Sacrifice of black WWII soldiers to receive recognition

theGRIO REPORT - The Aubrey Stewart Project aims to tell the story of a the "Wereth Eleven", a troop of black soldiers in World War II who sacrificed themselves to save a family during battle...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

You may have heard of the soldiers at Iwo Jima, the struggles at the beach of Normandy in 1944, or even the story of the Tuskeegee Airmen. But few have heard of the “Wereth Eleven”.

That’s the goal of T.J. Coleman, President of the Aubrey Stewart Project, which has been trying to raise awareness of the story for the past two years.

James Aubrey Stewart was from Piedmont, West Virginia and joined the military at age 36. Serving the U.S. military in the European theater of World War II, Stewart along with his troop of ten other black soldiers fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Although they held their ground for the first day, by day two they surrendered themselves to save a family.

WATCH COVERAGE OF THE WERETH ELEVEN HERE:

Unfortunately they were later tortured and murdered by the advancing German army.

“From this tragedy, we are trying to promote unity out of hatred and racism, and to put an end to racism and hatred because of someone’s color, and promote unity and peace from this project,” said Coleman to NBC’s WBOY.

The Aubrey Stewart Project will showcasing the story at schools, churches, and libraries throughout West Virginia. They Project is also trying to petition Congress and the Senate for a national unity day in honor of Stewart.

“We want to exhibit, especially to the youth, to have that type of character within them today, to help other people, and be unselfish and all, and show true character,” said Kip Price, Vice President of the Aubrey Stewart Project.

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