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name
MOTEN, George Washington - Date of
birth
20 June 1922 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Hopkins County, Texas -
Hometown
Hopkins County, Texas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
38304695 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
unknown -
Unit
333rd Field Artillery Battalion,
C Battery
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
17 December 1944 - Place of
death
Hauptstrasse in Wereth, Belgium
Wereth, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| E | 10 | 29 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Robert Moten (father)
Arvella Moten (mother)
Quinnie Moten (brother)
Andrew Moten (brother)
Robbie L. Moten (sister)
Lummie Moten (sister)
Esther L. Moten (sister)
Hazel Moten (sister)
Robert L. Moten (brother)
More information
Pfc George W. Moten was a farmer. He enlisted in Tyler, Texas on 3 December 1942.Captured by German troops during the Battle of the Bulge in the town of Wereth, Belgium on December 17, 1944. He along with 10 other prisoners had their helmets and rifles taken, were forced to sit on the cold and wet ground until dark and eventually made to run nearly 800 meters out of town, chased by a vehicle driven by the German soldiers. They then were brutally murdered and their bodies dumped in a roadside ditch. This atrocity is know as the Wereth Massacre or the Wereth 11.
An autopsy report on the 11 is ghastly: broken legs and arms, jaws shattered, fingers severed, bayonet wounds to the face and body and bullet wounds designed to inflict anguish rather than death.
Since 2004 there is a memorial at the site were these soldiers were murdered.
The complete story of the massacre can be found here: http://www.wereth.org
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Carla Mans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.footnote.com, www.ancestry.com - U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men / 1930/1940 Census
Photo source: Jac Engels