[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 141 (Monday, October 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S12794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE ``LEOPOLDVILLE'' DISASTER

 Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, in a few days a small group of 
veterans will gather at Fort Benning, Georgia to commemorate one of the 
least known tragedies of World War II.
  On Christmas Eve 1944, the Belgian troopship Leopoldville was 
transporting 2,235 American soldiers from the 262nd and 264th Regiments 
of the 66th Infantry Division across the English Channel. They were 
destined as reinforcements for units fighting the Battle of the Bulge. 
Many soldiers on board were singing Christmas carols as they watched 
the lights along the coast of liberated France.
  The ship was designed to carry fewer than half the number on board, 
and the Belgian crew did not speak English. Reportedly, many of the 
American soldiers were not issued life jackets. Just five miles from 
its destination of Cherbourg, France, the Leopoldville was struck by 
torpedos from the German submarine U-486. Two and a half hours later, 
the ship capsized and sank. According to many survivors, the crew 
abandoned ship in the lifeboats and left the American soldiers to fend 
for themselves. Unable to free the ship's life rafts, many of the 
troops jumped to their deaths in the frigid heavy seas. The British 
destroyed HMS Brilliant saved some 500 troops. However, because it was 
Christmas Eve, no one else seemed to be around to help. By the next 
day, Christmas morning, 763 American soldiers were dead, including 
three sets of brothers. The dead represented 47 of the then 48 states.
  Mr. President, seven of the victims were from my home state of North 
Dakota. Among them was my uncle, Pfc. Allan J. Dorgan. His body was 
never recovered, and neither were the bodies of 492 other soldiers who 
died in the incident. It was weeks before my family and the families of 
other victims heard the fateful knock on the door and were given the 
telegram that said their sons, brothers, uncles, or fathers were 
``missing in action in the European Area.'' It took months more before 
a second telegram informed them their loved ones had been ``killed in 
action in the European Area.''
  Due to wartime censorship, the disaster was not reported to the news 
media. Survivors were told by the British and American governments to 
keep quiet about what happened. American authorities did not even 
acknowledge the sinking of the Leopoldville until two weeks after it 
went down. Later, after the war, the tragedy was considered an 
embarrassment and all reports were filed away as secret by the Allied 
governments. Some say that the American and British governments 
conspired to cover-up the incompetence involved in the incident. For 
whatever reason, details of the disaster were withheld from the public 
for over fifty years. Some of the victims' families never learned the 
truth about how their loved ones perished that night.
  For over fifty years, the young soldiers on the Leopoldville were 
denied their due, and never accorded the honors and respect they 
deserved. Finally, a few years ago, thanks to the efforts of 
Leopoldville survivor Vincent Codianni, former New York City police 
investigator Alan Andrade who wrote a book about the incident, and the 
Veterans Memorial Committee of Waterbury, Connecticut, the U.S. Army 
agreed to provide a site for a monument to the tragedy.
  The Leopoldville Disaster Monument was dedicated on November 7, 1997 
at Fort Benning, the ``Home of the Infantry.'' On the monument, the 
names and hometowns of those members of the 66th Infantry Division who 
lost their lives on the Leopoldville and the names of those who 
survived the tragedy, but were later killed in action, are etched in 
stone. This was the first official recognition shown to any of the 
victims or their families. It was long overdue.
  It is almost 55 years since the sinking of the Leopoldville. When the 
survivors and their families gather again this week in Georgia, they 
will honor their comrades who have passed away since their first 
reunion two years ago. I hope all my colleagues will join me in 
expressing our appreciation for their courage and for the ultimate 
sacrifice they made for freedom.

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