Sgt Henry Johnson of the Harlem Hellfighters Earned a Medal of Honor

Nov 30 , 2025

Sgt Henry Johnson of the Harlem Hellfighters Earned a Medal of Honor

Sgt. Henry Johnson stood alone in the dark, his body bleeding, bullets ripping flesh, yet his rifle never slowed. The shriek of a German raiding party cut through the midnight silence in the Argonne Forest. Voices in the trees whispered death—yet he became the thunder that shattered their resolve. Against impossible odds, he fought to save his comrades.

Born Into Battle, Raised on Resolve

Henry Johnson was no stranger to struggle. Born in 1892, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to a family of sharecroppers, he knew hardship was a given. When his family moved to Albany, New York, he found work as a porter, but the war’s distant drum soon reached his ears. Faith and fierce pride carried him forward.

He joined the 15th New York National Guard unit—the Harlem Hellfighters. Black soldiers, locked in a fight not just overseas but at home against segregation and scorn. Johnson didn’t speak much about religion, but comrades say he held tightly to his personal code—“I will protect my brothers, no matter the cost.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Yet Henry found peace only in the fire of combat, defending life through blood and steel.

The Battle That Defined Him

The night of May 15, 1918. The Argonne Forest—a labyrinth of shadows and death.

The Germans launched a raid against the American trenches. The alarm was sudden, chaos immediate. Johnson, on sentry duty, spotted the silent enemy creeping toward the camp. Without hesitation, he warned the men and engaged the attackers alone.

Six hours of relentless combat ensued. He fought hand-to-hand, wielding his rifle, a bolo knife, and sheer will. Wounded repeatedly by bullets and bayonet stabs, he refused to fall.

According to eyewitness accounts, Johnson bayoneted multiple enemies even as he himself bled profusely. He saved a fellow soldier, Pvt. Needham Roberts, dragging him to safety under fire.

When the dawn cracked the sky, the German raiders retreated, their advance shattered.

“Remember me, for I have fought not for glory but to hold the line where my brothers stood.” — Pvt. Needham Roberts, on Johnson’s heroism[1].

Medal of Honor: Hard-Won Recognition

After returning to the States, Henry Johnson initially received the Croix de Guerre from the French government—France’s highest military honor. American recognition lagged, tangled in racial prejudice and military bureaucracy.

It took decades before the U.S. formally honored Johnson. In 2015, 97 years after his valor in the Argonne, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Sgt. Henry Johnson the Medal of Honor.

His citation reads: “For extraordinary heroism in action near Bellieu Bois, France, Johnson single-handedly repelled a German raiding party… demonstrating conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

Col. Charles Stanton, one of his commanding officers, reportedly called him “a sentinel whose courage breathed fire into hope.”

Legacy Etched in Sacrifice

Henry Johnson’s story is carved into the granite of American military valor—and the uneven struggle for equality. His scars tell of brutality, his heroism of fierce loyalty. His battlefield deeds bridge the gulf between valor and recognition, between the color line and shared sacrifice.

His fight was more than survival—it was redemption. A Black soldier standing in defiance, not only of the enemy but of systemic injustice.

Veterans today invoke Johnson as a symbol of tenacity against overwhelming force—physical, racial, and moral. His legacy challenges every generation to fight for dignity, to bear scars honorably, and to uphold the brotherhood forged in battle.

“He gave his life to save others. His courage resurrected the promise of honor for those forgotten in the shadows.”

The darkness of war never leaves a man unmarked. But Henry Johnson’s story slashes through that darkness like a blade of light. He teaches us the cost of courage is eternal—but so is the glory of sacrifice.

Sources

[1] The National World War I Museum and Memorial + “Henry Johnson: A Harlem Hellfighter’s Story,” Pulitzer Center [2] U.S. Army Center of Military History + Medal of Honor Citation: Sgt. Henry Johnson [3] Library of Congress + “Harlem Hellfighters and the Fight for Honor in WWI”