Black History Month is a time to celebrate African-American achievements, milestones and social victories, but it's also a good time to explore the lesser-known historical figures who never got the accolades they deserved- like the Harlem Hellfighters.
During World War I the all African-American 369th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters, spent 191 days in combat, which is more than any other American unit in WWI.
And yet, like all Black people who signed up for the draft, they were treated like uninvited guests from the start:
All in all, 2.3 million black men registered for the draft. The Marines turned them down, the Navy took a few, and the army accepted the most — resulting in the enlistment of 380,000 African-Americans.
About 200,000 of those soldiers would be shipped overseas, where they remained segregated into their own units — most of which were relegated to difficult manual labor in noncombat military camps.
Only 11 percent of black soldiers actually saw action. The Harlem Hellfighters were among them.
The Harlem Hellfighters were assigned to French command when they arrived overseas, which was ideal since the French respected and appreciated Black soldiers more than American leaders.
Under French leadership the Hellfighters thrived, and two soldiers in particular proved Black troops were total badasses:
Under these circumstances, the Hellfighters ended up contributing significantly to the war efforts — successfully repelling the German offensive and launching their own counteroffensive.
Two soldiers in particular — Corporal Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts — received widespread fame.
The men had been defending a lookout post when a German unit attacked. Together, they defended the post against the entire group. Wounded and with limited weaponry, they managed to fight them off — even after the fight had come to direct hand-to-hand combat.
Both were severely injured and they had run out of ammunition. But as the Germans began to drag Roberts away, Johnson still managed to rescue his comrade using a bolo knife.
“The Germans, doubtless thinking it was a host instead of two brave Colored boys fighting like tigers at bay, picked up their dead and wounded and slunk away, leaving many weapons and part of their shot riddled clothing, and leaving a trail of blood, which we followed at dawn near to their lines,” the Hellfighters’ white colonel, William Hayward, was quoted as writing in The Chicago Defender. “So it was in this way the Germans found the Black Americans.”
The two men were the first Americans to be decorated by the French for their service, receiving the prestigious Croix de Guerre medal. (Though they wouldn’t receive their deserved Purple Hearts until 77 years later, after they both had passed away.)
Read Harlem Hellfighters: The Overlooked African-American Heroes Of World War I here