Henry Johnson's Argonne Forest Stand

The first American recipients of France's high military honor for heroism, the Croix de Guerre with Palm, included Henry Johnson, a Harlem Hellfighter nicknamed "Black Death." During a German raid in the Argonne Forest in May 1918, he continued fighting with his rifle butt and a bolo knife after his rifle jammed. Accounts credit him with killing four Germans and wounding an estimated 10 to 20 while rescuing a fellow soldier, despite suffering 21 wounds himself. The United States awarded him the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2015.

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