Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Who Earned the Medal of Honor

Jan 22 , 2026

Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Who Earned the Medal of Honor

Sgt. Henry Johnson stood alone amid chaos, his body shredded by bayonet wounds, yet his rifle barked through the night. One man against a German raiding party. No reinforcements. Just grit, fury, and a will forged in unyielding fire. He bought his comrades time to live.

From Upstate Faith to Frontline Resolve

Born in 1892, Albany, New York was Henry Johnson’s cradle. The son of sharecroppers turned migrants, he carried the burden of a country that treated him as less—not lesser by his own reckoning, but less by theirs.

Faith anchored him. Baptized in the Christian church, Henry leaned on scripture and prayer, a private well of strength in a hostile world.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread... for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

This promise was not hollow to him—it was a covenant. Discipline, honor, and protecting his brothers were not just duties. They were a sacred code.

The Battle That Defined Him

June 15, 1918, the forests near the village of Bellueux, France. The 369th Infantry Regiment—known as the Harlem Hellfighters—held the trenches. They were Black men sent to fight a white man’s war on a segregated battleground.

The Germans unleashed a predawn raid. A dozen or more enemy soldiers slipped past the lines, intent on slaughter and sabotage. Sgt. Johnson and his comrade Needham Roberts were behind the trench line.

When the attack came, most thought it would be over quickly. But Johnson’s reaction defied all odds. He repelled the enemy with relentless fire and hand-to-hand combat. Bayonets slashed his arms, bullets tore through his chest and thighs, but he fought like a man possessed.

Despite grievous injuries, Johnson charged the raiders, counterattacking again and again. When Roberts was stunned by a grenade blast, Johnson pulled him clear, fighting off the enemy with fists, clubs, and whatever weapons he could find.

“He fought like a demon,” Roberts later recalled, “always protecting me even in those dark moments.”

Two hours later, the Germans fled, having lost twice as many men as the Hellfighters. Johnson’s courage saved the unit from slaughter and secured a vital defensive position.

Recognition: Too Long in the Shadows

The battle scars faded but the recognition barely came—initially none for one of the war’s fiercest warriors. A Black soldier awarded the Medal of Honor in 1918? Unthinkable.

Posthumous honors finally caught up with Johnson decades later. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor—the first Black American so honored in WWI.

“Henry Johnson answered the highest call,” Obama said, “at a time when our nation still betrayed the promise of equality. His heroism transcended all barriers.”

The 369th’s history is bound in valor, yet Johnson’s stand was a singular moment that answered the world’s violence with unshakable courage and sacrifice.

Legacy in Blood and Soul

The story of Henry Johnson is not just a chapter in military history. It is a testament to endurance against prejudice and pain. War tested his body, but life tested his soul.

Every shattered limb, every sleepless night in a hospital bed, was a price paid to defend not only his unit but an idea—that a man’s worth is not measured by the color of his skin, but by the depth of his courage.

Today, his legacy whispers through the barracks, the battlefield, and every veteran’s struggle after.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” - John 15:13

Henry Johnson laid down not just his life, but his scars and soul, so others might carry the torch. Redemption isn’t given freely. It’s forged in smoke and blood and remembered by those who refuse to forget.

His story is a widow’s son, a warrior’s prayer—a beacon for all who bear wounds unseen. And it demands we honor the past by standing fierce in the present.

Sgt. Henry Johnson’s fight was never just for survival. It was for dignity. For a promise that no man stands alone in the dark. And that courage, though tested, is never broken.

Sources

1. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Henry Johnson: The Harlem Hellfighter 2. United States Congress, Medal of Honor Citation for Henry Johnson 3. NPR, The Story of Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter and WWI Hero 4. The New York Times, Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Henry Johnson