Sergeant Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Who Held the Line

Nov 02 , 2025

Sergeant Henry Johnson, Harlem Hellfighter Who Held the Line

The night air was thick with death and mud. Bullets hammered the trenches like the wrath of hell itself. Amid the chaos, one man stood—alone, wounded, relentless. Sgt. Henry Johnson, an unyielding titan, held back a German raiding party with nothing but his rifle, a bolo knife, and pure iron will. The fate of his unit, flickering on the edge of darkness, was sealed by his bloodied hands.

Background & Faith

Born in Albany, New York, Henry Johnson was no stranger to hardship. Raised in a working-class African American family, he grew into a man molded by the quiet dignity of faith and the hard truths of racial injustice. Drafted into the 369th Infantry Regiment—later known as the Harlem Hellfighters—Johnson bore the double burden of fighting overseas and fighting prejudice at home.

His faith was a fortress: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1) This scripture was more than words—it was armor. A code of honor etched into his soul before the bullets ever flew.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 15, 1918. The trenches near the Bois de Vincennes, France, crawled with shadow and danger. The Germans launched a surprise raid, a brutal attempt to break the American lines.

Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts were on sentry duty when the storm hit.

Outnumbered, wounded, and exhausted, Johnson did not falter.

He fought with savage determination. Rifle cracked thunder. Knife flashed in the filthy dark. Johnson single-handedly held off the enemy, alerting his comrades with frantic shouts and gunfire.

Despite shrapnel wounds and knife slashes, he protected Roberts from capture and death. Reportedly, he sustained at least 21 wounds during the melee—bullet holes, bayonet stabs, axe blows—his body a battlefield scar, his spirit unbroken.[¹]

"He fought like a lion," recalled his fellow soldiers.

Recognition in a Shrouded Era

Johnson’s heroism went largely unrecognized in his lifetime, buried beneath the racial discrimination of the era.

He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with a special citation for his valor—France’s highest honor for bravery. The medal's crimson ribbon marked him as the first African American to receive it in WWI.[²]

Yet, the U.S. military overlooked him for decades.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Sgt. Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration.[³]

The citation praised his “extraordinary heroism and bravery,” emphasizing his role in saving his comrade and holding the line against overwhelming odds.

Legacy & Lessons in Scarlet and Steel

Henry Johnson’s story is rooted in sacrifice layered with injustice.

His legacy is raw and painful—the cost of valor weighed against the blindness of a nation. Yet, he remains a beacon for warriors, a testament to fighting not just the enemy, but the chains of inequality.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)

His courage writes a permanent chapter in the ledger of American combat veterans. It speaks to endurance and redemption—the ability to stand in the face of darkness and refuse to yield.

Johnson’s scars tell us this: true valor looks like sacrifice unseen, battles fought on two fronts, and glory won long after the guns fall silent.

In honoring Sgt. Henry Johnson, we confront our own reckoning with heroism and history. The fire he faced on that shattered French battlefield still burns. It calls on us to remember the price paid, to acknowledge the legacy of warriors who bore more than just wounds. We owe them truth. We owe them reverence.

Johnson stood fast when the world turned its back. We stand now because he stood then.

Sources

[¹] U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War I [²] National WWII Museum, Harlem Hellfighters: The Black Infantry in World War I [³] The White House, President Obama Awards the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Henry Johnson