Were These U.S. Soldiers Executed Because of Their Race?

Dishonorable Dead

Of the U.S. servicemen put to death for crimes committed during the war, 79 percent were black. While their crimes were heinous, were they given harsher sentences?

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Published Mar. 12 2016 12:01AM EST

articles/2016/03/12/were-these-u-s-soldiers-executed-because-of-their-race/160311-harding-troops-executed-tease_mqkkxp — Photo Illustration by Emil Lendof/The Daily Beast

Shortly after midnight on March 12, 1943, a U.S. Army chaplain and two military policemen walked into a cell in Shepton Mallet Prison, a grim, centuries-old facility in southwest England.

Stephen Harding

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Were These U.S. Soldiers Executed Because of Their Race?

Of the U.S. servicemen put to death for crimes committed during the war, 79 percent were black. While their crimes were heinous, were they given harsher sentences?

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Stephen Harding

Were These U.S. Soldiers Executed Because of Their Race?

Of the U.S. servicemen put to death for crimes committed during the war, 79 percent were black. While their crimes were heinous, were they given harsher sentences?

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Stephen Harding