"11 unsung WWII black American soldiers tortured to death by Nazis receive posthumous honors for heroism" The 11 black World War II American soldiers who were tortured to death by Nazis are remembered and honored by the U.S. government years later for their sacrifice. (National Archives)

The bodies of the 11 black American soldiers, unearthed in the last winter of World War II, offered a post-mortem look at the horrors of their final hours.

The U.S. fighters had their eyes gouged out — while still breathing. Tire tracks showed where the Nazi SS rolled armored cars over the men. Bullet wounds illustrated how the soldiers were shot in a sadistic fashion meant to inflict maximum suffering, not death.

There was more: Multiple stab wounds, blows from rifle butts, severed fingers, broken limbs and fractured skulls.

This wasn't a mere execution. Blood lust stained that pasture in Belgium days before Christmas in 1944.

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

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

A new book, "The Lost Eleven: The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II," recounts their little-known story.

Authors Denise George and Robert Child drew on extensive interviews with family members and fellow G.I.s for this account.

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

Within the 333rd, the unit known as Charley Battery distinguished themselves from the get-go. A reporter from Yank magazine watched stunned as the unit, firing four rounds in 90 seconds, drilled an explosive into the turret of a German tank nine miles away.

The battalion saw heavy action in Brittany, playing key roles in two major battles. In September, they arrived in newly liberated Paris. One of the soldiers in Charley had a mission.

Sgt. Thomas Forte wanted to buy his wife Annabelle, back in Louisiana, a wedding ring — maybe one with a real diamond. Five of the men pressed money into his hands.

The Battle of the Bulge lay ahead.

In October, the 333rd FAB established camp at Schonberg, miles outside of St. Vith, a major transportation hub in eastern Belgium.

In position to support the 2nd Division Artillery, the soldiers idled for more than two months.

Gen. Omar Bradley gambled the western front would be dormant that winter. He left a thin guard along vulnerable stretches in the dense forests of the Ardennes.

Early in December, command pulled the Second Division, sending in the 106th Infantry Division, soldiers yet to be tested in combat. This was meant to be their training ground.

Unloading shells in Belgium (National Archives) (National Archives)

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On Dec. 16, 1944, Germany launched its last major offensive of the war, pushing four armies through the front line, 450,000 soldiers in all. The Americans were blindsided.

The inexperienced 106th didn't put up much of a defense. As shells rained, Cap. William McLeod, a commander of 333rd Battalion, fought to reach his men across the Our River.

He got as far as the bridge where a German soldier commandeered his Jeep. McLeod managed to steal away, returning to a scene of carnage at the camp.

Dead G.I.s were scattered everywhere, the wounded screaming in pain. The decision was made that the bulk of the 333rd would evacuate, leaving only Charley and Service batteries behind to back up the overwhelmed 106th.

The men knew it was a death sentence.

By dawn the next morning, the 106th was surrounded. McLeod was now ordered to destroy equipment as three trucks raced to pull them out.

Rescue arrived too late.

Sgt. James Stewart was loading a wounded man into the back of a truck when thousands of Germans soldiers came howling out of the forest, their faces distorted with rage.

"The memorial Hermann erected in 1994." The memorial Hermann erected in 1994. (Patrick Langer)

They fired into the loaded trucks even as the drivers accelerated away. Only a contingent of Charley Battery made it on board.

Left behind, McLeod and the remaining soldiers faced the enemy, their howitzers useless at close range. Hand-to-hand combat gave way to surrender.

As POWs, all were protected under the Geneva Convention. But when a German soldier shot a wounded American soldier point blank, McLeod realized the rules had changed.

The Germans walked slowly through the field of bodies and methodically checked for the wounded. Only the soldiers who struggled to their feet, hiding their injuries, survived.

The world learned the shocking news that the Germans were now slaughtering captured soldiers from GIs who escaped the dawn massacre in Malmedy.

More than 100 GIs had peaceably surrendered, throwing down their weapons. The soldiers waited for transport to a POW camp, standing roadside with their arms raised.

After an hour, half-trucks manned by the Waffen-SS pulled up and opened fire. There, too, the wounded were executed.

The trucks sent to rescue the soldiers of C and S batteries soon drove straight into a convoy of enemy tanks.

"Hermann Langer's family helped patch up the wounded soldiers and offered them shelter until his neighbors shortly notified German soldiers of the American soldiers' whereabouts." Hermann Langer's family helped patch up the wounded soldiers and offered them shelter until his neighbors shortly notified German soldiers of the American soldiers' whereabouts. (Patrick Langer)

In the chaos, 11 soldiers from Charley escaped. The men ran for three hours through the icy muck of the forest, hiking for hours after that.

The 11 were totally spent when they stumbled on a farmhouse in the hamlet of Wereth. Even if it meant being handed over to the Germans, they had to knock on the door.

Mathias Langer, a farmer, pulled them inside. He already had two Belgian deserters from the German army hiding in the basement.

It was remarkable bravery. He did this under the watchful eyes of his neighbors, several of them German sympathizers, including one who would shortly betray him.

Hermann, 12, and the rest of the family ran to get blankets and medicine to treat the open wounds. Their ministrations came to a halt when the SS pounded at the door.

The 11 surrendered, despite the family's pleas that they take refuge in the basement. Stewart told the Langers the men were unwilling to put the family in even more danger.

The American soldiers were herded outside where they sat under close guard in the cold until dark, waiting for the SS to return with reinforcements.

The last glimpse young Hermann, watching through a window, had of his new friends was in the headlights of the SS vehicles.

"The Langer home in Wereth, Belgium." The Langer home in Wereth, Belgium. (Patrick Langer)

The Americans soldiers were forced to march in the high beams of the SS armored cars that mercilessly prodded them toward their excruciating deaths.

Hermann moved away from Wereth as an adult, returning in 1994 to honor the forgotten 11 on the 50th anniversary of the massacre. He erected a small wooden cross in the pasture.

In the following years, the numbers swelled as Europeans and Americans, eager to honor the 11 soldiers, traveled to the hamlet. By 2004, money had been raised to erect a monument honoring the 11 and all the black soldiers who died fighting to liberate Europe.

Memorial services are now held there annually.

It wasn't until 2013, though, that the U.S. Senate passed a resolution amending the 1949 report to include the names of the Wereth 11. Each was awarded posthumous medals, including the Purple Heart.

Seven decades after they made the ultimate sacrifice, the forgotten 11 were written into history.

A heartbreaking detail emerged as more became known. In 1945, an army captain, searching the pockets of the dead men's uniforms, found a broken diamond ring in one.

Wereth 11 Massacre