Harlem Hellfighters, By Stephen L. Harris

In the early morning hours of May 15th, 1918, in the midst of war in France, a German raiding party approached a small outpost, stationed by just a few men. Private Henry Johnson, an American soldier assigned to the French Army, was the only line of defense for the outpost. Miraculously, his defense held. Using grenades, his rifle, and physical strikes with said rifle, he single-handedly repelled the raiders, defended the outpost, and saved his fellow soldiers from capture by the Germans. The vigilant combat he displayed had embodied his unit as a whole, the 369th Infantry Regiment, dubbed the “Harlem Hellfighters” for their place of creation, Harlem, and the nickname of “Hellfighters” given to them by their stunned German enemies. Henry

Stephen L. Harris has written on this regiment directly, in his book “Harlem's Hell Fighters: The African-American 369th Infantry in World War I.” In his book, he describes the challenges the Hellfighters faced to even reach a position where they could enter combat, including racism at home and within a segregated military. Harris also covers how the Hellfighters had an impact in race issues, culture, and the war effort. The Harlem Hellfighters are depicted as obedient and working to prove their value as soldiers in an effort to extend more opportunities to black Americans. They do get this opportunity, as they’re given the opportunity to serve as soldiers in combat in France, a task that many black soldiers throughout WWI never

They signed up in masses to participate in battle, reaching a point where army recruiters had to stop accepting blacks not because of racial bias, but because “the quotas for African Americans were filled.” Segregation in the army was still commonplace, and most black soldiers never received the honor of being placed into a combat role. Instead, most of them worked as laborers for the army, filling the roles of cooks, cleaners, and builders who dug out the trenches. These roles were considered the worst ones in terms of social standing, but they were a necessity for the armies nonetheless. Some of these laborers, including the Harlem Hellfighters, eventually worked their way into a combat role. This style of working from the lowest position to a more respectable one was the exact reason why this was was seen as an opportunity by black Americans. The war was a sudden chance to improve their standing in the society they lived