More than a century ago, 110 Black soldiers were convicted of murder, mutiny and other crimes at three military trials held at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
Nineteen were hanged, including 13 on a single day, Dec. 11, 1917, in the largest mass execution of American soldiers by the Army.
The soldiers’ families spent decades fighting to show that the men had been betrayed by the military.
In November, they won a measure of justice when the Army secretary, Christine E. Wormuth, overturned the convictions and acknowledged that the soldiers “were wrongly treated because of their race and were not given fair trials.”On Thursday, several descendants of the soldiers gathered at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery as the Department of Veterans Affairs dedicated new headstones for 17 of the executed servicemen.
Persons:
Fort Sam Houston, Christine E, “
Organizations:
Fort, Army, Fort Sam, National Cemetery, Department of Veterans Affairs
Locations:
Fort Sam, San Antonio