 |
| Henry Lincoln Johnson, aka Black Death |
Redcap Henry Johnson enlisted in the US
Army June 5th 1917. Joining the all black New York National Guard,
which became the 369th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed The Harlem Hell Fighters. Arriving in
France on New Year’s Day 1918 Henry and his comrades were assigned menial
chores on account of the strict segregation laws that existed in the US Armed
Forces of WWI. Within several months, and without any hint of racial bias
French Command took control of the 369.thand dubbed them Les Enfants Perdus.... The Lost Children. They began the task of training these Black Sons of New York in combat tactics.
Wearing French helmets and armed with French weapons the unit was honed into a
fighting force that would distinguish itself time and again.
In Minacourt, France the men of the
369th came face to face with the horrors of war for the first time.
There
were a whole lot of blind men, and one-legged men, and one-armed men, and sick
men, all-coming this way. I asked a white man where all these wounded men come
from? And he says, 'Nigger, they're coming from right where you're going the
day after tomorrow.' Said a veteran of the 369th’s
march to the front.
Stones,
dirt, shrapnel, limbs and whole trees filled the air. The noise and concussion
alone were enough to kill you. Flashes of fire, the metallic crack of high
explosives, the awful explosions that dug holes fifteen and twenty feet in
diameter. The utter and complete pandemonium and the stench of hell, your
friends blown to bits, the pieces dropping near you." (Major
Warner Ross)
During the night of May 14th, 1918,
Privates Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts were on guard duty as a German
grenade landed near them. Needham was
instantly put out of action and Henry Johnson, wounded was left to face a
German trench raiding party, all alone.
Badly wounded and dazed from the explosion, Henry fell upon the raiders with ferocity. Slashing with his bolo knife, clubbing with his rifle until it broke in shards and launching a grenade, he singlehandedly killed or wounded 24 Germans and rescued his buddy Roberts from certain capture.
 |
| Cartoon of Henry's Actions. |
There isn't so much to tell. Just fought for my life. A rabbit would've done that.(Private Henry Johnson)
For his actions at Minacourt, Henry
Lincoln Johnson was awarded The Croix de
Guerre with star and gold palm, France’s highest honor. It would not be
until long after his death that the United States recognized his bravery. In
1995 during the Clinton Administration he was posthumously awarded a Purple
Heart for his wounds and in 2003 after many years of lobbying, the Bush
Administration awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross
for extraordinary heroism in action
in France during the period 13 - 15 May 1918.
Sergeant Henry Johnson died penniless
in New Lennox, Illinois
at the Veterans Hospital, on July 5, 1929. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
He was 32..