A US Army unit said on Tuesday that they “regret” sharing a colorized photo of a Nazi war criminal on Facebook in an attempt to publicize the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
The Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, which shared the photo of Joachim Peiper Monday morning, addressed the decision in another Facebook post Tuesday.
“We regret the use of the photograph of Joachim Peiper,” the unit wrote in the Facebook post Tuesday.
“The intent was to tell the full story of the Battle of the Bulge, which will continue here, by explaining the incredible odds that were stacked up against the American Soldier by the time the reserve was called in on 18 Dec.”
The photo of Peiper — who was wearing an iron cross and an “SS” patch on his right lapel — was accompanied by a descriptive narrative of how the Nazi commander ordered his troops to “gamble everything” and attack US troops in the Ardennes forest.
The day after the attack, Peiper’s Nazi troops carried out a mass killing of surrendering Americans, which was not included in the post.
The post was shared by the Department of Defense, but was deleted soon after.
A public affairs officer for the Army was among those who criticized the post before it was taken down.
“I am dumbfounded by the decision to prominently display a Nazi on military social media on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge,” Brian Fickel wrote on Twitter.
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