The Slaughter

In the fall of 1943, over 1000 Black soldiers were murdered by the US Army according to the book The Slaughter: An American Atrocity by Carroll Case. According to the author, the book exposes a racial crime of unprecedented proportions in American history.

At Camp Van Dorn, an Army base in the south of Mississippi, a group of unarmed 364th Infantry soldiers were trapped and slaughtered. The evidence was covered up by the Army; many of the documents and records are either lost or missing. In 1994, the author gained access to some of the classified materials which had recently been de-classified and spoke to the remaining eye witnesses.

According to the author, the atmosphere of racism and prejudice generating so much hostility against Black soldiers in the Army were known to the War Department, but nothing was done to mitigate the situation. This indifference of the government increased the hostility against Black soldiers leading to the massacre at Camp Van Dorn. Although there is no solid evidence, the author said that the United States government was directly involved in the sanctioned massacre.

The book concludes that the bodies may have been dumped into an abandoned salt mine somewhere in Mississippi.

A few years ago I read another book entitled Bomb after Bomb: A Violent Cartography by elin o'Hara slavick, in which the author documents that underground nuclear test explosions were conducted in Mississippi in 1964 and 1966. Where did they detonate the bombs? You guessed it: in abandoned salt mines (in cavities inside salt domes, actually).

Voila. The bodies of The Slaughter will never be found; any remaining evidence is encapsulated in radioactive debris. And you thought Uncle Sam was dumb. He can always find ways to do things that are morally indefensible and (to him) absolutely necessary.