Amid debate about U.S. history, WWI Harlem Hellfighters receive Congressional Gold Medal
Published: 6 September 2025
By Alana Wise
via the National Public Radio website
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., presents Debra Willett, the granddaughter of Harlem Hellfighter Sgt. Leander Willett, with the Congressional Gold Medal
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., presents Debra Willett, the granddaughter of Harlem Hellfighter Sgt. Leander Willett, with the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of all of the "Harlem Hellfighters" of World War I during a ceremony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The Harlem Hellfighters of the New York National Guard’s 369th Infantry Regiment were posthumously honored this week with a Congressional Gold Medal. They received the highest civilian honor given by Congress, decades after their service during World War I was largely ignored by top military brass — and amid broader efforts to revisit how American history is remembered.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., at the Wednesday ceremony celebrating the troops and their families.
“Today we honor the legacy of your fathers, your grandfathers and your great-grandfathers who served our nation under extreme circumstances and despite intense discrimination. We are all better for their service,” Suozzi said.
The lawmaker first introduced a bill to honor the soldiers of the majority-Black 369th Infantry in 2021, but the award was not officially unveiled until this week.
During the ceremony, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., echoed Suozzi’s sentiments:
“We know that generations of African-American soldiers have answered that call to fight for freedom, whether on battlefields at home or abroad. Their nation asked them to fight, and they did again and again, even while being denied the full measure of those freedoms here on American soil.”
Debra Willett, a granddaughter of Harlem Hellfighter Sgt. Leander Willett, accepted the award on the soldiers’ behalf.
“I know that my grandfather and the other brave men that fought alongside him never thought that their courage and their exploits would be celebrated in such a revered setting,” she said.
“They sacrificed, and they thought they were making a difference. And today proves that they did.”
The medal will be given to the Smithsonian Institution, “where it will be displayed as appropriate and made available for research,” according to the bill put forth by Suozzi.
The regiment that came to be known as the Harlem Hellfighters served in the trenches of World War I for 191 days, growing legendary for their fighting abilities.
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