The Harlem Hellfighters

The Harlem Hellfighters — the 369th Infantry Regiment — were the most decorated American unit in World War I and the regiment that spent the most consecutive days in combat: 191 days on the front lines without losing a foot of ground or having a single man captured. The German army called them the "Höllenkämpfer" — Hellfighters — because of their ferocity. The American Army wouldn't fight alongside them because they were Black.

The regiment was organized in 1916 as the 15th New York National Guard Regiment, composed of Black soldiers from Harlem and other neighborhoods. When they arrived in France, the American Expeditionary Forces refused to integrate them into U.S. divisions, so they were assigned to the French Army, which welcomed them. Fighting under French command, they distinguished themselves in every engagement, including the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest battle in American military history.

The entire unit was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for their service. Individual members received 171 French military decorations. Corporal Henry Johnson became one of the first Americans to receive the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm after single-handedly fighting off a German raiding party, killing four and wounding dozens while suffering 21 wounds. When the Hellfighters returned to New York in February 1919, they marched up Fifth Avenue through Harlem to a heroes' welcome — a parade the U.S. military refused to organize.