Veteran of the Day — December 11, 2025

Sergeant William Henry “Henry” Johnson

United States Army – 369th Infantry Regiment (“Harlem Hellfighters”)
World War I – Meuse–Argonne, France
Born: July 15, 1892 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Died: July 1, 1929 – Washington, D.C.
Buried: Arlington National Cemetery

🌆 From Winston-Salem to Harlem’s Fighting Regiment

William Henry Johnson was born around July 15, 1892, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As a teenager, he moved north to Albany, New York, where he worked whatever jobs he found: soda mixer, coal-yard laborer, chauffeur, and finally a redcap porter at Albany’s Union Station.

When America entered World War I, Johnson enlisted on June 5, 1917, joining the all-Black 15th New York Infantry Regiment, later federalized as the 369th Infantry Regiment. The regiment would go on to earn the nickname “Harlem Hellfighters” after spending 191 days on the front lines under French command, more than almost any other U.S. unit.

🌙 Argonne Forest — One Man vs. a Raid

On the night of May 14–15, 1918, Private Johnson and Private Needham Roberts were on outpost duty in the Argonne Forest, manning a small post between the French and German lines. In the early hours, a German raiding party of more than a dozen men slipped through the darkness and attacked.

Johnson and Roberts responded with grenades and rifle fire until their ammunition was gone. Both were wounded, and Roberts was knocked unconscious. When German soldiers tried to drag Roberts away as a prisoner, Johnson charged into them.

He fought with the butt of his rifle, his fists, and finally a bolo knife, slashing and striking at the raiders at arm’s length. Despite being wounded an estimated 21 times, he kept fighting until the Germans broke off the attack and fled, leaving weapons and equipment behind and failing to capture a single man.

His actions saved Roberts’ life, stopped the enemy from reaching the French line, and became one of the most famous individual feats of bravery of the war.

The French immediately recognized what he’d done, awarding him the Croix de Guerre avec Palme, one of France’s highest decorations for valor.

🎖️ Recognition Delayed, Not Denied

Back home, racism and indifference meant that for decades, Johnson never received the full recognition he’d earned. He struggled after the war with his injuries and finances and died in 1929, his heroism fading from public memory.

Beginning in the late 20th century, historians, activists, and political leaders pushed to correct that wrong. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and, in 2003, the Distinguished Service Cross, as new research confirmed the details of his fight in the Argonne.

Finally, on June 2, 2015, at a White House ceremony, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Sergeant Henry Johnson the Medal of Honor, nearly a century after his night of combat. A senior New York National Guard NCO accepted the medal on his behalf.

In 2023, the Army renamed Fort Polk in Louisiana to Fort Johnson in his honor. And in 2025, his regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters, was collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, cementing their place in American history as one of the most storied units of World War I.

🕊️ Legacy of a Harlem Hellfighter

Today, Henry Johnson’s name lives on in:

Henry Johnson Boulevard, Henry Johnson Charter School, and monuments in Albany, New York
A statue, murals, and memorials across New York and beyond
His grave at Arlington National Cemetery, where he rests among generations of American heroes

He was a small man in stature, but the Germans called his regiment “Hellfighters,” and his comrades called him “Black Death.” When the raid came in the dark, he answered with everything he had.

🌟 Reflection

Two men in a lonely outpost. Ammunition gone. One man rises and says, “Not tonight.”

Sergeant Henry Johnson stands as a symbol of courage under fire and of the long, painful road to recognition faced by many Black Americans in uniform. His story reminds us that the speed of the paperwork does not measure bravery, but by what a person does when the world closes in.

🎙️ Coolbeaners Appreciation

At mickyspano.com/, we honor the men and women who stepped ahead when our nation called.

Today, we remember Sergeant William Henry “Henry” Johnson, United States Army — a Harlem Hellfighter whose courage in the Argonne Forest saved a comrade, stopped a raid, and lit a beacon that took America more than 100 years to see fully.

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