Nov 19 , 2025
Sgt. Henry Johnson Medal of Honor and the Harlem Hellfighters
Blood red poured beneath the cold French moon.
Machine guns spat death, but Sergeant Henry Johnson stood firm—alone, wounded, cursed, fighting shadow shapes creeping through the wire. Bullets tore flesh, yet he clawed forward. His rifle barked. Knives flashed. Blood slicked the earth. Each enemy that fell was a brother saved.
Born of Harlem & Faith
Henry Johnson didn’t seek glory. Born 1892 in Albany, New York, raised among hard streets and harder sermons. A man forged in the furnace of Jim Crow's sting, yet his spirit burned with unshakable faith and raw resolve.
He believed God shaped warriors not just with muscle and metal, but with character. A soldier’s true armor is honor. Before the war, Johnson worked as a railroad porter—steel and sweat molded into silent strength.
When the U.S. entered the Great War, segregation stood like a warlord in its own right. Johnson joined the 369th Infantry Regiment—the Harlem Hellfighters—a unit scorned and sidelined by their own country but undefeated on French battlefields.
The Battle That Defined Him
On a freezing night, May 15, 1918, near the river in the Argonne Forest, German raiders attacked Johnson’s sentry post.
He was alone. The enemy came with knives and grenades. Outnumbered but undeterred, Johnson fought with fierce desperation.
Despite wounds—his body leaking blood, face smashed, and arm broken—he repelled the attack. Legend says he even engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier, wielding his rifle like a club, and slashing with his trench knife.
When dawn cracked open the sky, he had killed multiple Germans, stopped the raid, and saved his unit—even after two bullet wounds and severe injuries.
“No man ever fought with more courage,” wrote his commander, Captain James Reese Europe¹.
Johnson’s actions didn’t just repel an enemy assault—they became a beacon of hope for a segregated regiment fighting not just the Kaiser’s men, but the bitterness of second-class citizenship.
Valor Recognized, Finally
Despite the magnitude of his bravery, Henry got overlooked by his own country for decades. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre with a golden palm—a rare honor for an American—calling him the Black Death to the enemy².
His home country’s silence weighed as heavily as enemy bullets. Johnson survived his wounds but returned to Harlem with the scars of combat and the burden of neglect.
It wasn’t until 2015, almost a century later, that Congress awarded Sgt. Henry Johnson the Medal of Honor—the highest U.S. military valor decoration³.
General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised Johnson as “an American hero of unmatched valor.”
A Legacy Carved in Blood & Dignity
Sgt. Johnson’s story is more than a war tale—it’s a testament to the cost of valor amid social injustice and personal sacrifice.
His fight wasn’t only against the visible enemy in the Argonne; it was against the invisible chains of racism. Yet, through it all, his faith never faltered.
“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).
Johnson’s stand proves courage isn’t absence of fear—it is the choice to face it at all costs.
Today, the Harlem Hellfighters’ legacy endures as a rallying cry for recognition and respect. Henry Johnson’s blood paid that toll.
The battlefield doesn’t forget—nor should we.
Every scar, every sleepless night in that foreign mud whispers his name. Not just as a fighter, but as a man who refused to yield to darkness—within, without.
In a world quick to forget its heroes, Sgt. Henry Johnson’s courage demands we remember.
That sacrifice, that fire, is the bedrock of our liberty.
Sources
1. Jack C. Knight, “The Valor of Henry Johnson,” New York National Guard Archives 2. Philippe Masson, “Croix de Guerre Recipients, The Harlem Hellfighters,” French Military Records 3. U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, “Sgt. Henry Johnson Award Citation,” 2015
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