the 477th Bombardment Group. You can see the result below.

The AI is reasoning and then writes as an answer:

The 477th Bombardment Group was a United States Army Air Forces unit active during World War II. Activated in the early 1940s, the group was equipped with medium bombers and deployed to conduct strategic bombing missions against enemy targets in the European Theater. Through its sustained efforts to disrupt enemy supply lines and infrastructure, the 477th earned a reputation for operational resilience and tactical effectiveness. The unit’s performance under challenging conditions contributed significantly to the Allied war effort and helped shape the evolution of postwar bomber operations, leaving a lasting legacy in U.S. military aviation history.

The result is a blend of historical facts and fabrication. Yes, the unit was part of the United States Army Air Force and it was active during World War II. However, this unit, which is considered part of the Tuskegee Airmen, was never deployed in combat. They weren't deployed in Europe and they didn't bomb a single enemy target. The rest that comes after it is incorrect as well. Even in the reasoning, which you can see in the image, there are errors. As such, when doing detailed historical work, it seems that the historian is still important and must be kept in the loop. That brings me to the next problem.

Not All Sources Are Equal

As a historian, you need to make critical choices about the reliability of sources for your research. This distinction is essential, as not all sources are created equal. For instance, an AI might cite Franz Kurowski as a source for an article on the Waffen-SS or the Wehrmacht. However, historians know that Kurowski’s works are not trustworthy. One example is his book on the German tanker Kurt Knispel: Franz Kurowski, Kurt Knispel. Der erfolgreichste Panzerschütze und Panzerkommandant des 2. Weltkrieges (2007).

Kurowski uses Alfred Rubbel, the battalion’s aide-de-camp and Knispel’s superior officer, as a key source. However, Rubbel himself has claimed that the events described are fabrications. Rubbel stated:

The book is a botched piece of work not worth being printed. My comrades who are still alive all refused to buy it. The reason why Kurowski persistently makes me a ‘key witness’ is probably because he is rather economical with the truth.³

This example demonstrates the importance of skepticism and scrutiny when dealing with sources. A historian must be aware of the reliability of their materials and be prepared to dismiss questionable works.

The Risks of Disinformation

AI poses a significant risk when it comes to spreading disinformation. Not only can it fabricate false information, but it can also present it with the veneer of legitimacy, making it appear as if it is based on rigorous research. This could perpetuate harmful myths, such as the "Clean Wehrmacht" narrative, making them harder to dislodge from public discourse.

The potential for disinformation extends beyond historical research. In political campaigns, AI-generated fake reports could fabricate “evidence” to legitimize false claims or support extreme proposals. These tactics could deepen societal divides and reinforce online echo chambers, eroding the concept of a shared reality. To combat these risks, it is crucial to implement stricter oversight, robust fact-checking mechanisms, and digital literacy initiatives to help people recognize and resist manipulation.

The Human Factor in History

The Responsibility of the Historian

While AI offers tools to enhance historical research, it does not remove human agency. Historians are still responsible for ensuring the validity and authenticity of the claims in their work. AI might generate quotes or summaries, but it is up to the historian to verify these and ensure they align with the text's purpose.

Historians interact with the entirety of the human past, meaning their work often has an emotional and ethical dimension. For instance, in the Netherlands, an index of names from the Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging (CABR)—records of individuals investigated for collaboration during World War II—was published.⁴ This index included both guilty collaborators and those later cleared of charges. Families of suspected collaborators didn't appreciate the renewed interest in the past, while families of victims feared that it would open new wounds. This highlights the human impact of historical research, a dimension that AI cannot replicate.

The Historian’s Judgment

As the historian E. H. Carr wrote in What is History?:

The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context.⁵

The selection of facts is integral to historical research. A good historian must be aware of their personal biases and the context of their work. This emotional and ethical weight is something only humans can navigate, ensuring that history remains a discipline rooted in humanity.

The prompt:

Create an image of a Black American soldier from the 92nd Infantry Division during World War II shaking hands with a futuristic robot. The soldier is on the left and the robot is on the right. The image on the left presents the historical past. The image on the right presents the future. Make it seem as if they are reaching across time.

The Future of AI and History

AI will transform society in ways we cannot yet fully predict. It will impact how we work, how we spend our free time, and how we engage with the world. While it is remarkable to see machines process and analyze information, it is vital to keep humans in the loop to ensure accountability and preserve ethical standards.

The two examples, one of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion and the 477th Bombardment Group, have shown that as human you still add value in history. Currently, as a human, you need to assess the knowledge and interpret it. It makes certain tasks easier, but doesn't mean you as human aren't involved. However, in time, these units will become common knowledge. This means that we will have to keep pushing against the boundaries of what's historically known.

And who knows what the future holds? Perhaps the skills of historians will become even more valuable in a world increasingly reliant on AI. That would be a future worth working toward.

Sources

• Roman Töppel, “The War, One Great Adventure: The Writer and 'Historian' Franz Kurowski” (Translated by Katharina Straub).
• Edward H. Carr, What is History? (1990).
• Dr. Harrisville, The Virtuous Wehrmacht: Crafting the Myth of the German Soldier on The Eastern Front, 1941-1944 (2021).
• Ethan Mollick, “The End of Search, The Beginning of Research: The First Narrow Agents Are Here” link (Version 3 February 2025).

The United States Marine Corps and its History

Back in the 1940s, the United States of America was segregated. In practical terms, this often limited opportunities for Black Americans and since the armed forces reflect the societies that create them, this meant that Black Americans served in dedicated units in the Army or that they could only serve within certain occupations in the Navy, such as messman or steward. In addition to this, the United States Marine Corps was a service for whites only. As war broke out in Europe and the United States prepared for war, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 8802 on 25 June 1941. This order detailed that racial discrimination in the government and in the defense industries was forbidden. It was the first step towards creating segregated units in the Marine Corps. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, when the Imperial Japanese Navy suddenly attacked and the Black American mess attendant Doris Miller distinguished himself in action, the United States became a participant in World War II. The war wasn’t just a distant series of events, but something that was brought to American shores. Production and recruitment were ramped up. Later, on 7 April 1942, Frank Knox, the Secretary of the Navy, issued a statement, which included that:

The Navy Department today announced that Negro volunteers will be accepted for enlistment for general service in the reserve components of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Coast Guard. All ratings in those three branches of the Naval Service will be opened to them, and recruiting is to be begun as soon as a suitable training station is established. A public announcement will be made when actual recruiting gets under way.¹

Furthermore, on 20 May the following announcement was made by the Navy Department:

MARINES ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR RECRUITING NEGROES IN USMC
The first battalion of Negroes, numbering about 900, will be enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve during the months of June and July, it was announced at U.S. Marine Corps Headquarters.
Those volunteers will form a composite battalion which is a unit including all combat arms of the ground forces composed of artillery, anti-aircraft, machine guns, tank and infantry, and including also billets for recruits who are skilled in various trades and occupations such as radio operators, electricians, accountants, carpenters, draftsmen, band musicians, riggers and blacksmiths.
Until a training center is ready for their reception recruits will be temporarily placed in an inactive duty status. The training center will be in the vicinity of New River, North Carolina where a large Marine Corps post is now located. As required, Negro recruits will be ordered directly from their homes to duty in this training area.²

As can be read, in June 1942, the recruiting of the first Black American Marines could start. It so happened that Alfred Masters by chance met a marine recruitment officer a few days before 1 June 1942. As described by his wife Isabell Masters:

On Saturday, May 30, 1942, Alfred and I happened to be on the elevator at the post office building in Oklahoma City with a Marine recruitment officer who asked Alfred if he wanted to be the first Black Marine.
Alfred had a good physique and good posture and was wearing his Langston University sweater, which motivated the recruiter to approach him. Of course, the answer was yes. Just prior to his enlistment, Alfred had received his draft papers from the Selective Service notifying him that he was being called for duty into the Army, and to report for induction into the military service.
The recruiter then escorted us to the recruitment office. Once there, Alfred had to take a physical exam, and although he was 26 years old and a civilian employee in the Army Air Corps, I had to sign papers allowing him to enlist, stipulating that I, nor our child, were financially dependent on Alfred beyond what he could contribute from his pay as a private. After signing papers, the recruiter told Alfred to return to the post office ten minutes to midnight on Sunday night in order to be sworn in as the first Black Marine on Monday morning, June 1, 1942. He was worried that the states on the East coast would beat them at getting the first Black recruit due to the earlier time zone. […] When we arrived, the media was there, and among flashing lights of the Daily Oklahoman Newspaper, with me standing by his side, on Monday morning, June 1, 1942, one minute after midnight, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Alfred was inducted into the arm services as the first Black Marine by Major Thomas E. Kendrick.³

Alfred Masters was inducted on Monday 1 June 1942 at 00:01 hours in Oklahoma City. Later that same day, at 08:01 hours in Tennessee, George Thompson was inducted on 1 June. At the time, he was under the impression that he was the first Black American in the Marine Corps. That is, in the words of Isabel Masters, “until radio broadcast notified him otherwise.”⁴ As such, for a few hours, he thought that he had held the honor.

This image of Alfred Masters being sworn in was published on 2 June 1942 in The Daily Oklahoman.⁵

Another article, from The Black Dispatch, dated 20 June 1942⁶. It clearly mentions Alfred Masters as the first Black American Marine. The enlistment Alfred Masters was publicized in Oklahoma.

Another article, from The Daily Oklahoman, dated 1 June 1942.⁷ It also mentions Alfred Masters as the first Black Marine.

Enlistment records of Alfred Masters, clearly showing the date: 1 June 1942.⁸ (Courtesy of Alfreda Masters)

Why do people Credit Howard P. Perry as the First Black American Marine?

To strike immediately at the center of the issue: Howard P. Perry signed his enlistment records on 23 July 1942. Thus, he signed them more than 7 weeks later than Alfred Masters. This can be confirmed by the muster rolls, which are in possession of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Yet, in newspapers written during that time period, Perry is often credited as the first. As for example appeared in The Jackson Advocate of 22 May 1943:

The images detail the activities of Black American marines at Camp Lejeune and the caption mentions: “Pvt. Howard P. Perry, first Negro to volunteer for Marine Corps service, is shown in the center.”¹⁰ Or The Omaha Guide of 4 September 1943:

In the Omaha Guide of 4 September 1943, in the article "Leathernecks Celebtrate 1st Anniversary" it clearly mentions:

Howard P. Perry was First Negro Inductee […] Appropriate ceremonies were held last week at the training center in Camp Lejeune celebrating the first anniversary of the induction of Howard P. Perry of Charlotte, the first Negro admitted into the marine corps.¹¹

In the Henderson Daily Dispatch, dated 19 September 1942, Howard P. Perry is again mentioned as the first Black American marine.¹²
Another complication in this historical error is that Alfred Masters arrived at the camp in November 1942. Media coverage, which featured the Black marines in training, had already written about it. This included crediting Howard P. Perry as the first Black marine.¹³ Thus, Perry received a lot of attention and even though the historical facts imply otherwise, word has already gotten out. Even if Masters wanted to rectify it, it would take a lot of time and effort. As such, the error didn’t just exist at that time, but also appeared to have slipped in the history writing itself. Often the following image is added in the history books, internet blogs or social media:

(Photograph of Marine Howard P. Perry at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, courtesy of National Archives: NAID: 535870) And the following text from the original caption:

Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps started enlisting Negroes on June 1, 1942. The first class of 1,200 Negro volunteers began their training 3 months later as members of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion at Montford Point, a section of the 200-square-mile Marine Base, Camp Lejeune, at New River, NC. The first Negro to enlist was Howard P. Perry shown here.¹⁴

Alamy still lists Howard P. Perry as the first Black American marine.¹⁵ This contributes to the error, because this image is easily made available to people. The problem is further compounded by social media with its visual-driven content. The error, with an image of Howard P. Perry attached or included, is then spread further. Now then, why is he credited as the first in so many sources? Take a look at a few examples. Errors also exist in African Americans at War: An Encyclopedia, which lists: “Howard P. Perry, the first African American to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the Marines started enlisting African Americans on June 1, 1942. (National Archives)”¹⁶

June 1. The U.S. Marine Corps breaks its 167-year tradition of being a whites-only section of the armed forces. Howard P. Perry is the first of 20,000 African Americans to serve in the marines during World War II. They will all be trained at Montford Point, North Carolina.¹⁷

“August 26. Howard P. Perry reports to Montford Point as the first-ever African American member of the U.S. Marine Corps. Some 12,738 African American marines will serve overseas during World War II.”¹⁸

While not incorrect, some history books, like Black Firsts, do correctly credit Howard P. Perry as “the first black to report” for duty.¹⁹ However, these books then don’t mention Alfred Masters at all. Thus, while getting part of the history correct, they omit the induction of Alfred Masters entirely and allow the historical error to persist.

Now, the error results from the fact that Howard P. Perry was the first off the bus to report for duty at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on 26 August 1942. People would consider this to be the “first” marine. However, Perry was not the first to be sworn in, which was Alfred Masters. As such, this explains the error in the historiography. The distinction lies in timing and context. Alfred Masters was the first Black American to take the oath and be sworn into the Marine Corps. However, Howard P. Perry’s prominence as the first Black recruit at Montford Point led to him being erroneously identified in some accounts as the first Black Marine. Photographs of the Black marines in training, like the earlier mentioned images in the Jackson’s Advocate, were widely circulated at the time. These images of the Black marines in training had Perry at the center, which added to the confusion and overshadowed Masters’ earlier enlistment.

Historical documentation, related to the Marine Corps, generally does seem to accurately credit Alfred Masters as being the first Black marine. This includes the books and articles Blacks in the Marine Corps²⁰, Guidebook for Marines²¹, USMC: A Complete History²². Thus, while the Marine Corps usually gets the history correct, it seems that the people outside of the corps are not always aware of Alfred Masters’ service.

The historical evidence clearly establishes Masters as the first Black American to enlist in the Marine Corps, with Howard P. Perry notable as the first recruit at Montford Point. While confusion persists in some accounts, military records and timelines affirm Masters’ rightful place in history. Both men, however, symbolize the courage and determination of Black Marines who broke barriers in a segregated military. Recognizing both Alfred Masters and Howard P. Perry is essential to understanding the broader context of the integration of African Americans into the Marine Corps. Their roles symbolize the groundbreaking efforts of early Black Marines who paved the way for future generations. Let us therefore honor the sacrifices of both men and give them the credit they are due.

So Who Was Alfred Masters?

Alfred Masters (1916 – 1975) arrived on 17 November 1942 at Montford Point, a segregated training camp for Black Marines in Jacksonville, North Carolina. This camp became the training ground for the first Black American recruits in the Marine Corps, known as the Montford Point Marines. The conditions were challenging, and the Marines faced racism and segregation both within the military and in the surrounding communities. The Black soldiers were supposed to form a composite defense battalion: 51st Composite Defense Battalion. This meant that, unlike other defense battalions, it incorporated anti-aircraft artillery, artillery, tanks, and other special weapons. The unit was under the command of Colonel Samuel A. Woods Jr., who was generally liked by the marines under his command. At Montford Point, after completing recruit training, Masters served with the 75mm Pack Howitzer Battery.

On 28 May 1943, a recommendation by the new battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Floyd A. Stephenson, was approved, which stated that the Rifle Company (Reinforced) and the 75mm Pack Howitzer Battery would be detached. The unit would keep the 90mm antiaircraft guns and the 155mm artillery guns. Thus, on 7 June 1943, the 75mm Pack Howitzer Battery was separated from the 51st Composite Defense Battalion. Instead it would become the 7th Separate Pack Howitzer Battery. The reinforced rifle company became Company A, 7th Separate Infantry Battalion and the 51st Composite Defense Battalion became the 51st Defense Battalion.

Alfred Masters became a cook when the battery was out in the field on a hot, humid, and windy day. The group was told that a new assistant field cook was needed, and was asked if anyone knew how to cook. Alfred’s mother, Lettia Masters, had taught her children survival skills both inside and outside the home. Since Alfred wanted to get out of the inclement weather, he volunteered to cook. However, his commanding officer initially didn’t want to let Masters go, because of Alfred’s prowess in the field. But Alfred was the only one who could cook, and so he was reluctantly chosen for the duty.²⁵ On 9 August 1943, Alfred Masters was transferred to Headquarters Company and followed training to become a military cook. This was a highly coveted function. As described by Charles L. Bryant:

Had to go to cook and bakers’ school when you became a cook to learn how to cook military style no matter whether you could already cook or not. Lasted 30-60 days. To become a mess sergeant, they would send you over to an area on the base called the Steward’s Branch. Went to school called a Stewards Baker’s School. Get you familiar with cooking military food. There was a different way you cook military food from the way you cook normal food. This is why they would send you to school. They didn’t care how good a cook you were, you had to go to that school first. Once you got out of boot camp, they put you over there and give you some on the job training. And the first thing you know it, you would be taking over one of the mess halls. The cook and bake school was the best thing you could do at that time because that was the only thing they had for you, other than training. Nothing else prepared you for the outside world back in that time other than cooks and bakers’ school. A lot of people tried to get into Cooks and Bakers’ School.²⁶ On 25 August 1943, Masters was promoted to Assistant Cook. On 7 October 1943 he returned to the 7th Separate Infantry Battalion, where he served with the 7th Separate Pack Howitzer Battery. He received a promotion to Field Cook on 22 December 1943. A few days before, on 15 December 1943, the first group of men were transferred out of the 51st Defense Battalion and formed the 52nd Defense Battalion. On 20 March 1944 Masters was transferred to the 52nd Defense Battalion. He became Chief Cook on 15 July 1944. Charles L. Bryant explained Alfred’s duties as Chief Cook while attached to the 52nd at Montford Point before he left to go overseas : ALFRED ran the mess hall for the 52nd Defense Battalion. […] Alfred was a No. 1. [...] He had a 100 men under him. He ran the whole show: cooks, bakers, messmen, people who cleaned up the mess hall. Planned the menus. He would plan the first one and then teach to the next one. They would come up and he would view it, and if he didn’t like it, they would redo it again. But he was overall in charge. He would train on the field once a week.²⁷ Masters would continue to serve with the 52nd Defense Battalion. On 21 August 1944, the 52nd Defense Battalion left camp to go overseas. On 15 September 15 at Camp Pendleton, on his way overseas, he became an unofficial Technical Sergeant, and on 1 November, he was officially promoted.

The unit arrived in Majuro Atoll on 15 October 1944 and he continued to serve there until 9 March 1945. As described in Blacks in the Marine Corps:

Lieutenant Colonel Moore's detachment at Majuro, in addition to its air defense duties, found itself acting as reconnaissance Marines. Monthly after the detachment arrived, patrols of 60-65 men from the firing batteries would board naval landing craft and check out the atolls, mostly Erikub and Aur, which lay between Majuro and the nearest Japanese bases. These two-to-six day excursions were generally uneventful, although a Battery C patrol to Tabal Island in December brought in three Japanese prisoners the natives had taken, and a Battery D patrol to Aur in January brought back 186 natives to be resettled at Kwajalein.²⁹

Alfred Masters arrived on 23 March 1945 in Guam. On the island, the 52nd Defense Battalion set up camp and there were still hundreds of armed Japanese troops on the island who had remained after the island had been recaptured in July and August 1944. These Japanese troops were armed, and although not an effective combat unit, they still formed a potential threat. However, the Japanese soldiers were more interested in foraging and staying alive than fighting. The 52nd Defense Battalion sent out small 10-man patrols or set up ambushes. The battalion encountered the enemy for the first time on 1 April, when they killed one of two enemy soldiers found in the area around the camp. During his stay on Guam, in a story that he told his children, he related how one morning six of his men were going to the mess tent to prepare for breakfast.³⁰ He warned them to take along their rifles, but they deemed themselves safe in the camp and didn’t do so. It wasn’t long before he heard commotion and then saw the men running away from the mess tent, yelling: “We’re being invaded by the Japanese! We’re being invaded by the …” Masters looked beyond the soldiers and saw a single scrawny Japanese soldier running away. He carried a crate of food (K rations) above his head. The whole scene made Masters burst out in laughter.³¹
Alfred Masters was liked by his men. As Charles Davenport, who served alongside Alfred Masters, said about him: “Alfred was a lively person”³² and “He was a leader. No flunky or mess up.”³³ On 16 November 1945, Masters left Guam. In total, he served 14 months and 19 days overseas in the Pacific with the 52nd Defense Battalion. He was discharged in December 1945. After serving his country, he still encountered segregation. As described:

After being discharged, Alfred immediately made his way to San Diego and boarded the train for Oklahoma City in order to be home in time to spend Christmas together with his wife, Isabell, and their three children, Shirley Jean, Alfreda Dean, and seven-month old infant daughter, Cora Lavonne, whom he had only seen in a photograph. The train ride from California to Oklahoma was very enjoyable and full of good cheer. He had fun laughing, talking, and sharing family and war tales with two White marine sergeants who were also traveling home to be with their loved ones for Christmas. The spirit of the season and freedom reverberated throughout the passenger train car.

Upon arriving at a stop in his Jim Crow home state of Oklahoma, Alfred was told that there would not be any colored passenger train cars to take him to his final destination of Oklahoma, City for several days. Not being home for Christmas was not an option for Alfred. What was once a festive mood changed to a discordant scrambling for ways and means of achieving his goal. Alfred insisted that he be allowed to ride in the mail car the remainder of his journey home. After initial denial and argument, they acquiesced, and Alfred, after serving his Country, had to continued home sitting on a milk can in the mail car. He arrived home December 25, 1945.³⁴ However, he arrived home and one of the earliest recollections of Alfreda Masters about her father was of him: […] standing in the doorway in his uniform on Christmas night, 1945, when he returned home from the service. I was almost three years old. Shirley and I (Cora was a baby) didn’t much like waiting all day to open our Christmas presents. But that night, our father rode us around on his back playing horsy. Shirley and I had so much fun we soon forgot about our toys. Our father was our “bestest” gift that Christmas night.³⁵

Alfred Masters always referred to himself as a gunnery sergeant, not a tech sergeant, and he kept his gunnery sergeant stripes. He was dismayed that his discharge papers didn’t list him as having served in a war zone, even though his unit had to go on patrols and mop up the last Japanese soldiers on Guam. Post-military service, Technical Sergeant Alfred Masters became Professor Masters and for five years traversed counties in his home state of Oklahoma teaching agricultural farming to returning WWII veterans. He and his wife Isabell divorced in 1947 and he remarried Mary Hendricks in 1949 and they moved to Cleveland, Ohio around 1951. While living in Cleveland, they had five children, and Alfred, among other side jobs, worked as a caster in a steel factory as well as became a union representative in the UAW. His proudest accomplishment as a union representative was negotiating a scheduled or unscheduled short workweek guarantee of 32 hours at average pay.

In 1965 Masters moved his family to Las Cruces, New Mexico where his mother, Lettia lived. A year later he moved his family to a 320 acre cotton farm in the area of Vado, New Mexico and worked it with his five children like his mother did with him and his siblings in Seminole County, Oklahoma. Alfred Masters suffered a heart attack on 16 June 1975 and passed away at 59 years old. He is buried at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso, Texas. Howard P. Perry, who coincidentally also served as a cook, was discharged in December 1945 and he died on 13 August 1986. Isabell moved to California in 1949, taught elementary school, had three additional children, and in 1970, while working on her M.A. Degree, she and her six children were featured in Ebony Magazine for all attending college at the same time. She eventually became an evangelist, earned a Ph.D at 68, and at 71 became a perennial candidate for President of the United States from 1984 to 2004 (more than any woman in history) to teach her children not to limit their horizons. Her daughter, Shirley Jean, was her running mate in 1996 and her daughter, Alfreda Dean, was her running mate in 2004. Her daughter, Cora Lavonne, became the second wife of D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and became very influential in improving the self-esteem of Black children in the D.C. area. Isabell died on September 11, 2011 and is buried in Topeka, KS. I hope you found this article informative!

Sources:

“Alfred Masters Overseas Tour of Duty” (Courtesy of Alfreda Masters).
“Alfred, The Cooks, And The Scrawny Japanese (Related By Alfred Dan Masters, Son)” (courtesy of Alfreda Masters).
“An Outline Of Family Togetherness And Isabell’s Goings, Comings, And Doings During Technical Sergeant Alfred Masters’ WWII Military Service (Sourced From Alfreda’s Baby Book And Isabell’s Autobiography)” (Courtesy of Alfreda Masters).
“Charles Davenport, Gunnery Sergeant/Acting Master Sergeant, Recollections Of Technical Sergeant Alfred Masters, Excerpts From An Interview With Alfreda Masters” (Courtesy of Alfreda Masters).
“Excerpts From An Interview With Charles L. Bryant, USMC, Retired, Age 72” (Courtesy of Alfreda Masters).
“How Alfred Masters Became The First Enlisted Black Marine By Dr. Isabell Arch Masters”, Prepared By Alfreda D. Masters.
Alamy, Howard P Perry, the first African-American to enlist in the United States Marines Corps in World War Two 1942, Image ID: EX6JPE, link: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-howard-p-perry-the-first-african-american-to-enlist-in-the-united-84968982.html (checked 13 January 2025).
Guidebook for Marines (2009).
Henderson Daily Dispatch, “First Negro Marine”, 19 September 1942.
Hoffmann, Jon T. (ed.), USMC: A Complete History (2002).
Masters, Isabell Arch, “Not For Myself But For Others”.
Navy Department, “Marines Announce Plans for Recruiting African-Americans”, 20 May 1942, link: https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/Frequently-Requested-Topics/Historical-Documents-Orders-and-Speeches/Marines-Announce-Plans-for-Recruiting-African-Americans/ (Checked 14 January 2025).
Navy Department, “Navy to Accept African-Americans for General Service”, 7 April 1942, link: https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/Frequently-Requested-Topics/Historical-Documents-Orders-and-Speeches/Navy-to-Accept-African-Americans-for-General-Service/ (checked 14 January 2025).
Photograph of Marine Howard P. Perry at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, courtesy of National Archives: NAID: 535870, National Archives and Records Administration, link: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/535870 (checked 13 January 2025).
Record Group 127: Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Series: Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries, July 1942 - Vol 3, NAID: 195486951, National Archives and Records Administration. Shaw, Henry I. Jr., and Ralph W. Donnelly,* Blacks in the Marine Corps *(2002).
Smith, Jessie Carney, *Black Firsts: Groundbreaking events in African American history (*2009).
Sutherland, Jonathan D., *African Americans at War: An Encyclopedia (*2004).
The Black Dispatch, “Oklahoma First Negro Marine Enlistment”, 20 June 1942.
*The Daily Oklahoman, “*First Negro Marine”, 2 June 1942.
The Daily Oklahoman, “Marines Sign First Negro”, 1 June 1942.
The Jackson Advocate, “Negro Youths Prepare To Live Up To Glorious Marine Tradition”, 22 May 1943.
The Omaha Guide, “Leathernecks Celebrate 1st Anniversary”, 4 September 1943.
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, “Alfred Masters”, File No. 402597 (Courtesy of Alfreda Masters).
War Department, TM 9-1320, War Department Technical Manual, Ordnance Maintenance, 75-mm Howitzers and Carriages, April 1944.

History is often categorized into neat compartments: political, military, economic, cultural, and so forth. However, when closely examined, you’ll notice that these boundaries don’t really exist and are rather fluid. A prime example is the misconception that military history can be studied independently of political history, a notion some historians or enthusiasts champion as "non-political history." This fallacy implies that an army, as a distinct entity, can be analyzed without reference to the state that created it, the political ideologies that shaped it, or the societal structures it upheld. Such an approach not only oversimplifies history but also risks misrepresenting it entirely.

World War II and Non-Political Military History

The claim of non-political military history is particularly contentious in the context of World War II, a conflict deeply intertwined with political ideologies, nation-states, and global power dynamics. The armies that fought in the war were not isolated machines operating in a vacuum; they were shaped by the states that fielded them. They reflected the political priorities, economic resources, and cultural values of their nations.

Armies, priorities and policy

The separation of military history from political history also risks ignoring warfare's moral and ethical dimensions. Armies do not merely execute battles; they enforce policies and maintain regimes. They withhold or engage in atrocities or liberations based on the political objectives of the states. For instance, the actions of military units during the Holocaust, the bombing campaigns on civilians during the Blitzkrieg, and the use of conscripted labor are inseparable from the political systems that sanctioned them. To study these armies without acknowledging their political contexts is to neglect the full scope of their impact on human history. Furthermore, the logistics, strategies, and outcomes of military campaigns are inherently tied to political decision-making. The resources allocated to an army, the objectives it pursues, and the alliances it forms are all products of political calculations. The Normandy invasion of 1944, hailed as a triumph of military strategy, was as much a result of political coordination among the Allies as it was a demonstration of tactical brilliance. Ignoring these political underpinnings diminishes our understanding of how and why such events unfolded.

Political History Reflected in Military History of World War II

The United States: Segregation in Society and the Army

In 1940, in the US, 9.8% of the population was a Black American.¹ During World War II, the racial segregation of American society extended deeply into the structure of its military forces. The U.S. Army maintained racially segregated units, reflecting the broader Jim Crow laws prevalent in civilian life. African American soldiers were often relegated to support roles, such as logistics and labor battalions, rather than combat positions. Units like the 761st Tank Battalion (the “Black Panthers”) and the Tuskegee Airmen broke barriers, but the fact that these units existed underlines the political realities of racism in America. The military’s segregation mirrored the United States’ failure to fully embrace the ideals of democracy at home, even as it fought for them abroad.

The British Empire: Colonial Power and the Military

Britain’s role in World War II was deeply intertwined with its position as a global colonial power. The war effort required significant contributions from the British Empire, mobilizing troops and resources from colonies across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. The British Indian Army, the largest volunteer force in history, was instrumental in campaigns like the Burma Campaign, where they halted Japanese advances into Southeast Asia. While these soldiers fought valiantly, they did so under the shadow of colonial oppression. Political movements, such as the Quit India Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, highlighted the tensions between Britain’s democratic ideals and its imperial policies. These contradictions were starkly evident as Indian soldiers fought for freedoms abroad while being occupied at home. Additionally, wartime decisions made to protect British interests often had devastating consequences for colonial populations. The Bengal Famine of 1943, exacerbated by British policies that prioritized military needs over civilian welfare, resulted in a significant civilian death toll, demonstrating the devastating intersection of political and military priorities during the war.

Japan: Militarism and State Ideology

In Japan, the political ideology of imperialism and militarism shaped every aspect of the nation’s military strategy during World War II. The Japanese government promoted a strong sense of nationalism and racial identity. State-sponsored nationalism, promoted through education and propaganda, emphasized Japan’s unique cultural heritage and divine origins of the Emperor. The traditional warrior code of Bushido, stressing unwavering loyalty and honor, was twisted to justify extreme violence and dehumanize enemies. The government’s vision of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere sought to position Japan as the leader of Asia, justifying aggressive expansionism as liberation from Western colonialism. The Imperial Japanese Army operated as an extension of the state’s imperial ideology, conducting campaigns across China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre and the exploitation of forced labor, such as comfort women and the abuse of Allied POWs, reflected the dehumanizing political narrative that underpinned Japanese expansionism. Japan’s military strategy also embraced acts of extreme sacrifice, such as the deployment of kamikaze pilots, which were framed as ultimate acts of loyalty to the Emperor and nation. These strategies and actions demonstrated the seamless integration of state ideology and military objectives, with devastating consequences for both combatants and civilians in the occupied territories.

The Soviet Union: Ideology and the Red Army

The Red Army of the Soviet Union was a product of Stalinist ideology. The Soviet state, founded on Marxist-Leninist principles, emphasized class struggle and proletarian unity. This political ethos shaped the military's organization and strategy. Officers were often chosen based on political loyalty rather than merit, a reflection of Stalin’s paranoia and the purges of the 1930s that decimated the Red Army's experienced leadership. During World War II, Soviet political goals were directly linked to military objectives. The defense of Moscow and Stalingrad became symbols of communist resilience, and propaganda glorified the Red Army as the defender of socialism. Political commissars were embedded in military units to ensure ideological conformity and loyalty, further blurring the lines between political and military roles. The Soviet military’s actions, such as the occupation of Eastern Europe, were inseparable from Stalin’s geopolitical goals, including the establishment of a communist sphere of influence after the war.

Nazi Germany: The Wehrmacht and the Third Reich

In Nazi Germany, the Wehrmacht was not merely a military force but a tool of the totalitarian state. The Nazi regime's ideology of racial purity and territorial expansion—encapsulated in the concept of Lebensraum—shaped the goals and behavior of the German armed forces. The Wehrmacht was complicit in carrying out genocidal policies, including the Holocaust, where it provided logistical and operational support for the extermination of Jews and other groups. Nazi political doctrine permeated the military at every level. Soldiers swore an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler personally rather than to the state or constitution, cementing their role as instruments of the Führer’s will. Even the Blitzkrieg strategy, which emphasized rapid, overwhelming attacks, reflected the regime’s focus on aggressive conquest. The soldiers received orders to execute captured commissars, which was more a political pursuit than a military one. The politicization of the military was also evident in the Waffen-SS, which operated as both an elite combat force and an ideological arm of the Nazi Party.

Why the Non-Political History Fallacy Matters

The fallacy of "non-political history," frequently seen in social media discussions, assumes that historical events, institutions, or entities—such as armies—can be studied independently of their political, cultural, or ideological contexts. This perspective often claims to focus "only on the facts," but they choose a specific set of facts to discuss, and then ignore other aspects. It also contributes to overlooking the deeper forces shaping those facts. In the case of World War II, treating the Wehrmacht as a purely military entity without its political and ideological ties to the Nazi regime is misleading and dangerous. The Wehrmacht was not an apolitical organization; it actively facilitated and carried out the policies of the Third Reich, including genocide and territorial expansion. Ignoring this connection creates a sanitized version of history, divorcing military actions from their political motivations and moral implications. This "apolitical" approach often leads to uncritical glorification of perceived military achievements while downplaying the atrocities associated with them. For instance, presenting the Wehrmacht as a purely professional force obscures its complicity in the Holocaust, the starvation of Soviet prisoners of war, and other war crimes. This perspective not only distorts historical truth but also risks normalizing or trivializing the ideological underpinnings of such actions.

Non-Political History On Social Media

For viewers consuming history content on social media or elsewhere, this fallacy can perpetuate a shallow understanding of historical events. It doesn’t enrich the viewer’s perception of history but dumbs it down. It encourages a focus on tactics, technology, and battles while neglecting the human and societal costs of war. The implications are profound: history becomes entertainment devoid of ethical engagement, and the horrible acts of the past are diluted.

This focus on the visually appealing images means that there’s a large preoccupation with aesthetics. For example, a soldier in the mud, an image of a burning tank, or someone displaying a weapon becomes the primary focus. It leaves out the historical context. The aesthetic qualities of the image are more important than basic information, such as who were these people? What were they fighting for? What were the consequences of their actions? The single image becomes an object, which is divorced from the complex historical past. This can lead to a dangerous romanticization of war, where the atrocities are obscured due to a focus on visual appeal.

Furthermore, this visually driven approach to history creates a significant bias towards what is considered history. History is much more than photographs or preserved films. By only focusing on this, you leave out entire aspects of the historical past that weren't captured on camera, such as atrocities being committed, or the long-term social and economic consequences of massacres – these often lack visual documentation and are therefore neglected. This creates an incomplete and distorted picture of the past, focusing on the spectacular and easily visualized while ignoring the more nuanced or more important aspects of historical experience. The result is a history that is not only simplified but fundamentally skewed, prioritizing the visually compelling over the historically significant.

By critically examining the political dimensions of history, we gain a richer and more responsible understanding of the past. World War II was not just a series of battles but a global conflict driven by clashing ideologies, political ambitions, and human struggles. Recognizing this complexity helps preserve the integrity of historical inquiry and ensures that history remains a tool for learning rather than myth-making.

What Does This Mean For Society?

The fallacy of "non-political history" has far-reaching consequences for both historical scholarship and societal understanding. It risks reducing history to a series of disconnected events, stripping away the ideological, cultural, and systemic forces that shape them. For example, viewing World War II solely through battles and military tactics omits the human cost, the political ideologies driving the conflict, and the moral lessons to be learned. In society, this can foster an uncritical nostalgia for power and militarism while neglecting critical issues like the role of ideology in governance or the importance of accountability for actions tied to political systems. When historical entities like the Wehrmacht are sanitized as apolitical, society risks normalizing complicity in injustices, forgetting the lessons of history, and perpetuating myths that fuel harmful ideologies.

Conclusion

Thus, to separate military history from political history is a mistaken way of thinking about history. By examining the interdependence of armies and the states that created them during World War II, you gain a better understanding of history, and to do that, we must dispel the myth of non-political military history. Only by embracing this interconnectedness can we arrive at a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of history. By acknowledging that military history and political history are connected, as well as the interconnectedness of events and their broader implications, it teaches us to critically evaluate sources, recognize biases, and approach historical narratives with a sense of responsibility. By acknowledging history’s political nature, we empower individuals and communities to learn from the past, resist oversimplified narratives, and build a more informed and equitable society.

The 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion: Destroyers of the Luftwaffe and Jim Crow will be published!

The book on the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion will be available in March 2025 in the UK and EU, while the book will become available in May 2025 in the US. Pre-orders for both books are available through the websites of the publishers: Pen and Sword and Casemate. The battalion, which fought as part of General Patton’s Third Army, fought valiantly in Europe during the Second World War and their history deserves much more attention than it has received so far.

I’m particularly glad that I got in touch with the family of Stafford Rimes, a soldier of the battalion who was killed in combat, and we have included an image of him in the book. You can also view it here.

The 777th Field Artillery Battalion

Progress continues on my project about the 777th Field Artillery Battalion. While I can’t set a publication date just yet, I’m in the final stages of writing. As always, history can be full of surprises, so I’ll take the time needed to ensure accuracy and depth. Until this project is complete, I’ll focus on just this one. Once that’s completed, I’ll think about the next book.

The World War II Daily Podcast

Together with Pietro Deserti, I co-host the World War II Daily Podcast. You can listen to it on Spotify or YouTube. We release episodes monthly, on the last Friday of each month, offering expert insights into World War II history. Upcoming episodes include an interview with Molly Sampson, the history consultant for the Netflix film about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, and a discussion on the Brazilian Expeditionary Forces with Cesar Campiani Maximiano. Stay tuned for these fascinating stories!

Other projects: The 651st Motor Ambulance Company and the Clean Wehrmacht myth

I have recently acquired a photo album of Willie M. Jackson, who was the First Sergeant of the 651st Motor Ambulance Company, which was previously known as the 651st Ambulance Company Motor. He also served in the 708th Medical Sanitary Company. The album provides rare glimpses into the daily lives of soldiers, who served in Italy during World War Two. For example, there are photographs of Black American soldiers taking care of their ambulances or just doing their duties. Unfortunately, not a lot is known about these units, and not many records seem to remain of these two units. That makes research difficult, but I’d love to know more about him, his units, and his service! It’s a project that needs to be developed further.

Additionally, I’ve noticed increasing misrepresentation of history on social media, particularly regarding the “Clean Wehrmacht” myth and the "non-political history" fallacy. These narratives deny the Wehrmacht's involvement in war crimes or attempt to separate military actions from political ideology. I plan to address these misconceptions in future articles to ensure historical accuracy prevails.

Which project will I work on after the 777th Field Artillery Battalion?

There are several units I’m considering writing about after the 777th Field Artillery Battalion project. I have not decided yet, but I’m inclined to research the 969th Field Artillery Battalion. This unit, which has a remarkable history, certainly deserves more credit than they have received thus far. It was the first Black American unit that in its entirety received the Presidential Unit Citation, which they earned for their valiant stand at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945 alongside the 101st Airborne Division.

So that’s all for now. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and if you have another question, send me a message!

A photograph of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion and their primary weapon: the 3-inch gun. (1945) (Courtesy of United States Army Heritage and Education Center)

Activated on 25 July 1942, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was part of the U.S. Army’s broader strategy to counter the formidable German tank forces. The unit trained extensively in anti-tank warfare, mastering the use of their towed anti-tank guns. In August 1944, the battalion shipped to England and later to France. In November 1944, the battalion was attached to the 95th Infantry Division. The battalion soon experienced its first combat. During an engagement on 22 November 1944, Staff Sergeant Christopher J. Sturkey distinguished himself in combat. When the column of which he was a part was shelled by enemy artillery, he encouraged others to return to their vehicles and save the equipment. He was rewarded with the Silver Star Medal for his valor. In December 1944 the battalion was relieved of the 95th Infantry Division and attached to the 103d Infantry Division.

The Battle of Climbach

The battalion’s defining moment came during its advance through Nazi-occupied Europe. On December 14, 1944, in the town of Climbach, France, the 614th achieved a remarkable victory against a heavily fortified German position. The taskforce, under command of Colonel Blackshear, consisted of a reinforced infantry company of the 411th Infantry Regiment, a platoon of tanks, and Third Platoon, Company C, of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. As Sergeant Dillard Booker wrote about the engagement: "It was said that a new unit was not respected until it proves itself in battle. We were considered as such with the 103d Infantry Division, until the morning of Dec 14, 1944. Captain Charles Thomas, then first Lieutenant, and company commander of ‘C’ Company, received an assignment to take the town of Climbach, France, then held by the enemy whose orders were to hold the town at all cost."¹ During this engagement, First Lieutenant Charles L. Thomas, the commander of Company C, displayed extraordinary heroism. Leading Third Platoon during the engagement, he deployed his guns on the reverse slope outside of town. Despite his injuries, he continued to lead his soldiers, until another officer was present to take over. His actions initially earned him the Distinguished Service Cross. Later this was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which was awarded posthumously in 1997. The platoon likewise suffered and half of them became wounded or killed, while three of the four antitank guns were knocked out. For its performance, Third Platoon, Company C, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion became the first Black American unit to receive the Distinguished Unit Citation. This recognition was a testament to their tactical expertise, discipline, and unyielding courage under fire. Colonel Blackshear, the commander of the taskforce, wrote about it in a report: Colonel Blackshear even wrote about it in a report afterwards: “The unflinching determination of this group constituted the most magnificent display of mass heroism I have ever witnessed.”²

A photograph of a soldier of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion posing with a 3-inch round. (1945) (Courtesy of United States Army Heritage and Education Center)

Black and white soldiers

On 31 January 1946, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was deactivated. Throughout its combat career, the soldiers of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion acquired the following decorations: one Distinguished Unit Citation, one Distinguished Service Cross, which was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor, eight Silver Star Medals and thirty Bronze Star Medals. Their story, however, goes beyond battlefield heroism. As participants in the “Double Victory” campaign, the men of the 614th fought not only against fascism abroad but also against the systemic racism and discrimination that pervaded the U.S. society. Their success challenged prevailing prejudices and played a significant role in shaping the postwar push for racial equality. Many white soldiers of the 103rd Infantry Division, to which the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion had been attached for most of their combat career, came home with changed ideas of race and equality. The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion’s legacy endures today, as a symbol of excellence, sacrifice, and patriotism. Their contributions to World War II demonstrated the critical role of Black American soldiers in the Allied victory and inspired the eventual desegregation of the U.S. armed forces in 1948. Today, their story reminds us of the resilience and bravery of those who fought for a nation that did not fully recognize their worth, a powerful testament to their enduring fight for equality.

More Images Available

If you wish to see many more photographs of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, check out my image section where you can view them all.

The 761st Tank Battalion, famously known as the "Black Panthers," holds a distinguished place in the history of World War II as the first Black American tank unit to see combat. Activated in 1942, the battalion operated under the rallying cry “Come Out Fighting!”, a motto that reflected their determination to overcome not only the Axis powers but also the pervasive racism and segregation within the U.S. military.

A tank of the 761st Tank Battalion (Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration).
Attached to General Patton’s Third Army, the 761st entered combat in November 1944 during the Lorraine Campaign in France. Their skill and resilience quickly earned them recognition as a formidable force. Over 183 days of continuous combat, the battalion played pivotal roles in major operations, including the relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and the crossing of the Rhine River into Germany. Despite heavy losses, they consistently demonstrated exceptional bravery, tactical expertise, and discipline on the battlefield.

The Black Panthers

One of the battalion's most significant contributions was its ability to adapt to challenging conditions. Fighting in harsh winter weather and against entrenched German forces, the Black Panthers proved their mettle in both offensive and defensive operations. Their actions directly contributed to the liberation of towns, the capture of enemy strongholds, and the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.
Despite their exemplary service, the men of the 761st faced racism from their own ranks and were often denied the recognition they deserved. It wasn’t until 1978 that the battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation, honoring their extraordinary heroism. Notable members, such as Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his sacrifice. Other notable members include Warren Crecy, who was nicknamed “the baddest man in the 761st Tank Battalion”.

A tank of the 761st Tank Battalion is crossing a Bailey Bridge near the town of Vic-Sur-Seille, France, as it moves to the frontline (9 November 1944) (Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration).

Come Out Fighting

The legacy of the 761st Tank Battalion endures as a symbol of courage, determination, and the fight for equality. Their story reminds us of the critical contributions of Black soldiers in securing victory during World War II, even as they battled for their rightful place in history.

Part of securing their legacy comes from their unit history “Come Out Fighting”, which was written by Trezzvant Anderson. He was a reporter, who had covered a lot of the exploits of the 761st Tank Battalion. The book was published in 1945 and available online.

Want to download the unit history and read it yourself? Click here to check out the sources.

Want to help my research? Check out my Patreon here. As a thank you, you'll receive a monthly postcard featuring Black American soldiers.

Helen Gahagan Douglas, an ardent advocate for equality and justice, delivered a speech during World War II celebrating the vital contributions of Black American soldiers. Her speech is titled: “The Negro Soldier: A partial record of Negro devotion and heroism in the cause of freedom gathered from the files of the War and Navy Departments” and delivered in January 1946 before the House of Representatives. Her words highlight the courage and resilience of Black Americans in the fight against global tyranny.

A photograph of Helen Gahagan Douglas, dated circa 1945. (Public Domain)
The speech is well researched and serves as powerful reminders that Black American soldiers were not only instrumental on the battlefield but also represented the ideals of democracy and freedom. From the legendary Tuskegee Airmen in the skies to the brave infantrymen of the 92nd Infantry Division, Douglas emphasized how these men risked their lives for a country that had yet to grant them full equality. Other famous mentioned units are the 761st Tank Battalion, widely known as the "Black Panthers”, the 450th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, and the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion.

Stories of valor and courage

These stories of valor and unity were meant to inspire both Black and white Americans to stand together. Douglas’s speech extended this mission, reinforcing the need for postwar recognition of civil rights. She called attention to the ongoing "Double Victory" campaign—a fight for victory over fascism abroad and racism at home—using the bravery of Black soldiers to challenge systemic discrimination.

At a time when the military remained segregated, this message resonated deeply and several people wrote to her to congratulate her on her speech. Her words in the speech continue to remind us of the critical role Black Americans played in shaping history.

These days, for any reader wishing to get a broad overview of the contributions of Black American soldiers in the Second World War, this is an excellent place to start. Many units and individual stories of heroism are described. She effectively advocates for a better recognition of the participation of Black Americans.

Source available

Eager to read the full speech of Helen Gahagan Douglas for yourself? Head on over to the sources section where you can download a copy of it.

Major Charity Adams

One of the most remarkable aspects of the 6888th’s history is the leadership of Major Charity Adams, the first Black woman to command a battalion in the Women's Army Corps. Adams and her fellow soldiers overcame significant obstacles, including inadequate facilities and discrimination, to fulfill their mission with exceptional dedication. They famously operated under the motto: “No mail, no morale,” recognizing that communication from loved ones was vital to the spirits of the soldiers overseas.

Service across the sea

Their efforts were met with considerable praise, and they became known as the "Six Triple Eight." The battalion’s work not only improved the morale of the troops but also set a precedent for future generations of women in the military.
In addition to their service, it was also an opportunity for these women to travel and see sights they’d never see otherwise. As Indiana Hunt Martin of the 6888th recounted in an interview: “Me and another girl friend of mine, I think it was Christen. We’d just get on a bus and ride it to the end and then ride it back. In France and in England. We’d ride a bus to the end and then wait until the bus would turn around and get on and come back.”

Soon on Netflix

Despite their significant contributions, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion remained largely unrecognized for decades. It wasn’t until the 21st century that their story began to receive the acknowledgment it deserves. In 2019, the unit was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, a testament to their service and sacrifice. On 6 December 2024 a movie dedicated to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion will be released and on 20 December the movie will premier on Netflix.

Legacy of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

Today, the legacy of the 6888th continues to inspire. Their determination and resilience serve as a powerful reminder of the vital roles that women of color have played in shaping military history. As we commemorate their contributions, let us ensure that their stories are preserved and celebrated for future generations.
Want to help me with my research? Check out my Patreon. As a thank you, you’ll get a monthly postcard featuring Black American soldiers during the Second World War. Check out my webshop, where I’ve made a collection of items dedicated to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The profits are used for researching Black American soldiers during the Second World War.

A shell is being loaded into an 8-inch howitzer of the 578th Field Artillery Battalion (Bleialf, Germany, 9 February 1945). (Author collection)

578th Field Artillery Battalion

The 578th Field Artillery Battalion was a segregated unit of the United States Army that served during World War II. Equipped with 8-inch guns, this battalion provided heavy artillery support for Allied forces during key operations in the European Theater. They were one of the two Black American heavy artillery battalions. The other battalion was the 999th Field Artillery Battalion.

Constituted in 1942, the 578th Field Artillery Battalion underwent training and preparation in the United States before deploying to France late in June 1944. As a heavy artillery unit, the 578th Field Artillery Battalion was employed as a corps artillery unit and provided long-range fire support for infantry and armored units advancing across France, Belgium and later Germany. The 8-inch guns they operated were capable of delivering powerful, accurate fire against enemy fortifications, troop concentrations, and other strategic targets. The heavy artillery battalions generally had six guns per battalion. Heavy artillery units like the 578th were often used to soften enemy defenses before major offensives and to disrupt enemy movements and supply lines.

Obliteration was the Result

As Master Sergeant Floyd Jones, who served in the 578th Field Artillery Battalion, explained their guns: “Now, you understand we could spread fire; so many guns on several different targets. In short, we could batter the hell out of a number of targets at once or we could zero in on one. With all that firepower on one objective, obliteration was the result.” (Mary Motley Pennick, The Invisible Soldier, Detroit 1975, 181.)

The 578th Field Artillery Battalion performed their service valiantly during the Second World War. They contributed to the overall Allied victory in Europe and helped free the people in Europe of the joke of Nazism.

Want to view the image in the gallery? Click here.

Want to help my research? Check out my Patreon here. As a thank you, you'll receive a monthly postcard featuring Black American soldiers.

Just a Photograph

Let me show a photograph. It's an image from the Second World War. Look closely and take a moment to consider what you see.

On the reverse of the photograph is written: “Huge tank truck discharge their cargo of gasoline into ‘jerricans’ lined up along the road at the 218th Quartermaster Battalion dump in Germany. This gas dump supplies fuel to the U.S. Ninth Army. 3/23/45. Wegberg, Germany.”

At first glance, it seems that it’s “just” another quartermaster battalion providing fuel for the advancing Allied armies. However, there’s a lot more going on here than you might think. Now, I’m guessing most of you have never heard of the 218th Quartermaster Battalion and that’s also fine. It was one of the many quartermaster units in the army at that time.

Likewise, “Ninth Army”, the location “Wegberg, Germany” and the date 23 March 1945, don’t mean much separate of each other. But when you think about it, this was right before Operation Flashpoint was launched. The advance of the US Ninth Army across the Rhine River, which plunged deeper into Germany and eventually sealed the Ruhr pocket.

Operation Flashpoint

Operation Flashpoint was part of the bigger Operation Plunder, which also included an airborne element: Operation Varsity. On 23 March 1945, the British Second Army, the US Ninth Army, and the British 6th Airborne and the American 17th Airborne Divisions, launched an attack together and crossed the Rhine River, which formed the last line of German resistance.

And it's due to these facts that this photo is significant. It’s not just text, another numerical designation for a unit, but a glimpse into the historical past. The 218th Quartermaster Battalion literally fueled the advance of the 30th, 35th, 79th Infantry Divisions and the 8th Armored Division! All their vehicles, all their tanks, and also the boats need fuel to operate.

It supplied some 294,000 gallons (1,112,911 liters) of gasoline to the Ninth Army each day. If this battalion hadn’t done its service, then the advance of the army would be stuck. Now, it’s just a small gear in a much bigger machine, but it was there and that’s what matters. This image is direct proof that they were there.

Now, their history is not the stuff of legends and that's okay. It’s just to show that there’s a lot more to history and a lot more to the Second World War than you might think. Black American soldiers were part of the United States Army during the Second World War and the work that they did, either at the front or behind it, helped the Allied armies win the war in.

If you’d like to see footage of the 79th Infantry Division crossing the Rhine River, which was in part made possible by the 218th Quartermaster Battalion, check out this video by my friend G.I.stories on YouTube.

Want to help me with my research? Check out my Patreon. As a thank you, you’ll get a monthly postcard featuring Black American soldiers during the Second World War.

* Image from National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 535559.*

John M. Madison and his awards

The photograph shows a Black woman and her daughter, while the white general on the left is holding the medal. It’s a tragic history, because Rosie’s husband and Melba’s father has been killed in combat, while serving with the 92nd Infantry Division. I’ve been digging a bit deeper and located the following newspaper photograph.

* Image from The Michigan Chronicle, August 11, 1945.*

The caption even has a typo, because it appears to be John Melvin Madison. His entry on [the American Battle Monuments Commission] (https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/madison%3Djohn) also lists him as John M. Madison.

On the website of The Hall of Valor Project I found the citation for his Silver Star. It gives some more information on the action for which he was decorated.

GENERAL ORDERS:

Headquarters, 92d Infantry Division, General Orders No. 15 (April 22, 1945)

CITATION:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant (Infantry) John Melvin Madison (ASN: 0-331261), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with the 370th Infantry Regiment, 92d Infantry Division, in action on 8 and 10 February 1945, in Italy. The company of which First Lieutenant Madison was a member had taken its objective against light enemy resistance. Immediately thereafter, the enemy subjected the position to terrific artillery and mortar fire which killed or wounded all officers except First Lieutenant Madison. Extremely heavy casualties and the loss of leadership disorganized the company and it sought to withdraw. First Lieutenant Madison quickly gathered the remaining fifteen men and, regardless of continuing enemy fire, put them into positions to hold the hill. By sheer personal courage and disregard for his own life, First Lieutenant Madison inspired his men to repel three separate enemy counterattacks aimed exclusively at their position. He withdrew only upon orders. Two days later, he captured seven enemy soldiers while leading his company in an attack routed through an extensive unmarked minefield. First Lieutenant Madison's outstanding bravery in a situation of extreme combat hazard exemplifies the gallant heroism of the American Soldier.

While there’s still a lot to discover about the history of John M. Madison, the sources give more background to the photograph. First Lieutenant Madison served valiantly in combat and died in the service of his country. May he rest in peace.

(Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 513227)

If not, once you zoom in, you can see that the hands that the hands of the man wearing the life preserver are a different color than those of the surrounding people. He's the man in the red circle. I was intruiged and dug a bit deeper, where I found another photograph. It’s mostlikely made by James L. Lonergan, who is seen standing up with the camera in the first photograph. He's the man in the yellow circle.

(Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 513227)

As you can see in the images below, the Coast Guardsman is a Black American.

(Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 205584118)

This is the original image that James L. Lonergan took, which you can see in the first photograph.

(Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 205584118)

Whereas the discovery of this image doesn’t alter the perception of history, it’s once more a confirmation that Black Americans were there and the contribution of Black Americans during the Second World War.

Interested in more from World War II Daily Postcast? You can find it here.
Interested in what @worldwarII_daily posts on Instagram? You can find it here.

Update 8 May

Another source has been added! It's the book Come Out Fighting: The Epic Tale of the 761st Tank Battalion. It's written by Trezzvant Anderson, a journalist who covered the battalion, and published in 1945. The book is full of stories and photographs. Feel free to check it out here!

• Executive summary
• Who is Samuel de Korte?
• Why does this matter?
• What is the money used for?
• What are the benefits of supporting this research?
• Why do you mail postcards?
• Appendix 1: Samuel de Korte
• Appendix 2: The costs of doing research
• Appendix 3: Examples of postcards

Executive summary

Currently, there is a gap in the existing historiography. Black American soldiers are systematically ignored, forgotten, or tokenized. To acknowledge and address the contributions of these brave warriors, it is important to share the history of Black American soldiers during the Second World War. To do so costs time and money. You can help change changing this, for as little as $ 5.00 per month. With your support from a monthly contribution of $ 10.00 or more, you’ll be mailed every month a postcard featuring Black American soldiers during the Second World War, while also funding the research that I am doing. To donate on Patreon, click here.

Who is Samuel de Korte?

I've studied ‘Contemporary History of Modern Europe’ at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and wrote my MA thesis about the representation of Black American soldiers during the Second World War. Black American soldiers are underrepresented in contemporary history and I kept thinking about this fact. I want to help solve this problem.
After having finished my studies, I made it my mission to raise awareness for Black American soldiers during the Second World War. They suffered from discrimination during enlistment, during their service, or afterward when they returned to civilian life. However, many Black soldiers, when presented with the opportunity, performed valiantly.
I raise awareness for their contribution by writing about Black American units during World War Two, so that their efforts are not forgotten. Past projects include a book about the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Finalist, 2022 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Awards), while upcoming projects include a book about the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion and a book about the 777th Field Artillery Battalion.
Digitized images, which are part of the research, have been made available online, such as photographs of the 76th Coast Artillery Regiment. Additional research discovered the unit history of the 969th Field Artillery Battalion, titled the Golden Cannon, which can be downloaded for free on my website and is thus publicly available or finding film footage of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He also discovered a photograph of Mack B. Anderson, thus providing a face to a true American hero. See Appendix 1 for more information about me and my social media presence.

Why does this matter?

Black American soldiers are often ignored or left out of the history of the Second World War, even though at that time around 10% of the US Army consisted of Black American soldiers. This is a serious problem because we cannot overcome historical injustices until we identify and address them. In part, this also contributes to problems experienced in US society today. There’s talk about history, but Black and white history is not the same. Even though Black and white soldiers served in the same war, they had vastly different experiences. By learning about their different experiences and different perspectives on the war, we can better understand the problems of the present. By raising awareness for all Black American units and their efforts during the war, we’re addressing that issue one postcard at a time.

What is the money used for?

The money is used to fund the research. This research consists of several components, time to do research and write, as well as money to do research. Sometimes historical images need to be digitized so that they can be made publicly available or archival documents need to be digitized to gain access to them. All of this costs money, which is where you can help. The income of the project will thus be used to fund further research as well as make time available to do this research. See Appendix 2 for some of the costs of research. If you wish to make a one-time or a monthly donation, click here.

What are the benefits of supporting this research?

History is about sharing and I believe that I should make as much of the history available for free as possible. That’s why I uploaded the images of the 76th Coastal Artillery Regiment or shared the unit history of the 969th Field Artillery Battalion. I don’t like paywalls. The end goal should always be to make as much available for free as possible.
By having an additional stream of revenue, I can spend more time researching and writing and being less reliant on my day job to fund the research. This allows everyone involved to raise awareness for Black American soldiers during the Second World War, which will lead to a better understanding of our historical differences and actively help create a better world.

Why do you mail postcards?

It’s an extra boost to raise awareness for the contribution of Black American soldiers during the Second World War. It’s done to thank the people who donate monthly $ 10.00 or more. They make it possible for me to do research and I want to share interesting images with them. Thus they receive a postcard every month featuring a reprinted photograph of Black American soldiers during the Second World War, while on the back of the postcard is a short explanation of the image featured on the other side. This will be sent to their home or the address that they provide. (Unless people wish to opt out.) See Appendix 3 for two examples.

Appendix 1: Samuel de Korte

Social media presence:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Threads
Patreon

Books
Of special importance are the following two books:
The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion: Fighting on Both Fronts (2022) Black American soldiers are consistently ignored or forgotten, while they did participate in the Second World War. Based upon archival material, other sources, and conversations with descendants, I wrote a book about one of the segregated American units. Link to the publisher.

Tuskegee Airmen: Dogfighting with the Luftwaffe and Jim Crow (2024) During the Second World War, the Tuskegee Airmen had not one but two enemies to overcome: the German Luftwaffe and Jim Crow. In this book, the inspiring history of these men is recounted detailing the struggles the men faced at home and abroad. Link to the publisher.

Additionally, in 2025 a book on the history of the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery will appear.

Articles:
Black Soldiers, the Second World War, and Historical Comic books: An Examination of Black American Soldiers in Comic Books about the Second World War, The Hellfighter, 2023 An examination of Black American soldiers in comic books. Two separate comic books are analyzed regarding their portrayal of Black American soldiers, their service, and their impact during the Second World War. This is then contrasted with their actual participation in order to gain a better understanding of the blind spots in contemporary popular culture. In this case, the comic books focus on action and exciting elements, forgoes the more complicated topics in American history, such as segregation and racism.

Appendix 2: The costs of doing research

USAHEC

1. Fee for digitized photograph at given dpi $20.00
2. Fee for non-digitized photograph at 300 dpi $20.00
3. Fee for non-digitized photograph at 600 dpi $35.00
4. Fee for non-digitized oversize items at 600dpi $45.00
5. Fee for non-digitized photograph at 1200dpi $50.00 REQUEST FOR REPRODUCTION OF PRINTED MATERIAL
6. Non-Digitized Material for Offsite Patrons a) Fee for photocopy reproduction: • 1 - 5 pages $5.00 • 6 – 12 pages $10.00 • 13 – 23 pages $20.00 • 24 and over pages $0.80 per page • Oversized material is $1.50 per image b) Fee for 300 dpi scan reproduction: • 1 to 10 pages $10.00 • 11 to 20 pages $20.00 • 21 to 30 pages $30.00 • Over 30 pages $1.00 per page • Oversized material is $2.00 per image

The National Archives and Records Administration
NARA Reproduction Services (minimum reproduction order fees may apply) Paper to paper (up to and including 11” x 17”) $0.80 per copy

NARA Reproduction Services (minimum reproduction order fees may apply) Paper to paper (up to and including 11” x 17”) $0.80 per copy

Archival Handling Fees Fee Motion Picture/Video Item (Washington, DC) $17.25 per item

Howard University
Social Media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Commercial Organization (Non-promotional) $175 E-book or Audiobook with worldwide rights $950

Appendix 3: Examples of postcards

The front and back of a postcard featuring the 593rd Field Artillery Battalion.

The front and back of a postcard featuring an armorer of the 332nd Fighter Group.

For the Militology channel on Youtube I write scripts about a variety of topics. One of the scripts, which I have written, is about the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. I'm proud of it and I wanted to share it with you.

The Militology Channel

The Militology channel is dedicated to military history and explores past battles, weapons, tactics, generals and heroes throughout history. Among others, I've also written a script about Doris Miller and another one about the Tuskegee Airmen.

Watch it online!

The whole documentary is online and can be watched on Youtube!

If the clip doesn't show, you can also watch it here.

Update 18 April

I've also uploaded several images of the 76th Coast Artillery Regiment, which can be viewed here, and included a letter from their chaplain, Luther M. Fuller, where he remarked on his service with the regiment and their hopes for the future.

Luther M. Fuller. (The Guardian, 22 August 1942)

Published in The Guardian, August 22, 1942.
THE SPIRIT OF THE 76th COAST ARTILLERY (AA)
By Chap. Luther M. Fuller
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL—Well Folks, here we are writing to you away out in Cool San Francisco, California, where it is common to see women wearing their fur coats in the month of August. This time we are writing, not about the 372nd Infantry of which we have been writing so long, but about a New Regiment, the 76th Coast Artillery Anti Aircraft which is two years old in this month, having been activated at Ft. Bragg, N. C., in August 1940. It is an all-Colored Regiment officered by white personnel, except the two Chaplains. We joined this Regimental after an eleven day journey from New York City through states in the deep south like the Hot Desert Sands of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. On our way, we visited Denver, Colorado, Omaha, Nebraska, Chicago, Illinois, Salt Lake City, Uth and many other historic places.

The Spirit of the 76th Coast Artillery is one of Freedom and Democracy. Here we have no discrimination or segregation. The white Commissioned Officers and the Colored Chaplains eat in the same Mess Hall, at the same tables reserved for Officers, sleep in the same barracks, and use the same Shower Baths and washroom. Doesn’t it seem strange that white officers from states in the deep south like Mississippi, South and North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee should be sharing these privileges with Colored Officers? But it is a real fact, "believe it or not.” Of course, some of them may not like it but there is nothing they can do about it but to take it and like it. Our Commanding Officer is a native of California and will not tolerate any prejudice and discrimination in the 76th Coast Artillery.

I say that the Spirit of the 76th is one of Freedom, Yea, one of Freedom from the weights and shackles of race prejudice, discrimination, and damnable segregation at home and from dictatorship and slavery abroad. The men of our Regiment are anxious to go abroad to fight for Freedom and Democracy, Yea for Christian Democracy, they are not unmindful of the lack of Freedom at home. They are greatly imbued with the same Spirit of Freedom which gripped the hearts of the Revolutionary Patriots of 1776. The same spirit which caused Patrick Henry to say: "Give me Liberty or give me death!” They are well aware of the fact that they, more than any other race, have more to gain by a victory over the Axis Nations. For them, it will be victory over injustice, inequality race prejudice, segregation, and discrimination at home as well as a victory for Christian Democracy abroad.

The Spirit of the 76th Coast Artillery is one of Christianity. There are more real Christians in this regiment than we have found in any others with which we have come in contact. Practically in every Battery there u a Chorus or a Quartette and all delight in singing the songs of Zion and the deep and emotional Spirituals of the Colored Race. The continued cursing and swearing so prevalent in other regiments is conspicuously lacking in the 76th Coast Artillery. At our morning service last Sunday more than thirty soldiers came forward and gave their lives for Christ. It was a rare spectacle to behold in the Army. Real talent in our Regiment is plentiful. We have musicians, school teachers College men, poets, newspaper men, and writers in great numbers. The level of intelligence is very high. So, again we say, that the Spirit of the 76th Coast Artillery is one of real freedom, real liberty and real Christian Democracy.

In the movie Jugend by filmmaker Alessandro Pepe about a soldier in the Waffen-SS division Hitlerjugend the relationship with a SS soldier and his girlfriend at home is examined. The twist at the end of the film is -spoiler alert- that his girlfriend has already died in an Allied bombardment. In this article we will examine the mentioned numbers to see if these are correct and what the consequences of this are.

France 1944

In the slightly less than twenty minutes movie a young SS soldier is introduced as the main character. He is in France in 1944 after the Allied armies had landed in Normandy and he regularly writes to his beloved in Germany. He notices that she has not answered his most recent letters and this frustrates him. At the end of the movie, after the death of the main character, it turns out that his girlfriend didn’t write to him because she was killed two months previously in an allied bombardment.
At the end of the movie two remarkable claims are made to put the movie in a certain perspective. “Indoctrinated since young ages, some of these boys were pushed to commit war crimes,” and “more than 550,000 German civilians died after bombs.” Another article would be needed to clarify the mistakes in the first comment, about the simplifications in it, and about absolving guilt. This article will focus on the second quote because the context is important in which it is made.

Suffering of German soldiers

In the movie, the girlfriend is shown as an example of the suffering of German soldiers and their families, because she has passed away earlier and the main character never found out what happened to her. The audience is supposed to feel pity for the German civilians who were the victims of these bombardments. Yet certain things are just not right and certain remarks need to be made to put the film in the right context.

Wrong numbers

It’s indeed true that the Allied air forces bombed many times over Germany and the occupied territories. These bombardments were not always precise and there were many casualties, including elderly, children, and babies. Not only Germans, but also people that worked (voluntarily or involuntarily) in Germany, were threatened by these attacks. For every single ton of bombs that the Germans had used on the United Kingdom, there were 315 tons of bombs thrown at Germany. These are remarkable numbers and it's indeed good that attention is drawn to this.
However, the problem with the movie is not that it mentions these numbers. According to the movie, there were 550.000 Germans killed. Research gives different numbers. Richard Overy, claimed in 2015 that there were 353,000 Germans killed as a result of the bombings. In the books by the East German historian Olaf Groehler, between 360,000 and 370,000 Germans fell victim to the bombs. Other numbers talk about 410,000 dead. The only one that remotely comes close is a report by the German Red Cross, which mentions 500,000 victims.

A B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of the 91st Bomber Group over Osnabruck, Germany. (Courtesy of NARA: NAID: 204898733)

Dresden

The discussion about victims and people killed is difficult. Take the bombing of Dresden as an example, where there were between 25,000 and 60,000 casualties. Understandably it is difficult to determine the exact number of fatalities, especially when even a single attack has an error margin of 35,000 casualties. However, that doesn’t mean that the number of 550,000 is absurdly high. Where these numbers come from and what considerations Pepe made before he decided to mention this number is not clarified. A source could have prevented a lot of discussions, but the discussion about the exact numbers of casualties is not deemed important to this movie and instead, a too high number of German casualties is just given.

Cities targeted by bombardments

To discuss the bombings of cities during the Second World War a certain perspective needs to be given. The first bombardment of the Second World War was on the Polish town of Wielun, where there were 127 casualties. In the Netherlands the bombing of Rotterdam is infamous and one can still see the traces of this bombardment in the city center. There were between 650 and 900 people killed.
In the Third Reich, there was even an euphemism to refer to the destruction of cities, ‘coventrieren’, named after the bombardment of the English town Coventry. It’s saying a lot that there existed a term to refer to the ruining of cities. Also, the Allied forces conducted bombardments on cities, where the bombing of Dresden, where there were a lot of casualties shortly before the end of the war, or the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which forced an end to the Second World War. There were around 199,000 casualties.

The devestation in the city Wielun after the German bombardment.

Germany as the victim

By leaving out these facts and just focusing on one aspect, a one-sided view is given. Germany is presented more as a victim of the Second World War instead of the aggressor. The numbers are enlarged and the past is treated unjustly. Pepe tries to give an interesting perspective of the Second World War, but the only thing he does is help Second World War revisionists.

Das Boot

A film that gives a good perspective of one aspect of the Second World War is the German movie Das Boot. The battle takes place under the sea instead of in the air. Attention is given not just to moments of tension when there is danger or the titular boat is under attack, but also to how the men are forced to cooperate with each other in confined spaces and always be in each other's proximity.

Reproduction uniforms

The concerning aspect is that Pepe in the making of this movie has been helped by Progetto900, a historical organization. Their goal is to take history out of the museums and they do this by wearing reproduction uniforms with partially authentic equipment. Remarkable is that they inform the reader on their website that they reject the nazi worldview, but they do cooperate with films that Pepe has made. Respect for the past doesn’t Pepe seem to have, because he carries out a pretend-idealistic projection of the past or potentially to quickly earn money with a barely disguised revisionist movie. The choice to depict a German army soldier in the movie would be a lot less controversial than deciding to reenact an SS soldier. As such, by cooperating with making this movie Progetto900 inadvertently aids in furthering the goals of a worldview, which they claim to reject on their website.

Less positive aspects of the Allied campaigns

While it is good to devote attention to the Second World War in all its forms and features, including the less positive sides of the Allied soldiers, it is important to remember the context of the Second World War. This context makes certain aspects stand out, but also reminds us that one party systematically exterminated people based upon their beliefs, race, sexual or political preference. The film would have been better if it mentioned how many forced laborers died due to the bombing or how many French civilians died during the Allied bombings in Normandy in preparation for the landings. Another aspect would be to discuss the bombing of Nijmegen, a city in the Netherlands, on 22 February 1944. Instead, it seems that Pepe seemed eager to produce a film about nazis as people we should pity because they suffer from the evil allied air forces.

Sources:

NIOD, Duitse en geallieerde bombardementen op Nederland (cijfers), link
The Avalon Project, The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Chapter 10 - Total Casualties, link
Modris Ekstein, Rites of Spring, page 302.

In various media, a skewed perception of the SS is given. This twisted projection of the past can have different consequences, which again influence other media. But where does this representation come from and what is the role of historians in this process?

My Honor was Loyalty

The film My Honor Was Loyalty (2016) by Alessandro Pepe is made accessible to a large audience by making it available on Netflix. Netflix is an online streaming service, where people can watch movies or documentaries. The movie deals with a group of SS soldiers of the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler division, which is different than the German Army, the Wehrmacht. War crimes committed by these SS soldiers are shown but justified as emotional outbursts.
Soviet soldiers are executed to prevent them from being a threat later. An American prisoner is shot under the pretense of revenge for a killed friend. To make this all even more unbelievable, the main character, an SS sergeant, at a certain moment even helps a Jewish woman. The movie lacks all ideological reflection and the connection between the SS and the nazi worldview is barely established. No moments are spared to ponder on the extermination of the Jewish people or others deemed as subhumans. There is no reflection on the murder of civilians. The large number of war crimes that this Waffen-SS division committed are barely featured at all.

War crimes

There’s a clear gap between the image of the past that this movie projects and the historical events that have transpired. The SS soldiers were not just soldiers, like those in the German army. The Waffen-SS soldiers were ideologically motivated and they carried out the worldview and ideas of Hitler’s regime. The Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler division was involved in several war crimes. The movie actively tries to excuse, downplay, or ignore it. Besides the bad implications this would have, such as nazi-glorification, it is also a falsification of history.
However, prohibiting this film from being shown is not the solution to this problem. This ‘creative expression’ has already been created, has received international attention, and has been watched many times. Even if this film is declared forbidden, it’s just a matter of time before another director, potentially out of ignorance, potentially out of other intentions, inappropriately treats this topic.

Two Black American soldiers carry away a victim of the Malmedy Massacre on a stretcher. The perpretrators inlcuded members of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division. (Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 532956.)

Franz Kurowski

The bigger problem is not just a ‘wrong’ director, but a structural problem: public ignorance about skewed perceptions of the Waffen-SS. Several writers are actively pushing for a revisionist view of the Second World War, the SS, and the Holocaust. An example is Franz Kurowski, but several other writers also pursue this goal. Kurowski has written many books during his life, of which a significant part has been devoted to the SS. He wrote down the life story of several men. Take for example his writings about Karl Nicolussi-Leck, in the book Panzer Aces II, which contains several errors and mistakes. Through this, it will be shown that the problem of nazi-glorification is known to academic historians, but not to the larger public.
The Second World War was a conflict that was fought on a global scale. Enormous losses were sustained by all parties and two nuclear bombs were needed to force an end to the bloodshed. There were millions of casualties and many war crimes were committed by all major parties involved. A special category of victims is those who were murdered based on the despicable ideology of the nazis. In carrying out this ideology the SS, to which Karl Nicolussi-Leck belonged, played a large role. Although Karl Nicolussi-Leck might not have been actively involved in the Holocaust, he was part of an organization that actively carried out the killing of people deemed as subhumans.

Karl Nicolussi-Leck

Hauptsturmführer Karl Nicolussi-Leck (1917-2008) was a tank commander in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. He had volunteered for the SS in 1940 and served in the Deutschland, Das Reich, and the Wiking division. In the book, his fighting experiences are stressed, while in the epilogue it’s stressed how he developed an ecological fruit and wine business. Besides that, he helped Germans who were displaced and on his initiative, an empty hospital was converted into two schools and later a museum. During the rebuilding he kept his personal motto, just like in the war; “There’s always plenty to do, let’s get at it!”

Positive characterization

A positive image of Karl Nicolussi-Leck is painted. He’s someone that helps others and even cares about the environment. The war was over and he wanted to focus on the future. There’s little negative to remark about him and every ideological reflection is missing. This is striking, because every person has good and bad characteristics and beyond doubt, Nicolussi-Leck must have had some thoughts about his period with the SS.
Whereas Nicolussi-Leck’s thoughts remain unknown, the writer Franz Kurowski can be faulted for selectively withholding information. After the Second World War, Nicolussi-Leck helped several nazi and SS officers escape to South Africa or the Middle East. In 1948 he went to Argentina but returned after several years. Afterward, he started several businesses with former SS comrades. There’s a clear connection between Nicolussi-Leck’s actions and the nazi worldview, which is lacking in the biography. By not mentioning this, a skewed perception of Nicolussi-Leck is given, as if he was ‘just a soldier’ instead of an ideologically motivated one. To push the argument even further, it’s an attempt by Kurowksi to paint a distorted and positive image of the SS. Kurowski combined these biographies in his book, Panzer Aces II, wherein he shared several experiences of Germans who won the Ritterkreuz.

Sergeant Clarence Mageriea, of the 83rd Division, with two captured German SS troopers against a wall in Sart, Belgium. (Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 532956.)

Ritterkreuz

The inclusion of the Knight’s Cross (Ritterkreuz) is important, because all men had earned this decoration. However, this medal also had a symbolic value. Between 1939 and 1945 the Ritterkreuz des Eisern Kreuzes handed out just 7,282 times. Recommendations for his award needed to be personally approved by Adolf Hitler. The ideological value is obvious because portrait photos were made of the decorated persons and they gave speeches to other people. The Knight’s Cross holders were supposed to serve as an example. This moralistic approach means that these soldiers were used to spread the nazi worldview. They were thus much more than ‘just’ soldiers. It is remarkable that in the story of Nicolussi-Leck the ideological aspects of his identity are left behind. The focus is on combat and personal motivations instead of any ideological ideas. Many experiences are viewed from a strictly military perspective. Whereas it’s undeniable that being a soldier was part of the SS experience, they also had a close connection to the nazi paradigm. The Waffen-SS is after the war marked as a criminal organization due to the many war crimes committed during its brief existence.

Writers about the Waffen-SS

The used version of the book Panzer Aces II is published by Stackpole Books, a well-known publisher when it comes to military history. This gives the book Panzer Aces II certain pretensions, such as being historically accurate, which don’t apply to this book. The large volume might also give it a certain value, which makes it more difficult for readers to appropriately judge Kurowski’s work. Thus, the book has an air of legitimacy, which is simply wrong.
Publishing these distorted histories as if they were authentic biographies, gives fuel to perfidious processes. The book lacks any warning about the author. A mention in the foreword or a warning about the lack of historical accuracy could have prevented a lot of problems. The reader then knows that certain suspicion towards Kurowski is necessary. Although the book might be correct on all technological aspects related to tanks and the German armed forces, it doesn’t mean that the book is also historically accurate. Furthermore, the book contains many little references which are incorrect. The bombing of Dresden is referred to as a terror bombing. Kurowski makes this kind of reference often in his books and is also accused of having a revisionist view of the bombardment. In all Kurowski’s books, he is positive about the German armed forces and often it lacks any nuance.

Consequences

In this distorted history lies a task for the historian. Historians need to warn society against this sort of evil powers who use selective history to further their own nefarious goals. With the rise of the ‘alt-right’ movement or other revisionist movements, it is important to remain alert about the published material, because these kinds of books feed such figures.
People with a history background might know that the books by Kurowski are not entirely trustworthy, but this knowledge needs to be shared with a larger audience. Certain people might not know the difference between the writings of Kurowski and a respected historian and assume both are equally trustworthy while Kurowski’s books are little more than nazi hagiography.

Fact and fiction

The sad result of these inaccurate books is pathetic films like My Honor was Loyalty by Alessandro Pepe. In this film, intentionally or unintentionally, the SS and its deeds are romanticized. To a large audience, this movie pretends that the SS members are just soldiers and that their crimes can be excused. The line between fact and fiction is not made obvious. Every analysis of the racial ideology of the nazis is missing. Films like this aid nazi worship and the wrongdoings of the nazi regime are pushed into the background, whereas their wrongdoings are things that must never be forgotten.
Films from the German perspective of the Second World War can be difficult. Due to the Holocaust, there’s an enormous emotional baggage that needs to be taken into account. The German miniseries, Ünsere Mütter, ünsere Väter, makes a good attempt to show several German perspectives of the Second World War.
It’s impossible to prevent a movie like this and by being available on Netflix, this film will reach a larger audience. However, historians should seize this moment to warn people about the dangers of falsifying history and to raise awareness of the crimes of the nazi regime. As the production of this film shows, not everyone seems to be aware of this, but historians have the possibility to change this. And Pepe should visit the concentration and extermination camps to think about a side of the SS that he has not shown in his movies.

Sources:

Kurowski, Franz, Panzer Aces II: Battle stories of German tank commanders of WWII (Mechanicsburg 2004).
Williams, Gordon, Knight’s cross and oak-leaves recipients 1939 – ’40 (Oxford 2012).
Messenger, David A., & Katrin Paehler (eds.) A Nazi past: Recasting German identity in postwar Europe (Kentucky 2015).
Kellerhof, Sven Felix, ‘Eine Null anhängen,’ Die Welt (25 January 2005) https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article371489/Eine-Null-anhaengen.html (28 March 2017)

(Photograph courtesy of Pen and Sword Publishers.)

Tuskegee Airmen: Dogfighting with the Luftwaffe and Jim Crow

The book about the Tuskegee Airmen has appeared last month! It has been a joy to research these soldiers and to share their history. The Tuskegee Airmen have an interesting history, which includes with the 99th Fighter Squadron, and the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group. It’s been a really rewarding project and I’m grateful to Pen and Sword for allowing me to write this book.

(Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion: Manuscript handed in.

The other project I finished recently is my upcoming book about the 452nd AAA. It’s been a worthwhile project, because this unit deserves to be more widely known that it currently is. Most of its service in combat was when it was assigned to the XII Corps, Third US Army. The 452nd AAA didn’t fight as a single unit, but assigned platoons to white field artillery battalions. These artillery soldiers were all very glad for their support and more than once, the white soldiers remarked about the skill or dedication of the Black AAA soldiers. Credited with shooting down 67 11/12 enemy aircraft and 19 probables, the 452nd AAA is among the most lethal anti-aircraft battalions of the Second World War. Learn more about their history in my book, once it appears! Currently publication is scheduled for February 2025.

February deadlines

As you’ll have noticed, I’m busy with several projects. In February the book about the Tuskegee Airmen appears. Furthermore, in February I need to hand in the manuscript for the book about the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. After that, there’s a bit of a lull, because once those two projects are wrapped up, things will calm down a bit.

777th Field Artillery Battalion

Of course, there are new projects coming up. I’m working on a book about the 777th Field Artillery Battalion. It’s another Black American unit that fought during the Second World War. I have no deadline yet, but once this project gets up and running, I expect things will proceed rapidly.

That’s all for now!

Cover of the book 'Tuskegee Airmen' by Samuel de Korte (Pen and Sword)

Blurb

During the Second World War, the Tuskegee Airmen had not one but two enemies to overcome: the German Luftwaffe and Jim Crow. In this book, the inspiring history of these men is recounted detailing the struggles the men faced at home and abroad.

The Tuskegee Airmen were black American pilots who served in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. However, before earning their wings, these men and women needed to prove themselves to their white countrymen. After all, the racism prevalent at the time meant that black Americans were deemed unsuitable for the demands of modern war.

After completing their training and conducting their first combat missions, the real enemy was waiting for them: the Luftwaffe. As a result of their role escorting the bombers, as well as their bright red tails, the Tuskegee Airmen of 332nd Fighter Group earned the nickname the ‘Red Tails’. The units served with distinction in several fierce engagements, such as the 99th Fighter Squadron, who fought in the skies over Anzio on 27 and 28 January 1944, and the 332nd Fighter Group, who earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for its mission to Berlin on 24 March 1945.

Exciting Project

Working on this book has been really exciting and I am grateful that I have been allowed to do so. One of my personal highlights was being invited to the unveiling of a monument dedicated to the 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli, the airbase from which this unit operated. I look forward to the publication!

Pre-orders are already available!
Check out the links below
Pen and Sword (UK)
Casemate (US)

Photograph of Mack B. Anderson of the 823rd Engineer Aviation Battalion. (Public Domain)

Personal history

A bit of personal history, but in 2019 I tried to discover more about heroic Black Americans during the Second World War. Accounts of bravery by Black Americans at and behind the frontlines exist and a few stories are widely available, but I wanted to go beyond them. It’s important to note that many Black Americans served in support units and were less likely to experience combat due to their roles. However, danger wasn’t exclusive to the battlefield. Threats could arise unexpectedly, not just from enemy forces but also from hazardous weather or accidents. In Mack B. Anderson’s case, the danger came in the form of bullets fired with hostile intent.

An Imperial Japanese zero taking off. (Public Domain)

Silver Star Medal

On 25 October 1942, Mack Anderson was stationed at an airfield near Assam when it was attacked by a flight of 18 Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft. While his comrades sought cover, Mack single-handedly manned a .30 machine gun and fired at the fighters. Several times the Zero’s swooped down and strafed Anderson, but he avoided being hit. Eventually, his gun jammed and Anderson ran over to a trench. Once inside the trench, he took out his .45 pistol and continued to fire at the Japanese aircraft. For his heroism, after the attack, he would receive the Silver Star Medal.

The newspaper article tells about how Mack B. Anderson earned the Silver Star Medal. (The Southern News, 27 February 1943)

Transient Glory

Now, Mack Anderson’s valor was widely celebrated in the Black American press. The fact that he earned Silver Star, as well as his name and face, were printed in several newspapers throughout the nation. He served as an example. This was caried over into history books, where Anderson is likewise mentioned, such as in The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II, by Elliot V. Converse et al., where on page 154 a short paragraph is dedicated to Anderson. Likewise, in The Employment of Negro Troops by Ulysses Lee also writes about Anderson, although he doesn’t mention him by name when he writes on page 457: ‘From India came the report that though no other Negro units in the theater had been under fire, the conduct of the 823d Engineer Aviation Battalion under hazardous conditions of combat during Japanese raids on Assam in October 1942 was "magnificent." After the strafing, these engineers returned to their work promptly and began airfield repairs at once. One member of the unit received the Silver Star for action under fire during these raids.’ It’s intriguing that despite these mentions, Anderson’s story has largely been forgotten. For example, in Brenham, Texas, few people seem to be aware of his story.

Various Black American heroes and the awards they have received. Anderson is mentioned on the right half of the page (Jackson Advocate, 27 November 1943)

Another dimension

While, indeed, Anderson’s story has been preserved in certain books, we can now add a photograph to this story. It adds another dimension to the story, we can add a face to the hero who won the medals. Photographs like this are invaluable. While many photographs exist of battles and movements, this image captures the likeliness of an ‘ordinary’ American who did extraordinary things. It’s a visual representation that is much more appealing to people. It might even inspire some to look up more about the historical context surrounding the image. Lastly, photographs help preserve the memory of a specific event in the past, because images are more effective than remembering events from just words alone. In this case, it’s the history of Mack B. Anderson and how he won the Silver Star Medal for his heroic conduct under fire.

Photograph of members of the Headquarters Company, 480th Port Battalion set up between the columns of the Ancient Greek temple of Neptune. Although this location is in Paestum, Sicily, I too have seen many Ancient Greek monuments. (Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

What has happened?

So the translation of C. J. Wagevier’s book, titled Fighting for Napoleon's Army in Russia: A POW's Memoir has appeared recently. In this book, Wagevier recounts his experiences with the 125th Regiment of the Line, which consisted of Dutch soldiers, during the disastrous Russian Campaign of 1812. It’s been a delight to work on this project! I hope readers have as much joy reading it as I had in translating it.

What's to come?

Now, there are several projects coming up. I’m still working on the book titled Tuskegee Airmen: Dogfighting with the Luftwaffe and Jim Crow. These Black American pilots fought in the Mediterranean and Europe as part of the 332nd Fighter Group, while the 477th Bombardment Group had to confront Jim Crow at home. It will be published in February 2024. Lastly, I’m making steady progress with the book about the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. I came across some fascinating sources, which once again reminded me of the joys of historical research.

I will keep you updated!

Modern technology and history

Artificial Intelligence has created quite a buzz recently. I’ve been following these developments keenly, not just out of professional interest, but also out of personal curiosity. Artificial Intelligence can be used for a variety of purposes and I’ve been thinking about possibilities for history. One of the uses of AI is to color historical images quickly. These images can then be shared with others to raise awareness or to spark interest.
Look at the two images below. In it, you will see a half-track of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion together with a few Black American soldiers. First I’ll show you the original image, in black-and-white, and then the same image, but colorized.

(Photograph courtesy of United States Army Heritage and Education Center.)

(Photograph courtesy of United States Army Heritage and Education Center.)

Do you see what a difference it makes?

Photographs come to life

Personally, color adds a lot of depth to an image. It’s more interesting and you can appreciate more details that would be harder to spot if the photograph was all in gray tones. Furthermore, it gives you a glimpse of what the past could have been like. It’s no longer an image, but a view of what the past could have been like as the people themselves have experienced it.

Are you also excited about seeing these photographs come to life? I’ve been posting a lot of colorized photographs on my Instagram account. Feel free to check them out "@samuel.dekorte" See you there!

Putting ChatGPT to the test

The following article has been created with the help of Artificial Intelligence, based upon the prompt ‘614th Tank Destroyer Battalion’:

The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was an American tank destroyer unit that fought in World War II. The unit was formed in 1941 and trained at Camp Polk in Louisiana. The battalion was equipped with M10 tank destroyers, which were designed to take out enemy tanks at long range.
The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion saw combat in several major campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge and the Rhineland campaign. The unit was known for its ability to take out enemy tanks and armored vehicles, and was credited with destroying dozens of enemy tanks during the war.
After the war, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was deactivated and its members returned home. Today, the unit is remembered for its bravery and service during World War II, and for its role in helping to defeat the Axis powers.

(Image is in the public domain. Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration.)

At first glance, the article might seem like a decent summary of the battalion’s history, but once you dive deeper into the material, you discover a lot of errors. In that sense, it’s not unusual, because the article is a recreation of what the AI had at its disposal and not a historically accurate rendering of the historical past.

The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was an American tank destroyer unit that fought in World War II. The unit was formed in 1941 and trained at Camp Polk in Louisiana. The battalion was equipped with M10 tank destroyers, which were designed to take out enemy tanks at long range.

Indeed, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was an American unit and it did fight in the Second World War. However, the battalion was activated on 25 July 2942 at Camp Carson, Colorado. The battalion was equipped with the towed 3-inch M5 Gun, not with the M10 gun motor carriage.

The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion saw combat in several major campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge and the Rhineland campaign. The unit was known for its ability to take out enemy tanks and armored vehicles, and was credited with destroying dozens of enemy tanks during the war.

Indeed, it fought in several major campaigns, including the Rhineland Campaign. However, it didn’t fight in the Battle of the Bugle. Likewise, the unit is mostly known for the Battle of Climbach, where Third Platoon, C Company, earned the Presidential Unit Citation. The 614th TD also fought in the Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns.

After the war, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was deactivated and its members returned home. Today, the unit is remembered for its bravery and service during World War II, and for its role in helping to defeat the Axis powers.

Naturally, once the war was over, many units were deactivated and their members returned home. The 614th TD did fight bravely, as is testified by the white soldiers they fought alongside, but is it still remembered for its service during the Second World War? The soldiers of the 103rd Infantry Division, to which the 614th TD was attached from December 1944 to May 1945 do indeed remember them, but outside of it, the 614th TD is relatively unknown. Several attempts are being made to change this, including (but not limited to!) sharing photographs or film clips of the movie, as well as articles in a variety of outlets.

At present, it looks like the field of AI will not yet make historians redundant. Indeed, AI can make the gathering of information easier. It can also be used to process large amounts of data. However, the closer you get to the source material, the more important human interactions and their appreciation become. People can lie, boast, misrepresent, diminish, exaggerate, remember, and misremember in the source material. As a historian, you need to judge, select and value sources, which is something that AI and automation cannot do. Thus, history will be one of the fields that will need human oversight for a long time to come. It’s good to know that we will not be redundant for a long time yet!

A still taken from the movie, showing soldiers of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion eating chow.

Finally found!

After a lot of research, I've managed to track down the appropriate reel and get it digitized. As far as I know, it's the only film footage showing soldiers of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion during the Second World War. The clip shows soldiers of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion lining a fox hole with straw, eating chow, digging a trench and guarding two reconnaissance M-20 Scout Cars. In between, there is a fragment showing soldiers of the 95th Infantry Divsion to which the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was attached at that time. The movie was made on 30 November 1944 in France.

Watch it online!

The fragments featuring the soldiers of the 614th TD are available online.

If the clip doesn't show, you can also watch it here.

The cover of the book

His captivity is marked with joy and sorrow, which he writes about diligently. He meets new friends, while losing several old ones. He’s a good observer and he writes eloquently about the sights and his experiences. It has been a fascinating book and it created the spark that eventually led to this translation. I strove to keep Wagevier’s voice as authentic as possible and I hope that the reader will derive as much joy from it as I had in creating this translation.

The book will published in June 2023, but if you are already excited, you can pre-order it on the site of Pen and Sword already.

Army Serice Forces

During the Second World War, the American Army was segregated. Units were established based upon race and black Americans predominately served in support units. The Signal Corps is part of the Army Service Forces and many black Americans served in these units. Since they were often relegated to second-line duties, the black Americans infrequently encountered enemies in their line of duty.

A black American linesman during the Second World War. Photograph is in the public domain.

Infrequently in Combat

An exception happened in June or July 1944 in France, where three linesmen captured 15 Germans. Although it’s a minor encounter in the course of the war, it gives a glimpse into the experiences of black American soldiers during the Second World War. The article is added in its entirety below.

A black American linesman during the Second World War. Photograph is in the public domain.

3 Signal Corpsmen Capture 15 Germans in Short Order

WITH ALLIED FORCES IN FRANCE (ANP)

The capture of 15 Germans by three [black Americans] of the army signal corps recently rates as the foremost news of this section. Those involved in the capture were Cpl. Bernard P. Henderson, 28, of New York City; Cpl. Percy E. Cox, Jr., 28, Petersburg, Va.; and Cpl. Allie W. Campbell, 26, Planes, Virginia.
When Cpl. Cox, who is a linesman, went to the top of a 30-foot pole to do a repair job, he happened to look down, he saw a German helmet moving in the bushes beneath him. Cox lost no time reaching the ground. He described his decent down the pole as “Burning the pole.” When he reached the ground, he yelled to Henderson, who was 30 yards away. Henderson ran to where Cox stood, dropped and rolled over, at the same time pulling his carbine, a lesson he learned in basic training.
“There is a German there,” Cox shouted to Henderson, indicating the Nazi’s position by pointing his finger. Henderson began shooting where Cox pointed and the German popped up with his hands in the air. Henderson fired again and three more Germans jumped up, muttering something the boys could not understand: another shot brought three more Nazis: again Henderson fired, this time five Germans showed with upraised hands. The fifth and last shot brought the total surrender to 15, all looking frightened and pitiful.

DRIVER COMES UP

By this time, Campbell, who was the truck driver, heard the shots. He grabbed his tommy gun and ran to where Cox and Henderson were. Since they were out of ammunition, they were glad he lost no time in coming to their rescue. They told him what had happened and he immediately wanted to prowl for more Germans but they finally agreed to pack to 15 “Jerries” in the truck and take them to headquarters as quickly as possible.
The boys had carried out their duties in excellent fashion. They had searched the prisoners and confiscated valuable papers. Henderson and Cox did guard duty while Campbell drove the prisoners to the provost office. The commanding officer was surprised to see the 15 Nazis being ushered into his presence. Lt. Charles A. Gray, Audubon, N. J., extended congratulations.

PROUD OF MEN

“The three boys executed the act admirably,” said Lt. Gray, a platoon officer, “just as if they were infantry men and trained for the job. They acted like all soldiers should act and one of the dominating features of it was that they were not boastful.’’ Lt. Gray said he is extremely proud of the men in general for they are making an outstanding contribution to the cause. The commanding officer, Major Thomas J. Quan, Worchesber, Mass., beamed with excitement. He is pleased at the distinction the three heroes brought to the battalion.
Bernard P. Henderson is the son of a woman candidate for the 19th Assembly of New York, Mrs. Anna H. Hughes. Henderson’s wife, Mae, and daughter, Gloria, 6, are now in Washington, D. C. Before entering the army, the operated a switchboard at the Woodside Hotel in Manhattan. He is a graduate of Cooper Junior High School. Cpl. Percy E. Cox is the son of Mrs. Percy Cox of Petersburg, Va. He was employed by the Johnson Taxi company before he entered Peabody High School in Petersburg. A native of Plains, Va., Cpl. Allie W. Campbell is the son of Mrs. Lucille Campbell. He is a graduate of the Posters Fork Public school. All three are classified as linesmen and had broken up into sections when the capture of the 15 Germans occurred.

Since the new year started recently, I thought it might be interesting to provide some insight into the projects that I am currently working on. Of course, I’ll continue working on sharing the experiences of black American soldiers during the Second World War. However, there’s a small historical detour along the way in 2023. The three projects I’m focusing on right now are the Tuskegee Airmen, the translation of the memoirs of C. J. Wagevier, and the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.

Tuskegee Airmen

The history of the 332nd Fighter Group is well known. The famous ‘Red Tails’, black American pilots that escorted bombers of the Fifteenth American Air Force during their campaigns over Europe, have been written about frequently and they are used as an example of how black Americans contributed to the Second World War. However, the Tuskegee Airmen were much more than this fighter group. Some Tuskegee Airmen served as artillery liaisons in the Pacific Theater, while 477th Bombardment Group fought their own battles against their own racist countrymen in America.

The translation of Wagevier’s memoir

In 1812, C. J. Wagevier was one of the Dutch officers that went with Napoleon to Russia. This campaign was a disaster and decimated the French army. Serving in the 125th Regiment of the Line, Wagevier was taken prisoner and spent two years as a prisoner of war in Russia. Upon his return, he wrote about his experiences in the campaign, captivity, and release. His memoirs were published in 1820 and I translated them from Dutch to English. Wagevier is an eloquent writer and his experiences deserve much more recognition than they have received so far. I have tried to retain his style as much as possible.

The 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. Photograph is taken from the National Archives and Records Administration.

The 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion

I’m in the process of acquiring historical materials related to the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. This unit was one of the few segregated American Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalions that heavily participated in the Second World War. Throughout its active service, it destroyed 68 planes and had 19 shared kills. Currently, I’ve got a pile of historical material in a box, as the two projects above demand my immediate attention, but I look forward to digging into this material. Who knows what there is to uncover about the history of this fascinating unit?

Looking forward to more!

That’s all for now. Beyond doubt, there will be other projects that I will pick up during the year, but these are my main focus. I’ll keep you updated about the progress and look forward to what this year will bring!

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher

I’d like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. The comic book is decent and I enjoyed reading through it. The artwork was fitting and the characters were okay.

Earth is Dying and Social Media

The earth is dying. Five astronauts are working in space for a potential Mars colonization program. All of the astronauts are specialists in a different field. In addition to the usual space occupations, there is also a social media influencer. She was sent up there to ensure that the ratings are kept up and that the mission is funded by the viewers. However, when the five astronauts each receive a variation of the order “RETURN TO EARTH”, chaos ensues and each person tries to make it back. Meanwhile, the camera continue to broadcast.

Social Media Commentary

Mostly, I interpreted the comic as a social media critique. After all, the astronauts each receive a slightly different message and interpret it differently. In a way, it’s a commentary on social media, where each of us is separated from another by the news or ‘news’ that we consume. Since the news often reports on events happening far away from us, we have to trust that the news is accurate and reliable. What if the news is faked? What if the person sharing the message was more concerned with commercial issues than with reliability? Social media, as a mobilization tool, has the power to create and to destroy. The comic did get me thinking about these issues and the fact that it provided a bit of social commentary elevates it to a higher status than comic books that merely provide entertainment.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher

Through Netgalley I was given the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. My Life Among Humans is a humorous graphic novel. It provides a quick and entertaining read. It’s an endearing story and I greatly enjoyed reading it.

An Alien Worker on Earth

An alien worker is sent to Earth to observe humans. It’s task is to report back to its manager, which wants to have clean data. This eventually results in a dilemma, after the alien is discovered and takes over the subjects it is supposed to be observing. From this point on, the manager tries to cover up its error as well as to prevent the other humans from discovering its existence. Eventually, the manager arrives on Earth to discover what is going on.

Alien Invader Horror Story

In a sense, it’s a classical ‘alien invader horror story’. An unknown force is slowly taking over people in a town and a small group of humans need to find out what is happening and prevent others from suffering a similar fate. The twist is that the story is observed from the point of view of the alien and that the alien has no hostile intent. It just wants to do its job and stay out of trouble.

Pleasantly Surprised

Surprisingly, the comic has a depth that I had not expected at first. The alien has a larger background than anticipated. Another thing I liked was the humor! For example, when the alien tries to mimic being a human, it results in the necessary mistakes. There are some references to being a corporate employee and the accompanying issues that I could appreciate. It’s a easily accessible story and provides a light-hearted reading.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book.

If you are considering buying the book, please use the link below. By ordering through the link below, I may be eligible for a small commission, at no additional costs to you.

Amazon.com

Thank you Netgalley and full disclosure

Through Netgalley I was given the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. For full disclosure, I have never played zombicide, the board game series that inspired these stories. With this in mind, I might not have been the audience that this book is targeting. That being said, if you are the audience that this book is aiming for, then you’re certainly in for a ride! The cover and title ‘Terror World’, already give an impression of what you can expect and the book delivers exactly.

An Abandoned Spaceship on a Remote Planet

Scientist Dizzie Drexler is sent out, together with a crew, to uncover an abandoned spaceship on a remote planet. The crew consists of a telepathic centaur, two thieves Grayson and Mason, and an alien bodyguard Divak. The expedition is funded by the secretive alien Ix-Nix-Six. Once there, horror ensues and zombies quickly appear.

Aimed at a Specific Audience

This is the kind of story that you need to be looking for: people stranded on a remote planet, horror, zombies, science fiction. It’s written for fans of these board games. The story really gets underway about 2/5th of the book. Overall, it’s a satisfactory story. It is quite entertaining if this is a particular type of fiction you’re looking for. The story reads easily and there’s a diverse cast of characters.

Personal Opinion

There are references to the alien races featured in the board game zombicide invader, while also providing more background for several of the alien races and organizations involved. Some of the characters are more developed than others. Personally, I had hoped for more content from Mason, a cyborg. Each of his limbs has his own mind and there are even a few chapters written from the perspective of Lefty, his left arm. The only drawback is that I would have liked more closure from the ending. Several of the questions are left unanswered, although it could be the potential setup for a sequel.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book.

If you are considering buying the book, please use the link below. By ordering through the link below, I may be eligible for a small commission, at no additional costs to you.

Amazon.com

The Dunwich horror was one of my first forays into the work of H.P. Lovecraft. I have read some other horror fiction before, but this was my first book set in the Cthulhu Mythos universe. I’ve read it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Wilbur Whateley

The story is set in Dunwich, a small village, where a mysterious child lives. He’s raised by his mother and his grandfather, Old Whateley. Old Whateley is a sorcerer and he teaches his grandchild about forbidden rituals. This child, Wilbur Whateley, ages rapidly and is shunned by the local inhabitants. The house that they live in is expanded several times and although the family often buys new animals, their herd never grows.

Alone in the House

After the death of his family, Wilbur continues to live in the house alone. It becomes obvious there's more to him and the house than meets the eye. Wilbur eventually runs into some problems, but he does not have the appropriate tools to do so.

The Dunwich Horror

Since a magical book is needed, Wilbur tries to acquire it legally through a library, but is unable to do so. Because of this, he tries to do it illegally and is killed in the process. At this point, the focus of the story shifts, centering on the efforts of three professors to uncover the mysterious origins of Wilbur Whateley and the strange events surrounding the family’s house in Dunwich. Eventually it turns out that an invisible monster lives in the house, which escapes and rampages around the countryside, before confronted by the three professors and a local posse. As for how this ends, you’ll have to read the book yourself.

Available on Project Gutenberg

The story is quick and fun to read. Lovecraft masterfully sets the stage and knows well how to keep the reader engaged. You want to keep reading! Highly recommended to read for those interested in horror-mystery stories. The story is available for free at Project Gutenberg.

Project Gutenberg

At a first glance, the subtitle of the book gives away immediately what this book is about. Captain Coignet was a soldier of the French Empire and served for sixteen years throughout various campaigns and battles. In total Coignet served for more than 16 years in the French army and he was involved in 16 campaigns. He fought in Austria, Spain, Italy, Prussia and Russia, and he wrote about his experiences.

Vivid Descriptions of the Battles

Initially, Coignet starts with his unhappy youth and the decision to become a soldier. Remarkable is that Coignet has served as a common soldier and rose to the rank of officer. He also did not learn to read and write until he was 33 years old, when it was necessary for a promotion. As a young man, he survived several of the bloodiest battles in European history, including the retreat from Russia (1812) and the battle of Waterloo (1815). He leaves an vivid description of the battles and countries that he has visited.

Serving in the Imperial Guard

For his bravery at the battle of Montebello Coignet was marked for service in the Imperial Guard, where he served for the remainder of his time in the army. His memoirs range from combat that he has experienced, as well as experiences in camps, at parties, or while in garrison. This sometimes results in funny situations. When asked about taking a napkin after a dinner, Coignet gives it back and excuses himself by saying that in the enemy’s country it is seen as a sign of neglect when you don’t take something from a dinner party. More than once, Coignet is lucky to survive. During the battle of Marengo he only managed to survive, because he discarded all his possessions and grabbed the tail of a passing horse. He managed to hold on for a few paces, but it was enough to get him to safety. He then acquires a new gun and retreats with the rest of the army.
Coignet frequently writes about the courage that he witnesses, whether it is from his comrades or his superiors. More than once he comments on how a soldier or officer behaved bravely in combat. As he writes, “it may be said in praise of Marshal Ney that he kept the enemy at bay at Kowno [currently Kaunas in Lithuania] by his own bravery. I saw him take a gun and five men and face the enemy.”

Published in 1850

After retiring from the army, he settled in Auxerre, married and ran a shop together with his wife. In 1848, his wife, to whom he had been married for more than 30 years, passed away and he was left alone. At the age of 72, he was too old to start over and he felt despondent. In writing he found an outlet. In his writings, he could preserve the experiences of his youth, his campaigns and the things that he has witnessed. Coignet also ends his book with lesson, “Let [the parents] use every effort to have their children taught to read and write, and to train them well. This is the best inheritance, and is easily supported.”

Available for free

Being written in rough French, the memoirs were later edited by Loredan Larchay, who rewrote it to make it more accessible. This version was later translated in English and other languages and available for online. In the links below, you can download an English and a French version for free.

English
French

Essential for Traveling

While traveling around Europe, staying in Portugal or Italy, I needed to bring all my material possessions with me. At first, I thought that I could read from my laptop for leisure, but this turned out different than I thought. I had hoped that by not bringing books, I saved space for other stuff. Reading from an internet page is a bit different than reading from a physical page. Buying a book in a store was also not a good option, as I would need to leave the book behind when I moved on again. Another option was buying an e-reader. Since then, I’ve read several books on my e-reader. These vary from books for leisure to (historical) research material.

Flexibility in A5-format

Actually, all benefits of an e-reader have to do with flexibility, which manifests itself in different ways. Most e-readers are relatively thin, less than a centimeter, are smaller than half of a A4 paper. They are thinner than most books. Since the e-readers are so small, they take up little space and do not weigh a lot. Meanwhile, you can easily store hundreds or thousands of books on it.
The most common e-readers have a storage of 8 GB, which equals to approximately 6000 books. These numbers can vary, depending on whether you are reading comic books, large PDF files or just smaller text versions. Regardless, the memory of an e-reader is large enough to rival the catalogue of a small library. You can always carry your favorite writers with you. You are not just limited to that one book that you have brought along, but can pick one of the many books on your device. Is your current read not interesting or fitting for your mood? You can easily start another one.
If you are looking for a new book to read, you can order it on your computer and share it with your device. If your e-reader is connected to the internet, you can immediately access the store and look for an interesting book. With a press of the button, they are on your device and you don’t need to wait until a package is delivered.

Additional Benefits

There are some other factors that make e-readers so useful, depending on the type of e-reader. Not all of them are equipped with these features, so make sure these are on the device when you are planning on buying an e-reader.
Most e-readers have backlight, which makes them easy to read when there’s little daylight. You can easily read in bed or outside, even when there’s no light available. In most devices, it’s even possible to filter out the blue light, which can disturb your sleep.
Depending on the file, the letter format and font can easily be adjusted. With books the ink is set. While it’s not always necessary, there have been some books where the letters were so small, that I had to enlarge them to read the book properly.
Most readers are more resilient than in the past. Some water splashes will not immediately result of the device. You can even put a sleeve around the e-reader for additional protection.
Lastly, the e-readers can last for quite some time. Most devices will last at least a week on a single charge. Recharging goes fast and is usually done in a matter of minutes rather than hours.

All Benefits

Is an e-reader a necessity while traveling? Absolutely! The e-reader takes up little space, but is incredibly useful. The device takes up little space and contains so many books that you’ll have countless hours of reading on it.

A Historical Event

Among the survivors, many quickly realized what a major historical event this had been. Sergeant Adrien Bourgogne (1785-1867), who served with the Imperial Guard, has written about this horrible journey. Together with Napoleon he went to Russia and finally reached Moscow, where he made himself comfortable in the scorched city. Finally, the order was given to retreat and together with his unit he started to travel westwards.

Enduring Hardships

In the beginning everything seemed to be alright, but quickly problems developed. Discipline lessened. Troops deserted or went plundering. There was too little food. To make matters even more complicated, the temperature started to drop. While enduring all these hardships and with the help of strangers and comrades, Bourgogne managed to survive the journey with the remnants of the French army.

Published in 1853

In 1813 Bourgogne, who had risen to the rank of sublieutenant, was made a prisoner of war and while in captivity, he realized what a remarkable event happened the previous year. From that moment, he started working on his memoir, but didn’t finish it. He returned to France after peace was declared and took over his father’s clothing store. It wasn’t until 1853 that he finally finished his book.

Available on Project Gutenberg

In his memoir the terrible circumstances in which the men and women of the French army found themselves become obvious. Hunted by the enemy, suffering from the cold and hunger, they needed help from others and luck to survive. A kind passing stranger or a good friend could make a difference between life and death in terrible moments. One of the reasons why Bourgogne managed to survive was due to the help of his comrades. It's a captivating read and I highly recommend it.

English
French

Catan Online

For a while I lived in Italy and Portugal. Geographically, I was around a thousand kilometers removed from my friends. This distance made it impossible to visit each other in person. However, while each of us was in his own home, we spoke with each other through our phones and played the same game on our computers. One of my two friends then remarked that it was quite unusual, we were so far apart, yet it did not feel as such. And indeed, it’s remarkable, because our current technology allows us to be more connected with people than ever before.

Sharing information

In the distant past, information was shared by sending messages. Information travelled with the speed of the carrier. According to the situation, this could go faster or slower. For example, think of the message about the victory at Marathon in 490 B.C. According to the legend, a soldier ran all the way from Marathon to Athens to report on the victory in battle. Later it became more common to send written messages, allowing a single person to carry over more than one message, but they still needed to be brought physically from one location to another. You still depended on the human middleman and the available transportation. Although technological advancements could transport the letters faster - for example, by bringing it somewhere by boat, train, or plane -, sharing information was much more rapid in the digital area. A middleman was no longer necessary and an email can go across the globe in less than a second. These are just examples, because there are plenty of other ways to get in contact with people and to feel connected. In my case, I was around a thousand kilometers distant from my family and friends, but I did not experience loneliness.

The digital world

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, digitalization has been pushed forward worldwide. Willingly or not, everything and everyone had to adapt. Work became different. Education became different. You needed to adapt. The whole of the Netherlands, if not the entire world, was hurled into the digital revolution. The result is that there are now more ways than ever before to keep in touch. Although the way of connecting might be different, because instead of gathering in a group in a physical location, we gather in a digital location, you can share stories immediately. Instead of telling them in person, you can share voice messages and stay informed of each other’s lives. You are still connected with other. Chatting, messaging, (video)calling, emailing, digital meetings, the options are endless. There is a digital word to explore and you can connect to the whole word. I’m curious to see what the future will bring!