Skip to main content

Camp Van Dorn: Military Mystery

Written by: Darren Dedo
Case Filed: 08/08/01 - Centreville, Mississippi
Executive Producer: Rick Garner
Part 1 of 4



It's been 58-years since an alleged atrocity happened at Camp Van Dorn in Centreville, Mississippi. Several people claim over one-thousand black soldiers were slaughtered by white military policemen.
 
Author Carroll Case wrote "The Slaughter," a book about the infamous incident. "The story is basically that the Army could not deal with a group of soldiers, the 364th - all black group, and they had to find a solution. I believe, I state in my book, the solution was to kill these men and to hide them, hide their bodies and to cover the story up."


Case said he was told by a former Camp Van Dorn Military Policemen Bill Martzell that MP's killed 1,227 black soldiers, then buried them somewhere near the base. The Army denies the incident ever happened. Army Lt. Col. Charles Graul, a military historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, says, "There isn't a shred of credible evidence that any unusual activity occurred at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi."

There are lots of discrepancies in this tale. Some say it happened in Spring, others in Summer, or early Fall. The consistency to this story, the incident supposedly happened in 1943.

We found a source close to Camp Van Dorn. A man, who we'll call "Mister X", says he knew the men who killed the soldiers. He says the black soldiers became angry after being denied access to a dance in town. They got drunk and wanted revenge. "Mister X" wasn't present the day of the shooting, but says after talking and eventually working with five Camp Van Dorn MPs, he knows exactly what happened.

"They set up 30 caliber machine guns on both sides of the tracks, and these soldiers came up the railroad tracks heavily armed, cussing, gonna kill white people. They got in between these banks. They opened up the machine guns, killed a number of them, and the others ran."

The Army says stories like Mister X's are urban legends grown out of control. During their investigation, they talked with some former members of the 364th who say that a shooting never happened.

"Not a single person had heard of this incident, or could name a soldier who might have disappeared under unusual circumstances," says Graul.

In our search for the unexplained, we found two more men of the 364th that the Army didn't interview. Their accounts shed even more light on what might have happened at Camp Van Dorn. Next Wednesday night, we'll speak with these two veterans as his investigation continues.

Additional Resources:



"Betty" Full Video Interview


Malcolm LaPlace Full Video Interview


"Mister X" Full Video Interview


Lt. Col. Charles Graul: Full Video Interview


Author Carroll Case: Full Video Interview


Ron Caulfield: Full Video Interview


Paige Cothren: Full Video Interview


Dr. Lucius Lampton: Full Video Interview


Edythe Lensing: Full Video Interview


Theodore Bullock: Full Video Interview


NEW Congressman Bennie Thompson Letter

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unexplained Cases | Forever Home of the Abandoned and Forgotten: Forest Haven

Written by:  Rick Garner Case Filed: 10/1/21 Executive Producer:  Rick Garner   When one hears the word “asylum” … especially when paired with “haunted” or “abandoned” … dreadful images come to mind of decaying buildings, sinister hallways, and forgotten lives. Forest Haven in Laurel, Maryland, has all of these and much more. Walking these grounds, Rick Garner felt a similar sadness...the kind he felt at Pennhurst but perhaps something more...something darker. The facility opened in 1925 as the District Training School for the Mentally Retarded. It was a farm-like institution designed to provide patients with useful skills. In 1928, the first of many on-ground burials occurred. In 1963, the property was named Forest Haven but during that decade, the property would begin its decline. Funding was cut, the population of residents grew to include people with epilepsy, but the worst happened in 1974 when a nearby orphanage called “Junior Village” closed and its 20 souls were moved into F
Post a Comment
Read more

Unexplained Cases | Baltimore Street Murder House

Written by:  Darren Dedo Case Filed:  06 /20/19 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Executive Producer:  Rick Garner Battlefields, homes, pubs, and restaurants. Almost anywhere you go in Gettysburg you will come across a place that is supposedly haunted. It is very easy to understand why. Tens of thousands of men lost their lives here in this small Pennsylvania town in July of 1863. We visited one unassuming and haunted location that was here during the Battle of Gettysburg and was a casualty collection point just like many buildings were used for back then. It would make sense that the spirit who sets off ghost hunting gadgets in this Baltimore Street home fought and died in the Civil War. But, this resident spirit has no connection to the Battle of Gettysburg. Our guide for the evening, P aranormal Investigator Robert "Night Monkey" Simmons  with Gettysburg Paranormal Association / Gettysburg Ghost  Tours . He  shares with everyone the details.  “The morning of August 31, 198
1 comment
Read more

Field Reports from Broadcountry Cinema 3 - Magee, Mississippi

Written by: Jeff Rent Case Filed: 5/23/03 - Magee, Mississippi Executive Producer: Rick Garner The Broadcountry Cinema 3 in Magee sits just off of Highway 49. By "Unexplained" standards, this 18-year-old building is practically brand new. Dozens of reports of paranormal phenomenon have caught the attention of "Unexplained" investigators and we decided to check it out for ourselves. These strange happenings started when the building was still under construction. Owner Butch McCall was showing a friend around. "He gets this funny sound in his voice and he's like, 'Man, this place is haunted.' I'm like, 'Well, it can't be haunted! It's not built yet!'"
Post a Comment
Read more