Henry Johnson (1892-1929), Army
Henry Johnson was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, before moving to New York as a teenager. He worked a variety of jobs before heeding the call to serve his country and enlisting in the US Army in June of 1917, just two months after the US entered World War I. He was assigned to the all black Company C, 15th New York (Colored) Infantry Regiment, later called the 369th Infantry Regiment. Less than a year later, in May 1918, his actions would earn him the nickname “Black Death”.
After a few months of training, Johnson’s regiment was sent to France where they were relegated to menial labor (unloading ships and digging latrines). The soldiers experienced racism within the segregated Army and were generally treated poorly. Ultimately, they were lent to the French who were short on troops. Welcomed by the more racially open-minded French, the unit was dubbed the “Harlem Hellfighters” and positioned on the western edge of the Argonne Forest.
“Black Death”
On the evening of May 14, 1918, Johnson and fellow soldier Needham Roberts were given French helmets and weapons and posted to sentry duty from midnight to four AM. Just after 2AM, the men heard the sound of wire cutters on the perimeter fence and Johnson directed Roberts to return to camp and alert the French troops. Johnson threw a grenade at the enemy and the return fire started quickly. Recognizing Johnson was woefully outnumbered, Roberts came back to assist in the fighting but was wounded by grenade shrapnel. With Roberts wounded too badly to fight, Johnson continued to defend their position by throwing all the grenades at their disposal.
When there were no more grenades, German bullets reigned. Johnson was struck in the head and lip but refused to give up, firing his rifle into the darkness. Taking more bullets in his side and then hand, Johnson kept shooting until his gun jammed when he mistakenly shoved an American cartridge into the French weapon.
With the Germans now right on the men, Johnson began using his jammed rifle like a club until he was knocked down with a blow to his head. The two men were overwhelmed and the only weapon Johnson still had was a bolo knife. Noticing the Germans attempting to take Roberts prisoner, Johnson charged the nearest Germans and stabbed relentlessly with his knife, taking down two German soldiers before being shot again. Johnson’s frenzied zeal in protecting Roberts, combined with the advancing American and French reinforcements, convinced the Germans to retreat. The ordeal ended with Johnson killing 4 Germans, wounding 10-20 others, and suffering 21 wounds himself but he had prevented the Germans from breaking the French line.
When details of Johnson’s heroism were publicized in the United States, he became known as “Black Death.” When describing the event, he maintained that he was not a hero, stating, “There wasn’t anything so fine about it. Just fought for my life. A rabbit would have done that.”
Homecoming
The grateful French awarded Privates Roberts and Johnson the French Croix de Guerre, France’s highest award for valor. Johnson’s medal had the additional distinction of the Gold Palm, for extraordinary valor. Their unit, the 369th (better known now as the Harlem Hellfighters), returned to the US after the Allied victory as heroes with a reputation for tenacity in combat. Named by President Theodore Roosevelt as one of the five bravest Americans to serve in WWI, the newly promoted Sergeant Johnson himself led the 369th in a victory parade through New York. The Army capitalized on Johnson’s popularity, using his image in a recruitment campaign and to sell Victory War Stamps (“Henry Johnson licked a dozen Germans. How many stamps have you licked?).
However, this was still years before the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Johnson was left with debilitating injuries as a result of his heroism but his official discharge papers never mention them and he was not awarded a Purple Heart. Without the acknowledgement, he was denied a disability allowance. Unable to hold a job because of his physical limitations, Johnson lived in poverty and struggled until his death in 1929 at the age of 32.
Recognition
In 1996, Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart by President Bill Clinton. Additionally, his final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery was rediscovered in 2001 and the Army awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest military decoration.
In the early 2000s, an aide to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York stumbled across an endorsement in an online database written by Gen. John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, regarding Henry Johnson’s suitability for receiving the Medal of Honor. Ninety-seven years after Johnson’s incredible feat of bravery, the Department of Defense took another look and recommended the “Black Death” for a Medal of Honor. When the honor was finally conferred on Henry Johnson in 2015, President Barack Obama stated, “The least we can do is to say, ‘We know who you are, we know what you did for us. We are forever grateful.”
Learn more about Henry Johnson, aka “Black Death”, at these sites:
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