Dec 19 , 2025
Sergeant Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Awarded the Medal of Honor
Blood on the Wire. Guns screaming through the night like thunder ripping the heavens. Henry Johnson stood alone, battered, bleeding, and unbroken. His left arm shattered, throat slashed, but still he fought. The enemy never breached his line. His grit bought his buddies time — time to live.
Background & Faith
Henry Johnson was born in 1892, in North Carolina, then a world raw with Jim Crow's chains and silent wars at home. He moved north to Albany, New York, finding work as a delivery man before the mud and gunpowder pulled him into war.
As a Black soldier in the segregated 369th Infantry Regiment — the Harlem Hellfighters — Johnson carried more than a rifle. He carried the weight of a country that doubted him, yet he held firm to a quiet code: fight not just for country, but for dignity, for honor.
Faith anchored him. The Old Testament’s resilience whispered in his soul. Psalm 18:39 — “For you equipped me with strength for the battle...” — it was more than words. It was his lifeline, his armor.
The Battle That Defined Him
May 15, 1918. Somewhere deep in the Argonne Forest, France. Johnson and fellow soldier Needham Roberts manned a forward outpost, watching for shadow and sound.
Out of the dark came the enemy—two dozen German raiders bent on annihilation. They struck first with gunfire, then with knives and grenades.
Johnson’s left hand shattered by bullets, grenade shrapnel tore through his body, his throat slashed open. Blood blinded him. Pain became a roar — but he refused to yield.
He charged into the enemy. In hand-to-hand combat, Johnson wielded his rifle’s butt and a knife taken from an assailant. He killed 24 German soldiers and wounded many more. His fury was a wall no man could cross.
In a near-biblical clash of fury and survival, Johnson saved his unit from massacre. Roberts was wounded and unconscious. Johnson stayed alive, held the line single-handedly until reinforcements arrived.
The horror and valor of the night etched forever into the mud and memory. He suffered over 20 wounds, tortured by the very clash that preserved freedom.
Recognition
Painted over by the color line and war’s chaos, Henry Johnson’s heroism was not immediately recognized by the U.S. military. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre in 1918 — one of the first American soldiers so honored.
It took decades for the U.S. to catch up. In 2015, long after Johnson’s death in 1929, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor.
His citation reads:
“His extraordinary heroism and selflessness reflect the highest traditions of military service and the United States Army.”
Sergeant William Henry Johnson’s story traveled slow — but it carried thunder.
Retired Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno said of Johnson:
“He exemplifies courage under fire and a warrior’s heart.”
Legacy & Lessons
Henry Johnson didn’t fight just against enemy soldiers — he fought segregation, silence, and invisibility. His struggle was double: on the battlefield and at home.
His stand in the Argonne reminds us: courage isn’t absence of fear. It’s purpose-driven defiance in the darkest hour.
His scars remain etched in history as proof that valor knows no color — only sacrifice. The Harlem Hellfighters proved Black soldiers could learn, lead, and endure hell itself.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) — Johnson’s legacy was more than war. It was redemption: a warrior made holy by sacrifice, a man who bled so others might live free.
In a world desperate for genuine heroes, Sgt. Henry Johnson still stands—fierce, wounded, and unyielding. His story is a battle cry across generations: fight just, fight hard, and never surrender the soul.
Sources
1. Harlem Hellfighters: African American Soldiers of World War I, Stephen L. Harris, University of North Carolina Press, 2003 2. "Sgt. Henry Johnson receives Medal of Honor," U.S. Army News Service, 2015 3. Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History 4. “The Forgotten Hero: Sgt. Henry Johnson,” National Museum of African American History and Culture
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