#369th infantry

"One of the five bravest American soldiers in the war."      --Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

This Decoration Day/Memorial Day we remember the heroic career of U.S. Army Sergeant (William) Henry Johnson. This particular trading card will be the last (for now) of my series-within-a-series of "mysteriously" absent biographies that aren't showing up on .mil and .gov websites anymore.

Born in 1892 North Carolina, Henry Johnson moved to Albany, New York and worked a number of jobs --including as a redcap porter at Union Station -- before enlisting in 1917. Signing on with the famed all-Black 369th Infantry ("Harlem Hellfighters," previously covered in Lessons #36, #60, #143, and #151 of this series); Johnson saw front-line action almost immediately in 1918.

At the time the 369th was brigaded with a French army colonial unit in the Champagne region, along the notorious western front. On the night of May 15, 1918, Pvt. Johnson and fellow Pvt. Needham Roberts were attacked in the Argonne forest by a German raiding party of approximately 12 soldiers. Roberts was wounded and very nearly made prisoner, but Johnson fought back in close-quartered combat with a French bolo knife, killing four of the enemy and managing to get Roberts to safety, though sustaining many wounds himself.

In the aftermath of his heroic actions, France awarded Johnson and Roberts the Croix de guerre with star and bronze palm; making them the first-ever American soldiers in World War I to receive such an honor. Pvt. Johnson's valor was even publicly praised by Gen. Pershing in an article in The Saturday Evening Post, and he was discharged in 1919 at the rank of Sergeant, complete with a victory parade in New York City. Unfortunately Johnson's notoriety would be of little use to him upon his return to civilian life; due to his wounds he was unable to return to work, even to his old porter job. For a time Johnson conducted a brief series of lecture tours but these soon became unpopular as he was unwilling to stick to many of the established fictions (such as the notion that white and Black American soldiers harmoniously fought side-by-side in the trenches), and he died in relative obscurity in 1929... though he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

On June 2, 2015, Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama. On June 5, 2023, the former Fort Polk in Leesville, Louisiana was formally renamed to Fort Johnson in his honor.

(A glimmer of encouragement this Memorial Day --mind you, it is only the merest glimmer): the army.mil biographical page about Sgt. Johnson, at least as of this month, includes a prominent banner that reads: "We have deliberately taken some of our webpages offline in order to comply with Executive Orders and OSD Policy. The intent is to preserve our history, and we are working to re-publish content as soon as possible." While this is still a far cry from undoing actual censorship of Black history, it is at least a tacit acknowledgement from the U.S. Army's policymakers that there are some problematic regulations currently getting in the way of an honest historical reckoning. Whether or not anything more decisive is to happen in the coming months, is of course still an unknown. But when I pair this development along with this week's announcement that the U.S. Naval Academy library has restored most of the 400+ books that had been yanked from its shelves because of "DEI," there is cause for minuscule amounts of optimism.

Men of the Harlem Hellfighters (369th Infantry), some of whom had been awarded the Croix de Guerre by France for their courage under fire, on June 11, 1918. 

Record Group 165: Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs

Series: American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs

File Unit: Colored Troops

Image description: A line of Black soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder in a grassy field. They are wearing World War I U.S. Army uniforms and narrow metal helmets. 

Transcription: 

Feb 12 1919 #OTD Harlem Hell Fighters (369th) who won the Croix De Guerre returning from #WW1. The 369th Infantry Regiment Harlem Hellfighters were in frontline trenches for 191 days, more than any other American unit. Racism in the American Army meant that the unit was transferred to serve under French command. Front row, Left to Right: Private Eagle Eye, Ed Williams Lamp Light, Herbert Taylor Private Leon Fraitor Private Kid Hawk, Ralph Hawkins Back row, Left to Right: Sergeant  H.D Prinas Sergeant  Dan Storm Private Kid Woney, Joe Williams Private Kid Buck Alfred Hanley Corporal T.W. Taylor Colourized by Jordan J. Lloyd

National Archives Identifier: 26431282 Local Identifier: 165-WW-127A-8

Feb 12 1919 Sgt Henry Johnson of the 369th Infantry Regiment, Harlem Hellfighters (Colourized by MadsMadsen.CH) arrives in New York harbor. From February 9-12 the Hellfighters arrived on troopships. On Wednesday #OTD February 12, 1919, men of the 369th Infantry Regiment disembarked the Swedish American liner Stockholm. Johnson was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for bravery during an outnumbered battle with German soldiers. 

When they asked to march with the 42nd, nicknamed the Rainbow Division, he was denied his request and told "black is not a color of the rainbow." Yet on Feb 17 1919 they got their own parade with huge cheering crowds. While the Harlem Hellfighters marched down from 23rd Street and 5th Avenue to 145th Street and Lenox, Johnson had to ride in a car as he had a metal plate in his foot.

National Archives Identifier:533524

Image courtesy of the Tennessee State Library and Archives

Feb 12 1919 “The full caption for this item is as follows: [African American] Jazz Band and Leader Back with [African American] 15th New York. Lieutenant James Reese Europe who for four years [was] New York Society’s favorite orchestra (dance) leader formerly with Vernon Castle returned with his regiment the 369th Infantry.”

ARC Identifier: 533506

Kid Ferguson, star basketball player of the 369th Infantry, on February 13, 1918.

Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer

Series: Photographs of American Military Activities

Image description: A Black man smiles for the camera. He is wearing a garrison cap with a “15” on it, a loose sweater, uniform trousers, and two-tone sports shoes. Over his sweater he is wearing a tank top with “NY 15” on it. In the background, we can see other men playing basketball on a dirt court. 

The famous 369th arrive in New York City. Members of the 369th colored infantry, formerly 15th New York regulars. "Back to little old New York."

Feb 9-12 1919 the Harlem Hellfighters arrived in NYC on several troop ships.

National Archives Identifier:26431290 Local Identifier:165-WW-127A-12

Feb 12 1919 "Original Caption: New York's Colored Regiment Returns Home on Stockholm. Some of the colored men on 369th (15th N.Y.) who won the Croix de Guerre for gallantry in action. Front row, left to right: Private Eagle Eye, Ed Williams; Lamp Light, Herbert Taylor; Pvt Leon Fraitor; Pvt Kid Hawk, Ralph Hawkins. Back Row, left to right: Sgt H.D. Prinas; Sgt Dan Storms; Pvt Kid Woney, Joe Williams; Pvt 'Kid Buck' Alfred Hanley and Corporal T.W. Taylor"

Date Taken: 2/12/1919

ARC Identifier: 26431282