Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Who Held the Line at Argonne

Nov 06 , 2025

Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Who Held the Line at Argonne

Steel met flesh under a moonless sky. Blood painted the woods in crimson strokes while Sergeant Henry Johnson, alone and wounded, tore through shadows with a fury born from unyielding resolve. The enemy thought they came for an easy raid. They met hell instead.

Background & Faith

Born in 1892, Albany, New York forged Henry Johnson’s backbone long before the trenches swallowed him whole. A Black man braving Jim Crow and the bitter weight of inequality, Johnson answered the call to serve with the 15th New York National Guard—soon federalized as the 369th Infantry Regiment, famously known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

Faith ran quiet but fierce beneath his grit. Baptized in hardship and trial, Johnson carried a soldier’s creed stitched with threads of scripture and survival. “Be strong and courageous,” whispered the Word (Joshua 1:9). A warrior in a world that didn’t want him to fight. A man made to stand tall where most would break.

The Battle That Defined Him

May 15, 1918. The Argonne Forest, France. Darkness cloaked the 369th’s bivouac. Suddenly—a German raid. Johnson and Private Needham Roberts were roused, weapons in hand, hearts pounding thunder.

The assault devoured the silence like a predator. The enemy rushed with knives and grenades. Johnson, barely awake but razor-sharp, fought with the ferocity of a cornered beast. His hands shredded trench lines, his shotgun cracked death into enemy ranks.

Severely wounded—stabbed repeatedly, beaten—he refused to yield. Each breath a battle; each step a defiant surge. When Roberts nearly died, Johnson dragged him to safety through a hailstorm of bullets. Alone, surrounded, wounded—Johnson held the line.

Three enemy soldiers lay dead, twenty more driven off or killed. Johnson took shrapnel, bayonet wounds, and a broken jaw. But the altar of sacrifice held him firm that night.

Recognition

Johnson’s heroism was heralded late—victory shadowed by the color line. Despite the 369th’s valor, recognition lagged. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre with a special citation from General John Pershing himself, commending his “extraordinary bravery.” But official American decoration remained elusive for decades.

It wasn’t until 2015, nearly 100 years later, that Henry Johnson received the Medal of Honor—the nation finally acknowledging his blood-stained courage.

General Pershing once said of the Harlem Hellfighters, “They made a record that reflects the greatest credit on the race and the country.” Johnson’s citation recognized “conspicuous gallantry…at great risk of life” in defense of his comrades.

Legacy & Lessons

Henry Johnson’s story is carved in the deep trenches of America’s unspoken wars—where valor met bigotry, and sacrifice cut through silence. His scars were both physical and societal. But his example transcends time:

Courage is not rarefied. It lives in the torn and twisted moments we choose defiance over despair.

Sacrifice is a language etched in flesh, but spoken through actions.

And redemption? It’s never too late to reckon with a legacy, to honor truth with justice.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Johnson’s fight was for peace, but peace demanded warriors who understood the cost.

Today, when the fog of battle descends—whether on foreign soil or in the battles of life—remember Sergeant Henry Johnson. Remember the warrior who stood unbroken. Who carried his brothers out of darkness with nothing but guts and faith.