How a 5-foot porter from Albany became America’s first Black war hero in WWI France
Published: 13 August 2025
By John Ghost
via the When In Your State website
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Henry Johnson's Heroic Stand Against Overwhelming German Forces
The Harlem Hellfighters Memorial in New York honors soldiers who fought harder for respect than victory.
Henry Johnson was a 5-foot-4-inch railroad porter from Albany who enlisted in 1917 with the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment.
White American troops refused to fight alongside them, so they were assigned to the French Army.
On May 15, 1918, Johnson and teenager Needham Roberts faced 25 German soldiers in brutal hand-to-hand combat in the Argonne Forest.
Johnson's rifle jammed, so he used it as a club until it splintered, then grabbed his knife. He killed four Germans and wounded twenty others while suffering 21 wounds himself.
France immediately awarded him their highest military honor, but America ignored his heroism for decades. This black granite memorial tells the full story of Johnson's incredible night of combat.
Two Soldiers Stood Watch in the Argonne Forest
Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts took their spots early on May 15, 1918.
The two Black American soldiers from the 369th Infantry Regiment guarded an outpost in France's Argonne Forest from midnight to 4 a. m.
Johnson, a short former railroad porter from Albany, looked into the darkness while 17-year-old Roberts kept watch beside him.
Their unit joined the French Army because white American troops refused to fight with Black soldiers. The quiet forest gave no hint of the coming violence.
Wire Cutters Made a Telltale Sound in the Darkness
Around 2 am, Johnson heard something that made his skin crawl, the clear snip of wire cutters. He told Roberts as they looked into the dark.
German soldiers cut through the barbed wire around their outpost. Johnson threw a grenade toward the sound while Roberts ran to alert nearby French troops.
Before Roberts got far, about 25 German soldiers came from the shadows, surrounding the two Americans in one of the most uneven fights of World War I.
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