Johnson, Henry
1892-1929 · Contribution: 1918-2015
Fought off a German raiding party of some two dozen soldiers in hand-to-hand combat while defending his post in the Argonne Forest in May 1918, earning France's Croix de Guerre and, 97 years later, a posthumous Medal of Honor
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
On sentry duty with the all-Black 369th Infantry Regiment — the “Harlem Hellfighters,” seconded to the French Army since U.S. command refused to let Black troops fight alongside white American units — Johnson and fellow soldier Needham Roberts were attacked by roughly two dozen German raiders on May 15, 1918; after Roberts was badly wounded, Johnson fought on alone with rifle, grenades, and finally his bolo knife, killing or wounding several attackers, rescuing Roberts from capture, and suffering 21 wounds himself, earning the nickname “Black Death” and a French Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm, one of the first Americans so honored. Despite widespread press coverage and praise from Theodore Roosevelt as one of the “five bravest Americans” in the war, the U.S. Army denied Johnson a Purple Heart, disability benefits, or any American medal during his lifetime; a decades-long campaign — first for the Purple Heart (1996), then the Distinguished Service Cross (2002), and finally the Medal of Honor, presented by President Obama on June 2, 2015 — corrected the record 86 years after his death.
Life & background
Born William Henry Johnson around July 15, 1892, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (his exact birth date was never firmly documented), Johnson moved to Albany, New York, as a teenager, working as a chauffeur, soda mixer, and redcap porter at Union Station before enlisting in the all-Black 15th New York National Guard Regiment in June 1917, which became the 369th Infantry upon federalization. Discharged after the war with lasting injuries that left him unable to hold steady work, he struggled with poverty and alcohol, and died in obscurity on July 1, 1929; for decades he was believed buried in a pauper's grave before researchers confirmed he had in fact been interred with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. A Tuskegee Airman named Herman Johnson led the initial campaign for recognition believing himself to be Henry's son, only for research surrounding the 2015 Medal of Honor to reveal the two were not related by blood; Fort Polk, Louisiana, was renamed Fort Johnson in his honor in 2023.
Sources
- National Park Service; National Museum of the United States Army; History.com; America250
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