The worst prisoner of war massacre in American History occurred after WWII was over. It occurred in a camp in Salina, Utah. The camp had 43 tents housing around 250 German prisoners, most from Rommel’s Afrika Korps. They were put to work harvesting beets on local farms. They did this for six days a week, earning 5 to 10 cents per day. The men were well behaved and the farmers had no problems with them. It was an uneventful life, until July 8, 1945.
Clarence Bertucci dropped out of school in sixth grade. He joined the Army in 1940. In the next five years, he saw no action. He was a discipline problem and was charged with negligence of duty twice. He was still a private when he was assigned to the camp as a guard. He was upset that he had not gotten a chance to kill any Germans in the war. He climbed to the top of a guard tower for his regular shift at midnight on July 7. He loaded a 250-round belt into a .30 caliber M1917 Browning. In the next 15 seconds he strafed 30 tents. He was subdued by fellow guards before he could reload. The bullets killed 6 Germans and wounded 22. Three subsequently died. Bertucci was put on trial. He was unrepentant and testified that he just wanted to kill some Germans. He hated them. He was deemed to be mentally unstable and sentenced to a mental hospital. He died there in 1969. Bertucci was only one of three Americans who were convicted of shooting German prisoners.
https://www.historynet.com/salina-utah-prisoner-massacre/
https://www.historynet.com/salina-utah-prisoner-massacre/
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