Harlem Hellfighters
The Harlem Hellfighters is the nickname for the 369th Regiment. They were one of the first all African-American unit to fight during the first world war. "Civic leaders from Harlem convinced the governor of New York to create the Hellfighters (then called the 15th New York Guard Regiment) as the very first all-black unit in the guard." (Levitt) The leader of the National Guard was a white man named Willam Hayward. Unlike many men of that time William Hayward did not segregate the regiment and was even quoted on saying "meet men according to their rank as soldiers. [If they] intended to take a narrower attitude, [they] had better stay out." When the war started the Regiment was sent to train in Spartanburg, South Carolina and they experienced harsh harassment from the people of Spartanburg and the discrimination from white people did not end even after they arrived in France. The white American soldiers refused to work with the black soldiers and because the 369th was comprised of Black soldiers they were disproportionately put to demeaning task such as guarding rail-lines or digging latrine lines. They transferred the Hellfighters to the French Army in hopes that the white French people wouldn't discriminate against them. On April 15th, 1918 the hellfighters were sent to their first front line posting, three months before any American unit saw battle. On May 14th privates Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts were on sentry duty and Johnson heard someone cutting wires and had to fight against 24 German Soldiers. They were both extremely hurt after the altercation surviving grenades and gunshots but they managed to escape and kill 4 soldiers and injuring 10. Because of this Roberts and Johnson became the first Americans to be awarded Croix de Guerre, the French equivalent of a US Bronze Star. After the attack Johnson became known as "Black Death." The Hellfighters six month tour was the longest served tour of any unit in the war. When they returned to New York in February of 1919 they went back to National Guard status.
