Henry Johnson, the One-Man Army Who Fought Off Dozens of German Soldiers During WW1

[DGUtley]

Henry Johnson, the One-Man Army Who Fought Off Dozens of German Soldiers During World War I

In May 1918, Henry Johnson found himself alone in the Argonne with a wounded ally, an empty rifle, and dozens of German soldiers closing in. He didn’t run. He fought. This is his story. It is well worth telling and remembering.








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[stjames1_53]

Henry Johnson, the One-Man Army Who Fought Off Dozens of German Soldiers During World War I

In May 1918, Henry Johnson found himself alone in the Argonne with a wounded ally, an empty rifle, and dozens of German soldiers closing in. He didn’t run. He fought. This is his story. It is well worth telling and remembering.








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Attachment 29569

German racism was well know back then. They made no attempt to hide that fact.
This must have put a knot in their tail. This guy was a true warrior and an honorable man.

[DGUtley]

German racism was well know back then. They made no attempt to hide that fact. This must have put a knot in their tail. This guy was a true warrior and an honorable man.

Remember how Jesse Owens tweaked Hitler?

[Common]

I know this story well and read it long ago, its a story of pure heroism and american grit.

What soils the story is his being in a segregated unit and the segregation and racism that kept him from getting his just due.

Ask yourself did Sgt York Do more...or Audi Murphy...

[FindersKeepers]

A true American hero!

Thank you for sharing his story.

[MMC]

He was known as the Black Death.


William Henry Johnson, commonly known as Henry Johnson, was a United States Army soldier who performed heroically in the first African American unit of the United States Army to engage in combat in World War I. On watch in the Argonne Forest on May 14, 1918, he fought off a German raid in hand-to-hand combat, killing multiple German soldiers and rescuing a fellow soldier while experiencing 21 wounds, in an action that was brought to the nation's attention by coverage in the New York World and The Saturday Evening Post later that year. On June 2, 2015 he was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a posthumous ceremony at the White House.


Wikipedia


Henry Johnson, Known as the “Black Death” – America’s First World War Hero. Henry Johnson was a World War I soldier who singlehandedly beat back a German assault while critically wounded. He was a great American hero and received the highest military honor of two different countries.
Henry Johnson, Known as the "Black Death" - America's ...


www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/black-death-henry-johnson-hero.html

[stjames1_53]

Remember how Jesse Owens tweaked Hitler?

Yes. And when he won, Hitler hated the idea that a black American was better than their best.........

[stjames1_53]

He was known as the Black Death.


William Henry Johnson, commonly known as Henry Johnson, was a United States Army soldier who performed heroically in the first African American unit of the United States Army to engage in combat in World War I. On watch in the Argonne Forest on May 14, 1918, he fought off a German raid in hand-to-hand combat, killing multiple German soldiers and rescuing a fellow soldier while experiencing 21 wounds, in an action that was brought to the nation's attention by coverage in the New York World and The Saturday Evening Post later that year. On June 2, 2015 he was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a posthumous ceremony at the White House.


Wikipedia


Henry Johnson, Known as the “Black Death” – America’s First World War Hero. Henry Johnson was a World War I soldier who singlehandedly beat back a German assault while critically wounded. He was a great American hero and received the highest military honor of two different countries.
Henry Johnson, Known as the "Black Death" - America's ...



www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/black-death-henry-johnson-hero.html

This what hero's are known for. Courage under fire..............

[MMC]

This what hero's are known for. Courage under fire..............

Suddenly, the Germans were all around, jumping into the trench. At least a dozen soldiers descended upon the two wounded men thought to be inferior by their white U.S. comrades. Johnson, already with numerous bullet holes in his body, proved that notion of inferiority to be completely false.

Using his rifle as a club, he swung at the enemy, landing crippling blows until his stock finally shattered. Johnson was hit over the head and collapsed. Perhaps if he had been alone, he would have called it quits, obviously outnumbered and badly injured. But he could see the German soldiers grabbing Roberts, taking him away as a prisoner.


Johnson leaped up, pulled out his bolo knife and charged into the enemy once more.


The knife he gripped in his hand was adopted by the U.S. Army almost ten years earlier. The Army first encountered it in the Spanish-American war, wielded by native guerrilla fighters in the Philippines. Mostly used for agricultural purposes, this big knife, often between a foot and two feet long, was made by metal workers all across the country. Weighted along the back of its sharp, curved blade, the bolo made an exceptional slicing and hacking weapon that could cleave bones with one well-balanced swing.


The Germans in that trench received a quick lesson in just how terrifying this weapon was when wielded by a man committed to fighting to his last breath.


Johnson stabbed one soldier in the stomach. He killed an officer as he was shot in the arm. One German tried to tackle him by jumping on his back but instead was stopped by Johnson’s blade between his ribs. Overwhelmed by his ferocity and with the sound of French and American troops running towards the skirmish, the Germans ran back into the night.



As the reinforcements arrived, Johnson collapsed. He had been shot, stabbed, beaten and hit with grenade shrapnel, taking a total of 21 severe injuries in his desperate fight.


The whole French force in the region gathered to see Johnson and Roberts awarded the Croix du Guerre, the county’s highest military honor. They were the first U.S. soldiers ever to earn this distinction. Johnson’s medal was further adorned with the Gold Palm. He became known as “Black Death.”


Upon his return home, Johnson, promoted to Sergeant, lead a parade of 3,000 men from the 369^th through New York City to Harlem. More than 500 men of the 369^th had earned the Croix du Guerre since Johnson and Roberts and furthermore became one of the most decorated U.S. regiments to serve in WWI. They garnered the nickname the “Harlem Hellfighters.” But despite this, the parade Johnson led was for black servicemen only since they weren’t allowed to participate in the main victory parade.


To add further insult to Johnson’s injuries, no mention of his battle wounds was made in his discharge papers. This meant he not only that he did not receive a Purple Heart but also was denied medical benefits due to an injured veteran, even when the U.S. Army was using his story as propaganda for recruitment.


But his memory did live on. His son, Herman Johnson, who served in the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, along with New York Senator Chuck Schumer and others, fought to have his father’s valor officially recognized. In the 1990s, a monument was erected in Albany in Johnson’s honor and President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded him the Purple Heart. In 2002, the U.S. Army granted him the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest honor the military has.


In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded Johnson the top honor, the Medal of Honour. The French had long since recognized him as a war hero.


Before Johnson’s son passed away in 2004, he got to stand at his father’s grave. Herman Johnson had spent most of his life believing his father was laid to rest in some unknown pauper’s grave. But military records found in 2001 revealed Johnson was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.....snip~

[Lummy]

In another time, in another place, at another venue ... Rodney King. Just sayin'.