On May 15, 1918, during World War I, African American soldiers Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts of the 369th Infantry Regiment—known as the Harlem Hellfighters—valiantly fought off a German raiding party in Argonne Forest, France. Despite being outnumbered and wounded, Johnson single-handedly killed or wounded several enemy soldiers using only a rifle and a bolo knife while protecting Roberts and preventing their capture. For their heroism, both men became the first Americans awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme, France’s highest military decoration for valor. Their courage went largely unrecognized in the U.S. at the time, but their legacy has since become a symbol of bravery and resistance against racial discrimination in military history.
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