The 369th Infantry Regiment, known as the Harlem Hellfighters, was a segregated African American unit in World War I that defied racist expectations by serving with exceptional valor and resilience, ultimately contributing to a shift in perceptions of Black soldiers and influencing the broader fight for civil rights.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
They were told they didn't belong in
uniform, that they lacked the courage,
the discipline, the very backbone needed
to face the German war machine. Yet, in
the blood soaked trenches of France,
they would fight longer and harder than
any other American regiment in the Great
War. The German soldiers thought it was
absurd. Reports filtered through their
lines that the Americans were deploying
black infantry to the Western Front. men
they considered primitive, untrained,
incapable of withstanding the hammer
blows of the Kaiser's finest divisions.
In German officer quarters, some
chuckled over their morning coffee, as
if the mere thought of facing such
opponents was laughable. They predicted
easy victories, quick routes. But those
same officers would soon encounter a
regiment that carried themselves with
steel in their spines and fire in their
hearts. And by November 1918, the
forests of France would echo with a very
different story.
Imagine yourself in early 1917. The
Great War had been devouring Europe for
nearly 3 years. The Western Front
stretched like a festering wound from
Belgium to Switzerland, a maze of muddy
trenches, rotting sandbags, and rusted
barbed wire. Millions had already died
for gains measured in yards. France was
bleeding out, its cities draped in black
as families mourned sons who would never
return. Britain's army was exhausted,
ground down by the meat grinder of S,
Verdon, Pashandale. Each offensive
promised breakthrough. Each delivered
only carnage. The allies needed help desperately.
desperately.
Then America entered the war in April 1917.
1917.
Fresh soldiers, untapped resources,
industrial might. To the French and
British, it was a lifeline. But for
black Americans who rushed to enlist,
eager to prove their patriotism, the
response from their own country was cold
rejection. The United States military in
1917 was rigidly segregated. Jim Crow
didn't stop at the recruitment office
door. It followed black volunteers into
training camps, into mess halls, into
every corner of military life. The
prevailing belief among white officers
was simple and ugly. Black men were
naturally cowardly, intellectually
inferior, unsuited for the demands of
modern warfare. These weren't whispered
opinions. They were stated openly in
reports, repeated in briefings,
enshrined in policy. When black men
volunteered, most were shunted into
labor battalions. The services of
supply. They called it a polite name for
backbreaking work far from any glory.
These men dug latrines, hauled
ammunition crates, loaded ships at
French ports. They built roads, strung
telephone wire, buried the dead. The
message was unmistakable.
Your country needs your sweat, not your
valor, your hands, not your courage. But
in New York City, in the vibrant heart
of Harlem, something extraordinary was
taking form. Picture Harlem in 1916,
alive with possibility. Jazz rhythms
spilled from basement speak easys. On
street corners, men debated Marcus
Garvey's speeches and the future of
their people. Poets scribbled in
notebooks. Families gathered in
brownstones. Children playing stickball
in the streets. It was a place where
black Americans had carved out space to
breathe, to create, to dream. When war
came and the call went out for soldiers,
Harlem answered. Men lined up outside
recruitment offices, ready to serve.
They came from everywhere. Musicians who
could make a clarinet sing. Porters who
had worked the railroads. Collegemen
with engineering degrees. Laborers with
calloused hands. Some had never touched
a weapon. others had hunted since
boyhood. What bound them together was a
fierce determination to prove something,
not just to white America, but to
themselves. They enlisted in what would
become the 369th Infantry Regiment, part
of the New York National Guard. On
paper, it was another segregated unit
expected to fade into obscurity like so
many others. But these men refused to
accept that fate. They drilled in
armories, marching in formation until
their feet bled. They practiced rifle
drills until their shoulders achd. They
studied tactics, maps, military history.
One recruit later remembered the
intensity. We knew we were carrying more
[music] than our own futures. Every step
we took, every order we followed, we
were answering for all of us. The weight
was enormous. If they failed, it would
be used as proof that black soldiers
couldn't fight. If they succeeded, they
might crack open a door that had been
bolted shut for generations. Their
commander was Colonel William Hayward, a
white attorney from Nebraska who had
been a political ally of Theodore
Roosevelt. Hayward was an unusual man
for his time. He genuinely believed his
troops could be as good as any in the
army. He fought the military bureaucracy
to get them proper rifles, uniforms,
training time. He petitioned, argued,
and demanded that his regiment be given
a real chance. But even Hayward's
determination couldn't overcome the
institutional racism baked into the
American Expeditionary Forces. The
prejudice wasn't subtle. It was a brick
wall. When the 369th prepared to ship
overseas in December 1917, white
regiments received priority for
everything. New equipment, experienced
trainers, transportation. The 369th got
handme-downs and skepticism. Some white
officers requested transfers rather than
serve alongside black soldiers. The men
heard the whispers, saw the snears. They
knew what people thought of them. The
crossing to France was long and tense.
Packed into transport ships, the men of
the 369th sailed through
submarineinfested waters. They played
cards, wrote letters home, and wondered
what awaited them on the other side of
the Atlantic. Some spoke quietly about
their hopes. Maybe France would be
different. Maybe there they could prove
themselves. Others were more guarded,
having learned not to expect much from a
world that had given them so little.
When they finally disembarked at the
port of breast [music] in January 1918,
the French winter cut through their
uniforms. The landscape was gray, the
towns battered by years of war. And
almost immediately, the 369th was
assigned to labor duties. They were
handed shovels and pickaxes, not rifles.
They unloaded supply ships, built
railroad tracks, repaired roads torn
apart by artillery. Day after day, they
watched white American units march
[music] toward the front lines while
they stayed behind, doing the work no
one else wanted. The frustration was
crushing. These men had trained to
fight. They had volunteered to defend
their country. Instead, they were
treated as a labor pool, invisible
except when there was heavy lifting to
be done. At night, in cold barracks,
they asked each other the same question.
Would they ever get their chance? But
unbeknownst to them, the French army was
watching. And the French had a very
different view of what these soldiers
might [music] accomplish. The stage was
set for a transformation that would
shock both allies and enemies. A
regiment dismissed by their own country
was about to be given the opportunity
they'd been denied. And when that moment
came, the Harlem Hell Fighters would
seize it with both hands and never let
go. Before the 369th could prove
themselves in battle, they first had to
escape the shadow of American prejudice.
That escape came from an unexpected
source, the French army. Desperate for
reinforcements and willing to see
soldiers as soldiers, regardless of skin
color. By the spring of 1918, the
situation on the Western Front had
reached a critical point. Germany had
knocked Russia out of the war and was
transferring hundreds of thousands of
troops from the Eastern Front to France.
The German high command knew this was
their last chance to win before American
forces arrived in full strength. In
March, they launched Operation Michael,
a massive offensive that smashed through
British lines and threatened to split
the Allied armies in two. The French
were reeling. They had lost over a
million men in four years [music] of
fighting. Entire villages in France had
no young men left. The army was
exhausted, stretched impossibly thin.
French commanders pleaded with the
Americans for troops, any troops that
could hold a section of the line. But
General John Persing, commander of the
American Expeditionary Forces, refused
to parcel out his units. He insisted on
keeping American soldiers under American
command, building up forces for a grand
offensive under his control. There was
one exception he was willing to make,
the black regiments. Persing saw an
opportunity to rid himself of units he
didn't want while helping the French. He
offered to loan several black regiments
to the French army for the duration of
the war. The French accepted [music]
without hesitation. They needed bodies
in the trenches and they had no patience
for American racial theories. For the
men of the 369th, the transfer came as
shocking news. They were told to [music]
turn in their American equipment and
uniforms. They would be re-equipped with
French weapons, French helmets, French
everything. They would eat [music]
French rations, follow French orders,
and fight as part of the French army.
Some felt abandoned, cast off by their
own country. One soldier later wrote,
"They didn't want us to fight under the
American flag. They made that clear, so
they gave us to the French like we were
equipment they didn't need." But others
saw it differently. This was their
chance. The French were actually going
to put them on the front lines. After
months of labor duty, they would finally
get to fight. The 369th was assigned to
the French 16th Division. When they
arrived at the French sector, the
contrast was immediate and startling.
French officers greeted them without
condescension. There were no segregated
facilities, no separate entrances, no
constant reminders that they were
considered inferior. French soldiers
shared meals with them, bunkked
alongside them, treated them as
comrades. For men who had grown up under
Jim Crowe, who had been rejected by
their own military, this treatment was
almost surreal. One Harlem soldier
recalled his first dinner with French
[music] troops. They passed us wine,
broke bread with us, joked with us. I
kept waiting for the other shoe to drop,
for them to tell us to eat somewhere
else. It never happened. This isn't to
say France was a racial paradise.
French colonial troops from Africa and
Indochina faced their own
discrimination, but in the context of
frontline service, the French military
operated with a pragmatism born of
desperation. If you could shoot straight
and hold a trench, you were valuable.
The French did more than just accept the 369th.
369th.
They trained them. French officers
taught them how to use the Leel rifle,
the Chosa light machine gun, and French
grenades. They drilled them in [music]
French infantry tactics, which
emphasized aggressive patrolling and
hand-to-h hand combat. The training was
intense, professional, and devoid of the
hostility they'd faced from American
instructors. Within weeks, the men of
the 369 were learning to navigate trench
systems, practicing bayonet charges, and
studying German positions on detailed
maps. They absorbed everything, hungry
to prove themselves. But the real
education came when they entered the
trenches for the first time. Nothing
could prepare them for it. Imagine
descending into that underground world.
The trenches were deep cuts in the
earth. Walls shored up with sandbags and
wooden planks. They zigzagged to prevent
enemy fire from infilating an entire
section. The bottom was often covered in
duck boards to keep men out of the mud.
But in spring, the mud was everywhere. A
thick sucking morass that clung to boots
and could swallow a man if he stepped
off the boards. The smell hits you
first. A nauseating mix of human waste,
rotting [music] sandbags, stagnant
water, and death. Bodies lay buried in
the trench walls. Sometimes a hand or
boot protruding. No one spoke about it.
You just learned not to look. Rats
scured everywhere, fat and fearless,
feeding on the dead. At night, their
squeaking filled the darkness. The men
of the 369th stood sentry, peering over
the parapit into no man's land. Out
there, beyond the barbed wire, the
German trenches mirrored their own. At
night, flares shot up, bathing the
landscape in harsh white light. Anyone
caught moving froze, knowing German
snipers watched for any flicker of
motion. Artillery fire was constant. The
sound became part of existence. A
baseline rumble punctuated by ears
spplitting crashes when shells landed
close. The ground shook. Dirt rained
down. Men learned to judge the whistle
of incoming rounds to know when to duck
and when to pray. Gas attacks added
another layer of terror. The first time
the alarm sounded, men scrambled for
their masks, hearts pounding. They'd
been trained, but training couldn't
capture the panic of seeing that yellow
green cloud rolling toward you. knowing
that one breath without your mask meant
choking, drowning in your own fluids. In
those early days, the French officers
watched the 369th closely, gauging their
reactions. Would they crack under the
pressure? Would they break and run when
the shelling intensified? The answer
came quickly. The Harlem soldiers held
steady. They manned their posts, kept
their sectors clean, rotated guard duty
without complaint. When German patrols
probed their lines at night, they
responded with disciplined fire. French
officers began reporting back. These
Americans were solid. One French captain
wrote in his diary, "The colored troops
from New York show remarkable calm under
fire. They do not panic. They obey
orders. I would trust them to hold any
section of the line." But the 369th
wasn't content to just hold. They wanted
to prove they could take the fight to
the enemy. The French army encouraged
aggressive patrolling, sending small
groups into no man's land to raid German
trenches, gather intelligence, and
capture prisoners. The 369th volunteered
for these missions eagerly. Picture a
raid. It happened at night. Always. A
small group of soldiers, faces blackened
with mud, crawling on their bellies
through the monk. They cut through
barbed wire with practiced care, each
snip sounding impossibly loud. The
German trench was just ahead, voices
carried on the wind. Then the rush up
and over. Grenades flying, rifles
cracking, bayonets flashing in the dark.
Chaos and violence compressed into
seconds. Then the scramble back,
dragging a prisoner if they were lucky,
carrying a wounded comrade if they
weren't. These raids earned the 369th
respect from their French counterparts
and fear from the Germans. Word began
spreading through enemy lines about the
black American soldiers [music] fighting
with the French. German propaganda tried
to exploit racial tensions, dropping
leaflets encouraging black soldiers to
desert, promising them better treatment.
The leaflets went unanswered. The men of
the 369th had no interest in German
promises. They were here to fight, but
their most significant contribution was
yet to come. They hadn't been tested by
a major German offensive. hadn't faced
the full fury of the Kaiser's army. That
test was approaching fast, and it would
come in a forest that would become
synonymous with their courage. Still, in
those first months with the French,
something fundamental shifted for the
men of the 369.
They were no longer an experiment
waiting to fail. They were soldiers.
Plain and simple. The French saw it. The
Germans feared it. And slowly, word
filtered back to American commanders
that the black regiment fighting with
the French was performing admirably.
Some American officers dismissed the
reports, convinced it was French
exaggeration. Others began to wonder if
they'd been wrong. But for the men in
the trenches, none of that mattered.
They had been given a chance, and they
were determined to make it count. Every
patrol, every night watch, every German
attack repulsed was another brick laid
in the foundation of their legacy. The
real test, however, was still to come.
Before the name Hell Fighters became
legend, it had to be earned in blood,
mud, and the kind of brutal close
quarters combat that broke lesser units.
The Crucible came in the spring and
summer of 1918 when the 369th would face
not just German soldiers, but the very
limits of human endurance. The first
significant engagement came in May 1918
in a quiet sector that wouldn't stay
quiet for long. The 369th was holding a
section of trenches in the Champagne
region east of Ramps. It was supposed to
be a holding action, a defensive posture
while the Allies prepared for counter
offensives. But the Germans had other
plans. They knew the French line was
thin, stretched to breaking. They also
knew that a black American regiment was
holding one portion. Some German
officers saw this as a weakness to
exploit. Late one night, the attack came
without warning. No preparatory
bombardment, just shadows pouring over
the [music] parapet. German
stormtroopers, elite assault troops
trained in infiltration tactics. They
came with grenades, trench clubs, and
savage efficiency. In the darkness,
hand-to-hand fighting erupted. Imagine
the chaos. The flash of muzzle fire in
pitch black. Men grappling in mud.
Bayonets finding flesh. The wet sounds
of violence too close and too personal.
German soldiers had been told these
would be easy trenches to take. They
discovered otherwise. The men of the
369th fought with a ferocity that
shocked their attackers. They held the
line, drove back the assault, and left
German bodies tangled in the wire. When
dawn broke, French officers surveyed the
scene. The 369th hadn't just survived.
They'd inflicted heavy casualties while
taking relatively few themselves.
Reports flew up the chain of command.
The Black American Regiment had proven
itself in close combat. But one action,
no matter how successful, doesn't build
a legend. That requires consistency. The
kind that comes from doing the
impossible again and again until it
becomes expected. The 369th began
rotating into some of the most contested
sectors of the front. Places where
German artillery pounded relentlessly
where snipers picked off anyone careless
enough to show themselves. Where gas
attacks came with sickening regularity.
Through it all, the regiment held. They
didn't break. They didn't crack. Men
died, of course. Artillery claimed some
snipers others. Disease killed men in
the trenches just as surely as bullets.
dysentery and trenchoot and pneumonia.
Each loss was felt deeply. At night,
soldiers wrote letters home struggling
to describe what they were living
through. One private wrote to his
mother, "I can't tell you where we are
or what we've seen. But I can tell you
this, we're showing them every day.
We're showing them what we're made of."
That determination, that refusal to give
their critics any ammunition became the
regiment's defining characteristic.
But the most famous moment of those
early months came not from a large
battle, but from two men alone in the
dark. It was May 15th, 1918.
Privates Henry Johnson and Nem Roberts
were manning an observation post in a
forward position, isolated from the main
trench line. Their job was to watch for
German patrols and raise the alarm. The
night was still, almost peaceful. Then
came the sound of wire cutters. The two
men peered into the darkness and saw
shadows moving. Germans, at least a
dozen, cutting through the wire. Johnson
and Roberts opened fire, but their
position was about to be overrun. The
Germans rushed them, grenades exploding,
rifle fire ripping through the night.
Roberts was hit almost immediately,
badly wounded. Johnson kept firing until
his rifle jammed. Then he fought with
the only thing he had left, a bolo
knife. What happened next became the
stuff of legend. Johnson, a former
railroad porter from Albany who stood
barely 5'4, fought off German soldiers
with his knife in brutal hand-to-hand
combat. He slashed, stabbed, and when
they tried to drag Roberts away as a
prisoner. Johnson launched himself at
them with such fury that the Germans
fell back. By the time French
reinforcements arrived, Johnson had
killed four Germans and wounded at least
10 more. He himself had been shot
multiple times and suffered over 20
wounds from bullets, grenades, and
bayonets. Roberts, despite his injuries,
had thrown grenades until he couldn't
lift his arms. The French were
astonished. Two men had held off a
German raiding party and won. News of
the action spread [music] like wildfire.
The French awarded Johnson and Roberts
the Quad Degare, France's highest
military honor. They were the first
Americans of any race to receive it in
World War I. But more importantly, the
story reached the American press. Here
was something undeniable. Two black
soldiers, outnumbered and wounded, had
fought with extraordinary courage. For
the folks back home, especially in
Harlem, it was vindication. The white
newspapers that had ignored or
downplayed black military service now
had to acknowledge it. Henry Johnson
became a hero. his face printed in
papers across America. When he
eventually returned to the United
States, he was greeted with parades. But
the war wasn't done with the 369th,
not by a long measure. As summer
approached, the German spring offensive
was running out of steam. The massive
attacks that had threatened Paris were
being blunted by Allied resistance and
American reinforcements. But the Germans
still held huge swades of French
territory and driving them out would
require brutal offensive operations. The
369th would be in the thick of it. They
were assigned [music] to participate in
the Champagne Marn offensive, a push to
reclaim ground lost earlier in the year.
This meant leaving the relative safety
of defensive positions and advancing
across open ground into German machine
gun fire. It meant artillery barges that
turned forests into moonscapes. It meant
casualties on a scale the regiment
hadn't yet experienced. The offensive
began in mid July. The 369th went over
the top with French units on either
side. Picture the moment. Officers
blowing whistles, men climbing ladders
out of trenches, emerging into a
landscape of smoke and noise. German
machine guns opened up immediately.
Their characteristic ripsaw sound
tearing through the air. Men fell, but
the line kept moving forward. They
advanced in short rushes, diving for
cover behind shell craters, then up and
forward again. The ground was torn
apart, littered with the detritus of
previous battles, broken rifles,
shattered equipment, bodies. The
regiment fought through German positions
with grenades and bayonets. They cleared
bunkers, took prisoners, and kept
pressing forward even as casualties
mounted. What distinguished the 369th
was their aggressiveness.
French commanders noted that when the
attack bogged down, when other units
hesitated under heavy fire, the Harlem
soldiers kept moving. They didn't wait
for orders. They saw an objective and
took it. This wasn't recklessness. It
was initiative. The kind of battlefield
decision-making that separates good
units from great ones. Over the course
of the offensive, the 369th captured
German positions, artillery pieces, and
hundreds of prisoners. They suffered
losses. Yes. Men they'd trained with,
eaten with, fought beside, didn't come
back. Each empty spot in [music] the
ranks was a wound. But the regiment's
reputation grew with every action.
French newspapers began writing about
Lem de Bronze, the men of bronze. The
nickname stuck, but there was another
name brewing, darker, and more fitting.
In German headquarters, officers poured
over afteraction reports. Their soldiers
were describing encounters with black
American troops that didn't fit the
racial stereotypes. These weren't
frightened, disorganized opponents.
These were disciplined, aggressive
fighters who seemed to lack the fear
that exhaustion usually brought. German
soldiers started calling them something
else. Helen Kempe, hell fighters. The
name made its way across no man's land.
When the 369th heard it, they adopted it
with fierce pride. Let the Germans call
them hell fighters. Let them know fear
when they saw these soldiers coming.
The Harlem Hell Fighters weren't just
fighting for military objectives. They
were fighting for respect, for
recognition, for the right to be seen as
equals. Back at their camps between
actions, the men dealt with the
psychological weight of combat. Some
wrote home, carefully censoring their
words so families wouldn't worry. Others
played music, jazz, and blues, drifting
through the French countryside, a sound
entirely foreign to this landscape, but
somehow fitting. The regiment's band,
led by James Ree Europe, became famous
in its own right, performing for French
civilians and spreading American music
across Europe. But beneath the music,
the exhaustion ran deep. Men slept when
they could, often waking with a start at
sounds that resembled incoming shells.
They ate, cleaned their weapons, wrote
letters, and tried not to think about
the next time they'd go into the line.
The summer of 1918 was brutal. The
weather turned hot, making the trenches
even more miserable. Flies swarmed. The
stench intensified, but the 369th kept
fighting. They participated in the Ammon
Mar offensive, helping to push the
Germans back toward the Belgian [music]
border. Each battle added to their
record. Each action proved again that
they belonged on the battlefield. Yet
with all their success, they remained
apart from the American army. While
white American units trained, fought,
and rested under American command, the
369 stayed with the French. Some men
wondered if they'd been forgotten by
their own country. Others were glad to
be where they were valued. But the
biggest test was still ahead. The final
great offensive of the war was [music]
being planned. A push that would drive
into the heavily fortified German
positions in the Argon Forest. It would
be the largest American operation of the
war, and the 369th would be right in the
middle of it. Everything they had
endured, every fight they'd survived had
been preparation for this. The Muz Argon
offensive would become the bloodiest
battle in American history, and the
Harlem Hell Fighters would write their
names in its most [music] brutal
chapters. Before they could become
legends, they had to survive the forest.
The Argon was where reputations went to
die, where entire divisions vanished
into the trees and emerged broken, if
they emerged at all. For the 369th, it
would be the test that proved
everything. By September 1918, the tide
of war had shifted decisively. The
German spring offensive had failed.
American forces were pouring into France
by the hundreds of thousands. The Allies
were finally strong enough to launch
coordinated offensives all along the
Western Front. The goal was ambitious.
Break through German lines before
winter. Force a decision. End the war.
The Americans would carry the weight of
the main effort in the Mus Argon region,
a heavily defended section of the front
where the Germans had built layer upon
layer of fortifications.
The Argon forest itself was a nightmare
of terrain. Dense woods, ravines,
underbrush so thick you couldn't see 10
ft ahead. The Germans had spent years
fortifying it, transforming natural
defenses into killing zones. Machine gun
nests were cunningly placed to create
overlapping fields of fire. Artillery
was pre-registered on every approach.
Barbed wire stretched in thick belts.
And throughout the forest, concrete
bunkers housed German troops who could
rain fire on anyone trying to advance.
The French had tried to push through the
Argon before and been bled white. Now it
was America's turn, and the 369th would
be part of the assault. The orders
[music] came in late September. The
regiment would attack as part of the
French Fourth Army on the left flank of
the overall offensive. Their objective
was to push through German lines,
capture key positions, and keep pressing
forward no matter the cost. The men knew
what this meant. The Argon's reputation
preceded it. This wouldn't be a quick
fight. It would be weeks of grinding,
brutal combat, in some of the worst
terrain imaginable.
On the morning of September [music]
26th, the offensive began with the
largest artillery barrage the Americans
had ever fired. For hours, shells
screamed overhead, pounding German
positions. The noise was beyond
description, a physical force that made
the ground shake and the air vibrant. At
0 hour, whistles blew and all along the
front, men climbed out of their trenches
and began advancing. The 369th went
forward with French colonial troops on
their flanks. Almost immediately, the
plan began to fall apart. The artillery
had failed to cut the wire. German
machine guns had survived the
bombardment, their crews emerging from
deep bunkers to man their weapons. As
the waves of infantry crossed no man's
land, they walked into a storm of fire.
Men fell by the dozens. The advance
slowed, then stopped, then surged
forward again as officers rallied their
troops. The 369th pushed into the forest
itself, and there the fighting became
personal and terrifying. You couldn't
see the enemy until you were almost on
top of them. German soldiers appeared
from behind trees, from concealed
positions, firing at point blank range.
Every tree could hide a sniper. Every
ravine could conceal a machine gun nest.
Visibility was measured in feet, not
yards. The regiment broke into smaller
units, squads and platoon operating
semi-independently, advancing when they
could, taking cover when they had to.
They used grenades to clear bunkers,
bayonets for close combat. The fighting
was exhausting, not just physically, but
mentally. You couldn't let your guard
down for a second. Every step could be
your last. The sounds of battle echoed
strangely in the forest, making it hard
to tell where fire was coming from. Men
communicated with hand signals, afraid
to shout and give away positions. At
night, the forest became even more
treacherous. Patrols moved through the
darkness, stumbling over roots, trying
not to make noise. German patrols did
the same. Sometimes they'd bump into
each other in the dark, leading to
brief, vicious firefights before both
sides melted back into the trees. The
369th fought through these conditions
for days, then weeks. They took
casualties constantly. Snipers, machine
guns, artillery, even hand-to-hand
combat. Medics worked frantically, but
there were never enough of them. Wounded
men had to be carried back through the
forest to aid stations, a process that
could take hours and cost more lives.
The regiment's commanders kept pushing
them forward, demanding they take the
next objective and the next. The men
obeyed, not because they were
unthinking, but because they understood
what failure would mean. If they broke,
if they retreated, it would be used as
proof that black soldiers couldn't
handle the pressure. Every yard gained
was a victory not just against the
Germans, but against prejudice itself.
The French commanders were impressed,
but also concerned. The 369th was being
ground down. Replacements couldn't keep
up with casualties. The men in the line
were exhausted, [music] running on
adrenaline and willpower. But every time
French officers suggested pulling them
back for rest, [music] the regiment's
officers refused. Not yet. We can keep
going. And they did. They fought through
places that became seared into their
memories. Sasho, a village fortified by
the Germans and turned into a strong
point. The 369th attacked it repeatedly,
finally taking it in brutal
house-to-house fighting. Every room had
to be cleared, every seller checked. By
the time it fell, the village was rubble
and the regiment's ranks were thinner.
Then there was Belleview Ridge, a
dominating piece of terrain the Germans
were determined to hold. The 369th was
ordered to take it. The attack began at
dawn. Men advancing up the slope under
withering fire. They were cut down in
waves, but those who survived kept
climbing. They reached the German
[music] trenches and fought with
grenades and entrenching tools and bare
hands. The ridge changed [music] hands
twice before the hell fighters secured
it for good. The cost was staggering,
but the objective was theirs. These
weren't clean victories. There was
nothing glorious about crawling through
mud and blood, watching friends die,
living in constant fear. But the 369th
kept fighting because stopping wasn't an
option. As October wore on, the
offensive ground forward. The Germans
were retreating, but slowly contesting
every meter. The 369th was constantly in
contact with the enemy. Days blurred
together. Wake up. Check your weapon.
Eat if food was available. Advance.
Fight. Dig in. Try to sleep while
artillery thundered. Then do it again.
The mental strain was immense. Men
started showing signs of shell shock.
that thousand-y stare, flinching at
sounds, hands trembling uncontrollably.
But the regiment as a whole held
together. They took care of each other.
Veterans looked after new replacements.
Officers stayed close to their men,
sharing the same dangers, the same
exhaustion. By early November, the 369th
had been in continuous combat for over
40 days. No other American regiment
could claim that record. They had
advanced further than any other unit in
their sector. They had captured German
artillery, taken hundreds of prisoners,
and seized every objective assigned to
them. But the price had been paid in
blood. The regiment that had entered the
Argon was not the same one that would
emerge. They were harder, older in ways
that had nothing to do with time. Some
men barely spoke anymore, their eyes
hollow. Others maintained a grim
determination, counting down the days
until it would be over. Through it all,
they kept the line. They held when other
units faltered. They advanced when the
order came. And they earned a reputation
that would outlive them all. Before the
guns finally fell silent, before the
celebrations and the parades, the 369th
had to pay the butcher's bill.
Glory in war always comes with a price
tag written in blood and grief, and the
Harlem Hell Fighters paid in full. The
fighting in the Argon had taken a toll
that statistics alone couldn't capture.
Yes, the regiment had lost hundreds of
men killed and wounded. Yes, entire
[music] companies had been reduced to
skeleton crews. But the deeper cost was
written on the faces of the survivors,
in the letters they stopped writing
home, in the way they flinched at sudden
sounds even years later. Consider what
it meant to fight for over 40
consecutive days. Most units were
rotated out of the line after a week,
given time to rest, refit, and recover.
The 369th stayed in day after day, night
after night, they manned the forward
positions. Sleep came in snatches,
always interrupted. Food was often cold
rations eaten while huddled in a shell
crater. There was no rear area safety,
no place to truly relax. Even when
pulled back a few hundred yards, German
artillery could still reach them. The
psychological strain of that constant
exposure broke many men. Shell shock
they called it then. Today we'd call it PTSD.
PTSD.
Trauma, combat stress. Whatever the
name, the symptoms were real and
devastating. Men who had been brave
under fire suddenly couldn't function.
They'd freeze at the sound of artillery,
unable to move. Some developed violent
tremors, their hands shaking so badly
they couldn't hold a rifle. Others
simply stared into space, unreachable,
somewhere else entirely. The regiment's
medical officers did what they could,
but there was [music] no real treatment.
No understanding of what these men were
going through. Some were sent to rear
hospitals. Others stayed in the line
because there was no one to replace
them. The regiment needed every man it
could get. One chaplain later wrote
about walking the trenches at night,
finding soldiers weeping silently,
trying not to let their comrades see. I
couldn't offer them much, he wrote.
Prayer seemed hollow against what they
had experienced. All I could do was sit
with them, let them know they weren't
alone. The physical casualties were
equally brutal. Men lost limbs to
artillery, were blinded by gas,
sustained wounds that would never fully
heal. The regiment's casualty rate was
among the highest of any American unit.
Medics and stretcherbearers performed
acts of heroism that went largely
unrecognized, running into fire to drag
wounded men back, working under
bombardment to stabilize the dying. Many
of them became casualties themselves.
The aid stations were overwhelmed, blood
soaked tents where surgeons worked by
lantern light, amputating shattered
limbs, trying to stop bleeding, making
impossible decisions about who could be
saved and who was beyond help. The smell
of those places, disinfectant and blood
and gang green, haunted everyone who
entered. Back home, families received
telegrams. The war department regrets to
inform you. In Harlem, gold stars
appeared in windows, each one marking a
son who wouldn't return. Churches held
memorial services for men whose bodies
lay in French soil, buried in hasty
graves near where they fell. Mothers
mourned. Fathers tried to stay strong.
Wives became widows. Children grew up
without fathers. The cost rippled
outward, touching entire communities.
But the families back home didn't know
the worst of it. Couldn't know. The
letters that made it through were
heavily censored. The soldiers
themselves self-censored, not wanting to
burden their loved ones with the truth
of what they endured. As the Argon
offensive continued into November,
rumors began spreading through the
trenches that the Germans were seeking
an armistice. Peace might be coming. But
no one dared believe it. They'd been
fighting for so long that peace seemed
like a fantasy, something from another
life. The 369th kept pushing forward,
kept taking objectives, kept fighting as
if the war would [music] never end. On
November 10th, the regiment was still in
heavy contact with German forces. They
captured the town of Seicho. After
fierce fighting, clearing it house by
house. That night, exhausted men dug in,
expecting another dawn assault. Instead,
at 11:00 a.m. on November 11th, 1918,
the gun stopped. The silence was
shocking, almost painful. Men who had
lived with the constant thunder of
artillery for months suddenly heard
nothing. Birds sang. Somewhere in the
distance, a church bell rang. Soldiers
climbed out of their trenches
cautiously, unable to believe it was
real. Some cheered. Others wept. Many
just sat in stunned silence, trying to
process that they had survived. The war
was over. They had made it. But the
celebration was muted for the 369th.
They looked around at their depleted
ranks, at the faces of men who had been
boys when they enlisted, now aged beyond
their years. They thought of the friends
who weren't there to see this moment.
The victory felt incomplete, purchased
at too high a price. In the days
following the armistice, the regiment
began the process of accounting for
their casualties, collecting personal
effects of the dead to send home,
writing letters to families. The numbers
were sobering. The 369th had suffered
more casualties than most American
regiments. They had spent 191 days in
[music] combat, far longer than any
other US unit. They had never lost a
foot of ground to the enemy, never had a
[music] man captured. But they had paid
for that record with blood. French
commanders praised them effusively. The
entire regiment was awarded the cuadare
by the [music] French government. Over
170 individual members received French
military honors. American recognition
was slower in coming, grudging when it
arrived. The physical healing would take
time. The psychological healing for many
would never come. Men returned to
civilian life, carrying wounds no one
could see. nightmares that lasted
decades. Some found ways to cope, to
build lives, to move forward. Others
struggled, self-medicated with alcohol,
couldn't hold jobs, became ghosts of who
they'd been. The cost of their valor
extended far beyond the battlefield. But
even in the immediate aftermath, as they
prepared to leave France, the men of the
369 knew they had accomplished something
profound. They had fought as hard as any
regiment in the American Expeditionary
Forces. They had earned the respect of
the French, the fear of the Germans, and
grudging acknowledgement from their own
army. They had proven that courage had
no color.
Part six, the return home. 45 minutes to
54 minutes.
Before they could be welcomed as heroes,
they had to cross an ocean and face the
country that had tried so hard to keep
them from fighting at all. The return to
America would prove that winning a war
abroad didn't mean winning the peace at
home. In December 1918, the 369th began
the long journey back to the United
States. They boarded transport ships at
French ports, leaving behind the
trenches and the graveyards, [music]
carrying with them memories and wounds
that would never fully heal.
The crossing was different from the
voyage over. Then they had been
uncertain, untested, wondering what
awaited them. Now they were veterans,
hardened [music] by combat, decorated by
France, and expecting to be treated as
the heroes they'd proven themselves to
be. The first hint that [music] things
wouldn't be so simple came before they
even left France. While white American
regiments were being processed for
return, receiving new uniforms and
equipment, the 369th waited, they were
still technically part of the French
army, administratively separate from the
rest of the American Expeditionary
Forces. The bureaucracy that had shunted
them aside before the war now delayed
their return home. Some men wondered if
they were being deliberately kept in
France until after the white units had
their parades. Finally, in February
1919, after months of waiting, they
received orders. They would return to
New York. The voyage was long and cold.
Men stood on the decks as the ship
approached New York Harbor, watching the
Statue of Liberty emerge from the mist.
Some wept at the site. They had
survived. They were home.
On February 17th, 1919, the 369th
Infantry Regiment marched through the
streets of Manhattan in what would
become one of the most significant
parades in American history. The city
had been planning for it, and Harlem
especially had been waiting for its sons
to return. The streets were packed with
people. Thousands upon thousands, lining
the route. The regiment marched in their
French helmets, carrying their French
rifles, their chests covered with French
medals. They marched with pride, back
straight despite exhaustion, eyes
forward. The regimental band, led by
Lieutenant James Ree Europe, played jazz
and marshall music, a sound that had
never been heard at an American military
parade before. As they marched up Fifth
Avenue toward Harlem, something
extraordinary happened. The white crowds
that had come to watch fell silent at
first, unsure how to react to black
soldiers being treated as heroes. But as
the regiment passed, as people saw the
medals, saw the bearing of these men,
the applause began. It started
scattered, then grew louder. By the time
the 369th reached Harlem, the streets
erupted. People wept, screamed, reached
out to touch the soldiers. Mothers saw
their sons. Widows honored their dead.
Children waved flags. The entire
neighborhood turned out in a celebration
that lasted for hours.
One soldier later recalled. We'd fought
in France, been honored by the French.
But that day in Harlem, that was when it
finally felt real. Our people knew what
we'd done. They were proud of us. But
the euphoria of that day couldn't erase
the reality waiting beyond Harlem's
borders. The men of the 369th [music]
were being discharged back into a
society that still viewed them as
secondclass citizens.
Jim Crow hadn't gone anywhere while they
fought. In fact, in some ways, racial
tensions had intensified during the war
years. The Great Migration had brought
thousands of black Americans north,
seeking jobs in wartime industries. This
created economic competition and
resentment among white workers. Race
riots had broken out in several cities
during the war. The summer of 1919 would
bring even worse violence with massacres
in Chicago, Washington DC, and dozens of
other cities. Black veterans found
themselves targets. White supremacists
saw armed, confident black men as
threats. There were incidents of
veterans being attacked for wearing
their uniforms in public, especially in
the South. Henry Johnson, the hero who
had fought off a German raiding party
and earned France's highest honor,
returned home to find himself unable to
work due to his injuries. He struggled
financially, turned to alcohol to cope
with pain and trauma, and died in
poverty in 1929.
The country he'd defended so bravely had
little use for him once the [music] war
ended. His story was repeated across the
regiment. Many veterans found it
difficult to find work. Employers
discriminated openly. The benefits
promised to veterans were often [music]
denied to black soldiers through
bureaucratic obstacles. The GI Bill and
other programs [music] that would help
World War II veterans wouldn't exist for
another generation. These men had to
make their own way. And the country
wasn't making it easy. Colonel William
Hayward, their white commander, tried to
advocate for his men [music] after the
war. He wrote articles praising their
service, gave speeches about their
courage, but even his voice couldn't
overcome the systemic racism built into
American society. The army, which had
never wanted black combat soldiers in
the first place, went back to its
pre-war [music] policies. Black soldiers
were again relegated to service roles.
The lessons of the 369th's performance
were deliberately ignored. Military
planners wrote reports concluding that
black soldiers had only succeeded
because of French leadership, ignoring
the fact that black officers had led
many of the regiment's most successful actions.
actions.
Some military historians of the era went
so far as to fabricate accounts of black
troops failing in combat, creating a
false narrative that would persist for decades.
decades.
The men of the 369th found themselves
fighting a new battle. The battle for
memory, for recognition, for the truth
of what they'd accomplished to be
preserved. Some wrote memoirs. Others
gave interviews to black newspapers
which covered their stories when white
papers ignored them. They held reunions,
keeping their bonds alive, supporting
each other through the difficult years
of peace. The veterans became active in
their communities, many joining the
civil rights organizations that were
beginning to coalesce into what would
become the civil rights movement. They
had faced German machine guns and
artillery. They weren't going to be
intimidated by segregation and
discrimination. Their service became a
rallying cry. If we're good enough to
die for this country, [music] we're good
enough to vote, to eat in any
restaurant, to send our children to any
school. But the fight was exhausting.
Many veterans struggled with what we now
recognize as PTSD.
Though in that era there was no
diagnosis, no treatment, no
understanding. They self-medicated,
isolated themselves, or simply endured
in silence. The psychological wounds of
the Argon didn't heal just because
they'd come home. Some men woke
screaming for years. Others couldn't
bear loud noises. Family members tried
to understand, but couldn't really grasp
what these men had been through. The gap
between the soldiers experiences and
civilian understanding was vast [music]
and painful. Still, there were bright
spots. The parade had meant something.
The community support in Harlem never
wavered. Black churches, social
organizations, and businesses honored
the veterans when [music] the broader
society wouldn't. James Ree Europe, the
band leader, went on to revolutionize
American music, bringing jazz to
audiences that had never heard it
before. His influence on American
culture was profound, though tragically
brief. He was murdered in 1919 by a
mentally disturbed band member, cutting
short a brilliant career. But his
legacy, and that of the 369th band,
lived on in the jazz age that followed.
The veterans themselves became living
bridges between the war and the civil
rights struggles to come. They raised
children and told them stories of what
they'd done, not boasting, but bearing
witness. They joined organizations like
the NAACP,
fought against lynching, and demanded
voting rights. Their military service
gave them a moral authority that was
hard to dismiss. When they said they
deserved equal treatment, they had bled
for America to prove it. Before their
story could become legend, it first had
to survive being buried. The decades
following World War I saw a systematic
effort to erase or minimize the
contributions of the Harlem Hell
Fighters to reduce them to footnotes
while white units received the glory.
Understanding this eraser is crucial to
understanding why their story matters so
much today. In the years immediately
after the war, the US military
establishment faced a dilemma. The 369th
combat record was undeniable. French
military honors were a matter of record.
Newspaper accounts, especially in the
black press, had documented their
achievements, but acknowledging their
success would undermine the military's
segregationist policies and the racial
theories that justified them. The
solution was institutional amnesia.
Official army histories downplayed the
369th contributions or omitted them
entirely. When they were mentioned, it
was often with qualifications. They had
performed adequately under [music]
French command, the accounts would say,
implying that they needed white European
leadership to succeed. The fact that
many of the regiment's officers were
black, was conveniently overlooked. The
heroism of individuals like Henry
Johnson was acknowledged briefly, then
allowed to fade from public memory.
Johnson, who should have received the
Medal of Honor for his actions in May
1918, was passed over. The official
explanation was that the paperwork
hadn't been properly filed. The real
reason was that the military wasn't
ready to give its highest honor to a
black soldier. In textbooks and popular
histories of World War I, the 369th
barely appeared. Students learned about
Sergeant York, about the Lost Battalion,
about Eddie Rickenbacher and other white
heroes. The Harlem Hell Fighters were
absent. This wasn't accidental
oversight. It was deliberate exclusion,
part of a broader pattern of writing
black Americans out of the national
narrative. The impact was profound.
Generations of Americans grew up not
knowing that black soldiers had fought
with distinction in World War I, not
knowing that the longest serving
American combat unit had been a black
regiment from Harlem. The eraser
reinforced racist narratives about black
military capability, making it easier to
maintain segregation in the armed forces
for another three decades. The veterans
themselves tried to fight this erasure.
They wrote letters to newspapers,
contacted historians, gave talks when
they could get audiences, but they were
working against a tide of indifference
and active resistance. White veterans
organizations often excluded them. VFW
and American Legion posts [music] in
many areas wouldn't accept black
members. These men who had fought for
America couldn't even join the
organizations supposedly dedicated to
honoring American veterans. Some started
their own organizations, but they lacked
the resources and political connections
of the mainstream groups. Their voices
were marginalized, their stories
relegated to the black community, where
they were honored and remembered, but
unknown to wider America. The Great
Depression made things worse. Everyone
was struggling and veterans issues took
a backseat to simple survival. The 369th
veterans were hit particularly hard.
Already facing employment
discrimination, the economic collapse
devastated many of them. Some ended up
homeless. Others barely scraped by. When
the bonus army marched on Washington in
1932, demanding promised benefits, black
veterans marched with them, but faced
additional hostility and discrimination
even within that desperate group. World
War II brought a new generation of black
soldiers who faced many of the same
challenges as their predecessors.
The military was still segregated. Black
units were still primarily assigned to
labor duties. Commanders still doubted
their combat capability. But the
veterans of the 369th were still alive,
still bearing witness. Some of them
reached out to the new generation,
sharing their experiences, offering
encouragement. They told these young
men, "We proved it could be done. Now
you have to prove it again." And the
World War II generation did in places
like Anzio and the Battle of the Bulge,
adding their own chapters to the story
of black military valor. After World War
II, the military finally desegregated,
but this didn't automatically lead to
recognition of past service. The 369th
story remained largely unknown outside
the black community. Historians focusing
on World War I continued to overlook
them. Popular culture ignored them. The
few mentions that appeared were often
dismissive or riddled with stereotypes.
It wasn't until the civil rights
movement of the 1950s and60s that
serious efforts began to recover and
honor the Hellfighters legacy.
Historians, many of them black scholars
working against resistance from academic
institutions, began researching and
writing about [music] the 369th.
They dug through military archives,
interviewed surviving veterans,
collected letters and photographs. The
picture that emerged was undeniable. The
Harlem Hell Fighters had been one of the
most effective American units in World
War I, and their story had been
deliberately suppressed. But even as
this research was being done, time was
running out. The last veterans were
dying. Henry Johnson had died in 1929,
poor and forgotten. Others followed
through the decades. By the 1960s, only
a handful remained, elderly men trying
to keep the memory alive. One veteran
interviewed in the 1960s spoke with
bitterness about the decades of erasure.
We did everything they said we couldn't
do. We fought as hard [music] as any men
who ever wore the uniform and they tried
to forget us anyway. Well, I'm still
here and I'm still telling the story.
That determination, that refusal to let
the truth die kept the legacy alive
through the darkest years. The black
community never forgot. In Harlem, the
369th was honored and remembered. Church
services commemorated them. Older
residents told younger people about the
Hell Fighters. The story was passed down
generation to generation, even as
mainstream America ignored it. In 1996,
77 years after his heroic action, Henry
Johnson was finally awarded the Purple
Heart. It was a small acknowledgement,
long overdue. In 2001, the remaining
veterans of the regiment were honored at
a ceremony in New York. Only a tiny
number were still alive, all well into
their hundreds. They stood or sat in
wheelchairs as officials finally spoke
the words they should have heard decades
earlier. Thank you for your service,
your courage, your sacrifice.
In 2015, nearly a century after his
heroic stand, Henry Johnson was
postumously awarded the Medal of Honor. President Obama presented it to his
President Obama presented it to his family, acknowledging that the delay had
family, acknowledging that the delay had been a grave injustice. The official
been a grave injustice. The official citation detailed his actions that night
citation detailed his actions that night in May 1918, the wounds he sustained,
in May 1918, the wounds he sustained, the enemies he defeated. But even these
the enemies he defeated. But even these belated honors couldn't fully repair the
belated honors couldn't fully repair the decades of neglect. Johnson had died in
decades of neglect. Johnson had died in poverty. his contributions unrecognized
poverty. his contributions unrecognized by his country. Countless other veterans
by his country. Countless other veterans of the 369 had similar experiences.
of the 369 had similar experiences. Struggling through life without the
Struggling through life without the recognition or support they deserved.
recognition or support they deserved. The institutional denial of their legacy
The institutional denial of their legacy had real consequences, not just for them
had real consequences, not just for them personally, but for American society. By
personally, but for American society. By erasing their contributions, America had
erasing their contributions, America had impoverished its own history, lost
impoverished its own history, lost valuable lessons, and perpetuated the
valuable lessons, and perpetuated the myths that made continued racism
myths that made continued racism possible. The fight to recover and honor
possible. The fight to recover and honor the Hellfighter legacy continues.
the Hellfighter legacy continues. Historians keep researching, finding new
Historians keep researching, finding new details, new stories. Documentaries have
details, new stories. Documentaries have been made. Books have been written.
been made. Books have been written. Schools are starting to include them in
Schools are starting to include them in curricula. But there's still work to be
curricula. But there's still work to be done. Many Americans still don't know
done. Many Americans still don't know the story. The 369th hasn't achieved the
the story. The 369th hasn't achieved the cultural prominence of other World War I
cultural prominence of other World War I units. The legacy denied for so long is
units. The legacy denied for so long is still being reclaimed piece by piece.
still being reclaimed piece by piece. The veterans themselves understood that
The veterans themselves understood that their fight wasn't just about military
their fight wasn't just about military glory. It was about justice, about
glory. It was about justice, about truth, about forcing America to
truth, about forcing America to acknowledge all of its history, not just
acknowledge all of its history, not just the comfortable parts.
the comfortable parts. They knew that remembering the Harlem
They knew that remembering the Harlem Hell Fighters meant challenging the
Hell Fighters meant challenging the narratives that had excluded them,
narratives that had excluded them, confronting the racism that tried to
confronting the racism that tried to bury them.
bury them. Before we can understand what the Harlem
Before we can understand what the Harlem [music] Hell Fighters mean today, we
[music] Hell Fighters mean today, we need to see how their service rippled
need to see how their service rippled outward, touching everything from
outward, touching everything from military policy to civil rights to
military policy to civil rights to American culture itself. Their story
American culture itself. Their story didn't end in the trenches or even
didn't end in the trenches or even [music] with their return home. It
[music] with their return home. It echoed through the 20th century and
echoed through the 20th century and beyond. The most immediate impact was on
beyond. The most immediate impact was on military policy, though it took decades
military policy, though it took decades to fully manifest. The 369th had proven
to fully manifest. The 369th had proven that black soldiers could fight
that black soldiers could fight effectively, could maintain discipline
effectively, could maintain discipline under fire, could be trusted with combat
under fire, could be trusted with combat roles. But the military establishment
roles. But the military establishment resisted these lessons. Through the
resisted these lessons. Through the 1920s and 30s, official policy remained
1920s and 30s, official policy remained unchanged. Black soldiers were fit only
unchanged. Black soldiers were fit only for labor and service roles. Behind the
for labor and service roles. Behind the scenes, however, some officers were
scenes, however, some officers were taking note. A few forward-thinking
taking note. A few forward-thinking commanders studied the 369th's record
commanders studied the 369th's record and drew the obvious conclusions. When
and drew the obvious conclusions. When World War II came and the need for
World War II came and the need for combat troops became desperate, there
combat troops became desperate, there were voices within the military arguing
were voices within the military arguing for using black soldiers in combat. They
for using black soldiers in combat. They pointed to World War I examples,
pointed to World War I examples, including the 369th.
including the 369th. It wasn't enough to change policy
It wasn't enough to change policy immediately, but it laid groundwork. The
immediately, but it laid groundwork. The slow, grinding process of military
slow, grinding process of military desegregation that began in 1948 owed
desegregation that began in 1948 owed something to the Harlem Hell Fighters,
something to the Harlem Hell Fighters, even if they weren't always credited.
even if they weren't always credited. The men who fought in World War II,
The men who fought in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam stood on foundations
Korea, and Vietnam stood on foundations the 369th had helped lay. But the impact
the 369th had helped lay. But the impact went far beyond military policy. The
went far beyond military policy. The Harlem Hell Fighters became [music]
Harlem Hell Fighters became [music] symbols in the fight for civil rights.
symbols in the fight for civil rights. Civil rights leaders in the 1920s and
Civil rights leaders in the 1920s and beyond used their service as an argument
beyond used their service as an argument for equality.
for equality. How could America deny full citizenship
How could America deny full citizenship to men who had fought and bled for the
to men who had fought and bled for the country? The question was powerful
country? The question was powerful precisely because it was so obviously
precisely because it was so obviously hypocritical.
hypocritical. Black activists pointed to the 369th
Black activists pointed to the 369th again and again. These men proved their
again and again. These men proved their worth in the most extreme circumstances
worth in the most extreme circumstances imaginable. What more proof did America
imaginable. What more proof did America need? The double V campaign in World War
need? The double V campaign in World War II. Victory over fascism abroad and
II. Victory over fascism abroad and racism at home drew direct inspiration
racism at home drew direct inspiration from World War I veterans. The men of
from World War I veterans. The men of the 369 had fought for democracy in
the 369 had fought for democracy in Europe while being denied democracy at
Europe while being denied democracy at home. The younger generation would not
home. The younger generation would not [music] accept that contradiction. The
[music] accept that contradiction. The Harlem Renaissance, that explosion of
Harlem Renaissance, that explosion of black art, literature, and culture in
black art, literature, and culture in the 1920s, was partly inspired by the
the 1920s, was partly inspired by the confidence the Hellfighters service had
confidence the Hellfighters service had instilled. The veterans returned to
instilled. The veterans returned to Harlem, having proven themselves on the
Harlem, having proven themselves on the world stage. They'd been honored in
world stage. They'd been honored in France, celebrated in New York. That
France, celebrated in New York. That validation fed into a broader cultural
validation fed into a broader cultural movement asserting black excellence,
movement asserting black excellence, black dignity, black humanity.
black dignity, black humanity. Writers like Langston Hughes [music] and
Writers like Langston Hughes [music] and Claude McCay, musicians like Duke
Claude McCay, musicians like Duke Ellington and Louisie Armstrong, all
Ellington and Louisie Armstrong, all worked in a cultural moment partly
worked in a cultural moment partly shaped by the Hellfighters triumph. The
shaped by the Hellfighters triumph. The jazz that James Ree Europe and the 369th
jazz that James Ree Europe and the 369th Band had introduced to France returned
Band had introduced to France returned to America and exploded into a cultural
to America and exploded into a cultural revolution. Jazz became America's music,
revolution. Jazz became America's music, spreading from Harlem to the world. In
spreading from Harlem to the world. In Europe, the 369th service had broader
Europe, the 369th service had broader implications. French soldiers and
implications. French soldiers and civilians who had fought alongside or
civilians who had fought alongside or been liberated by black American troops
been liberated by black American troops developed different views on race than
developed different views on race than those prevalent in the United States.
those prevalent in the United States. France wasn't free of racism. Far from
France wasn't free of racism. Far from it. But the experience of World War I
it. But the experience of World War I challenged some assumptions. Black
challenged some assumptions. Black American artists and writers found more
American artists and writers found more acceptance in Paris in the 1920s [music]
acceptance in Paris in the 1920s [music] than in New York. Partly because the
than in New York. Partly because the French remembered men like the Hell
French remembered men like the Hell Fighters. This created a cultural
Fighters. This created a cultural bridge, an Atlantic exchange that
bridge, an Atlantic exchange that enriched both American and European
enriched both American and European culture. The legacy also touched
culture. The legacy also touched individual lives in profound ways.
individual lives in profound ways. Children and grandchildren of the Hell
Children and grandchildren of the Hell Fighters grew up hearing stories of what
Fighters grew up hearing stories of what their fathers and grandfathers [music]
their fathers and grandfathers [music] had done. These stories shaped identity,
had done. These stories shaped identity, instilled pride, and provided examples
instilled pride, and provided examples of courage under impossible odds. One
of courage under impossible odds. One grandson of a 369th veteran became a
grandson of a 369th veteran became a civil rights lawyer in the 1960s. He
civil rights lawyer in the 1960s. He later said that his grandfather's
later said that his grandfather's service had taught him that you don't
service had taught him that you don't accept injustice. You fight it even when
accept injustice. You fight it even when the odds seem overwhelming. That lesson
the odds seem overwhelming. That lesson replicated across dozens of families,
replicated across dozens of families, hundreds of families, fed into the
hundreds of families, fed into the broader movement for racial justice. The
broader movement for racial justice. The Hell Fighters also impacted how black
Hell Fighters also impacted how black communities thought about military
communities thought about military service. Despite the discrimination they
service. Despite the discrimination they faced, despite the eraser and neglect,
faced, despite the eraser and neglect, black Americans continued to serve in
black Americans continued to serve in the military in high numbers. Part of
the military in high numbers. Part of this was economic necessity. The
this was economic necessity. The military often provided opportunities
military often provided opportunities unavailable in civilian life. But part
unavailable in civilian life. But part was also a sense of duty and a belief
was also a sense of duty and a belief that service could be a path to respect
that service could be a path to respect and equality. The 369th had shown that
and equality. The 369th had shown that black soldiers could excel and that
black soldiers could excel and that example mattered. Even when the broader
example mattered. Even when the broader society tried to forget, black
society tried to forget, black communities remembered and honored
communities remembered and honored military service. In education, the slow
military service. In education, the slow recovery of the Hellfighters story has
recovery of the Hellfighters story has provided important lessons. When
provided important lessons. When students today learn about the 369th,
students today learn about the 369th, they learn about more than military
they learn about more than military history. They learn about systemic
history. They learn about systemic racism, about erasure and recovery of
racism, about erasure and recovery of history, about courage in the face of
history, about courage in the face of injustice. They see that history is not
injustice. They see that history is not just what happened, but what we remember
just what happened, but what we remember and how we tell it. The Hellfighter
and how we tell it. The Hellfighter story teaches that marginalized voices
story teaches that marginalized voices can be silenced, but also that
can be silenced, but also that determined people can recover those
determined people can recover those voices and restore them to the
voices and restore them to the historical record. The cultural impact
historical record. The cultural impact continues to this day.
continues to this day. The 369th has been the subject of books,
The 369th has been the subject of books, documentaries, and [music] even graphic
documentaries, and [music] even graphic novels. There have been calls to make a
novels. There have been calls to make a major film about them, though as of yet
major film about them, though as of yet none has reached production. Each new
none has reached production. Each new telling introduces their story to new
telling introduces their story to new audiences, ensuring that the legacy
audiences, ensuring that the legacy denied for so long continues to be
denied for so long continues to be reclaimed. In military circles, the
reclaimed. In military circles, the 369th is now studied at servicemies as
369th is now studied at servicemies as an example of unit cohesion, effective
an example of unit cohesion, effective leadership, and overcoming adversity.
leadership, and overcoming adversity. The very institution that once tried to
The very institution that once tried to erase them now holds them up as an
erase them now holds them up as an example, though this recognition is
example, though this recognition is bittersweet given how long it took. The
bittersweet given how long it took. The broader lesson of the Harlem Hell
broader lesson of the Harlem Hell Fighters is about the gap between ideals
Fighters is about the gap between ideals and reality. America fought World War I
and reality. America fought World War I to make the world safe for democracy in
to make the world safe for democracy in Woodro Wilson's famous phrase. But black
Woodro Wilson's famous phrase. But black Americans were denied democracy at home.
Americans were denied democracy at home. The Hellfighters fought for freedom
The Hellfighters fought for freedom while being denied freedom. This
while being denied freedom. This hypocrisy wasn't unique to them. It's
hypocrisy wasn't unique to them. It's been a recurring theme in American
been a recurring theme in American history. But their story illuminates it
history. But their story illuminates it with particular clarity. They did
with particular clarity. They did everything America asked of them and
everything America asked of them and more. They fought with courage,
more. They fought with courage, maintained discipline, earned honors,
maintained discipline, earned honors, and America still tried to deny them
and America still tried to deny them equal treatment. That should make us
equal treatment. That should make us uncomfortable. It should make us
uncomfortable. It should make us question our narratives and our
question our narratives and our assumptions.
assumptions. The impact of the Hell Fighters is also
The impact of the Hell Fighters is also about the power of persistence. The
about the power of persistence. The veterans kept telling their story even
veterans kept telling their story even when no one wanted to listen. Families
when no one wanted to listen. Families kept the memories alive. Scholars kept
kept the memories alive. Scholars kept digging and eventually slowly the truth
digging and eventually slowly the truth came out. This teaches us that
came out. This teaches us that historical justice, while often delayed,
historical justice, while often delayed, is possible. It requires effort,
is possible. It requires effort, dedication, and refusing to let
dedication, and refusing to let important stories die. The Harlem Hell
important stories die. The Harlem Hell Fighters legacy is still unfolding. Each
Fighters legacy is still unfolding. Each generation discovers them a new, finds
generation discovers them a new, finds new meanings, draws new lessons. For
new meanings, draws new lessons. For some, they're an example of military
some, they're an example of military excellence. For others, a story of
excellence. For others, a story of racial injustice. For still others, a
racial injustice. For still others, a testament to resilience and courage.
testament to resilience and courage. They're all of these things, complex and
They're all of these things, complex and multifaceted, human in their triumphs
multifaceted, human in their triumphs and struggles. Before we close the book
and struggles. Before we close the book on the Harlem Hell Fighters, we need to
on the Harlem Hell Fighters, we need to ask, what does their story mean now, a
ask, what does their story mean now, a century later? Why should we care about
century later? Why should we care about events from 1918 when we have our own
events from 1918 when we have our own challenges to face? The answer is that
challenges to face? The answer is that their story isn't really about the past.
their story isn't really about the past. It's about recurring patterns, timeless
It's about recurring patterns, timeless lessons, and questions that every
lessons, and questions that every generation must answer for itself.
generation must answer for itself. First, there's the lesson about
First, there's the lesson about prejudice and performance. The German
prejudice and performance. The German soldiers laughed at the thought of
soldiers laughed at the thought of facing black American troops. American
facing black American troops. American commanders doubted they could fight
commanders doubted they could fight effectively. Both were proven
effectively. Both were proven catastrophically wrong. The Hell
catastrophically wrong. The Hell Fighters didn't just perform adequately.
Fighters didn't just perform adequately. They excelled. They fought longer and
They excelled. They fought longer and harder than almost any other American
harder than almost any other American unit. This pattern repeats throughout
unit. This pattern repeats throughout history. Marginalized groups are told
history. Marginalized groups are told they lack capability, then prove
they lack capability, then prove otherwise when given the chance. Women
otherwise when given the chance. Women in combat roles, LGBTQ service members,
in combat roles, LGBTQ service members, immigrants in the military, all have
immigrants in the military, all have faced similar doubts and all have proven
faced similar doubts and all have proven them baseless. The Hellfighter story is
them baseless. The Hellfighter story is a reminder that prejudice is a [music]
a reminder that prejudice is a [music] poor predictor of performance and that
poor predictor of performance and that capability exists in places that biased
capability exists in places that biased thinking refuses to see. Second, there's
thinking refuses to see. Second, there's the lesson about institutional
the lesson about institutional resistance to change. Even after the
resistance to change. Even after the 369th proved themselves, even after
369th proved themselves, even after their combat record was undeniable, the
their combat record was undeniable, the military clung to segregation for three
military clung to segregation for three more decades. This teaches us that
more decades. This teaches us that evidence alone doesn't change
evidence alone doesn't change institutions.
institutions. Institutional change requires not just
Institutional change requires not just proof, but sustained pressure, advocacy,
proof, but sustained pressure, advocacy, and people willing to fight battles in
and people willing to fight battles in committee rooms and policy meetings, not
committee rooms and policy meetings, not just on battlefields. Every modern
just on battlefields. Every modern struggle for institutional reform,
struggle for institutional reform, whether in military, corporate, or
whether in military, corporate, or governmental settings, echoes this
governmental settings, echoes this dynamic. The third lesson is about the
dynamic. The third lesson is about the power and danger of narrative. The
power and danger of narrative. The Hellfighters contributions were
Hellfighters contributions were systematically downplayed and erased.
systematically downplayed and erased. This wasn't an accident of history. It
This wasn't an accident of history. It was deliberate. Those who controlled the
was deliberate. Those who controlled the narrative understood that acknowledging
narrative understood that acknowledging black military excellence would
black military excellence would undermine segregation and racial
undermine segregation and racial hierarchies. So, they chose to forget.
hierarchies. So, they chose to forget. This reminds us that history is not
This reminds us that history is not fixed and objective. It's a story we
fixed and objective. It's a story we tell ourselves, and those who control
tell ourselves, and those who control that story wield enormous power. Today,
that story wield enormous power. Today, in an age of information overload and
in an age of information overload and competing narratives, the fight over who
competing narratives, the fight over who gets remembered and how remains as
gets remembered and how remains as relevant as ever. Fourth, there's the
relevant as ever. Fourth, there's the lesson about dignity under pressure. The
lesson about dignity under pressure. The Hellfighters faced prejudice from their
Hellfighters faced prejudice from their own army, skepticism from allies, and
own army, skepticism from allies, and mockery from enemies. They could have
mockery from enemies. They could have responded with bitterness. Could have
responded with bitterness. Could have fought halfheartedly.
fought halfheartedly. Could have said, "If America doesn't
Could have said, "If America doesn't believe in us, why should we fight for
believe in us, why should we fight for America?" Instead, they fought with
America?" Instead, they fought with discipline and courage, not for the
discipline and courage, not for the approval of those who doubted them, but
approval of those who doubted them, but for their own self-respect and for the
for their own self-respect and for the communities they represented. This kind
communities they represented. This kind of dignity, this refusal to let others
of dignity, this refusal to let others low expectations define your effort, is
low expectations define your effort, is a powerful example. It speaks to anyone
a powerful example. It speaks to anyone who has faced doubt or discrimination
who has faced doubt or discrimination and had to decide how to respond. Fifth,
and had to decide how to respond. Fifth, the Hell Fighters teach us about the
the Hell Fighters teach us about the complexity of patriotism. They loved a
complexity of patriotism. They loved a country that didn't love them back. They
country that didn't love them back. They fought for ideals America wasn't living
fought for ideals America wasn't living up to. This wasn't naivity. It was
up to. This wasn't naivity. It was strategic. They understood that military
strategic. They understood that military service could be a tool for advancing
service could be a tool for advancing civil rights. that proving their worth
civil rights. that proving their worth in the most dramatic way possible could
in the most dramatic way possible could help dismantle the arguments used
help dismantle the arguments used against them. Their patriotism was
against them. Their patriotism was complicated, conditional, and ultimately
complicated, conditional, and ultimately deeply subversive. They claimed American
deeply subversive. They claimed American ideals and demanded America live up to
ideals and demanded America live up to them. This model of patriotism, critical
them. This model of patriotism, critical yet committed, is more relevant than
yet committed, is more relevant than ever in a time of political
ever in a time of political polarization. Sixth, there's a lesson
polarization. Sixth, there's a lesson about allyship. Colonel Hayward and some
about allyship. Colonel Hayward and some French officers supported the Hell
French officers supported the Hell Fighters when it wasn't popular or easy.
Fighters when it wasn't popular or easy. They used their positions of privilege
They used their positions of privilege to advocate for men who couldn't
to advocate for men who couldn't advocate for themselves as effectively.
advocate for themselves as effectively. This wasn't perfect white savior
This wasn't perfect white savior allyship. It was practical support that
allyship. It was practical support that made a real difference. At the same
made a real difference. At the same time, the story shows the limits of
time, the story shows the limits of allyship. Hayward couldn't change
allyship. Hayward couldn't change military policy or protect his men from
military policy or protect his men from discrimination once they returned home.
discrimination once they returned home. Real change required systemic
Real change required systemic transformation, not just individual good
transformation, not just individual good intentions. This balance, recognizing
intentions. This balance, recognizing both the value and limits of allies, is
both the value and limits of allies, is crucial for any movement for justice.
crucial for any movement for justice. Seventh, the Hell Fighters demonstrate
Seventh, the Hell Fighters demonstrate the importance of community support. The
the importance of community support. The parade in Harlem, the ongoing
parade in Harlem, the ongoing recognition within the black community,
recognition within the black community, the way families preserved stories and
the way families preserved stories and memories. All of this sustained the
memories. All of this sustained the legacy when the broader society tried to
legacy when the broader society tried to forget. This teaches us that
forget. This teaches us that marginalized communities often have to
marginalized communities often have to preserve their own histories, celebrate
preserve their own histories, celebrate their own heroes, because dominant
their own heroes, because dominant culture won't do it for them. It also
culture won't do it for them. It also shows the power of community to sustain
shows the power of community to sustain people through hardship. The Hell
people through hardship. The Hell Fighters drew strength from knowing
Fighters drew strength from knowing Harlem was behind them, watching,
Harlem was behind them, watching, hoping, believing. That support mattered
hoping, believing. That support mattered as much as any weapon.
as much as any weapon. Eight. There's a lesson about the long
Eight. There's a lesson about the long arc of justice. The Hell Fighters
arc of justice. The Hell Fighters weren't properly recognized for decades.
weren't properly recognized for decades. Henry Johnson didn't receive the Medal
Henry Johnson didn't receive the Medal of Honor until 2015, nearly a century
of Honor until 2015, nearly a century after he earned it. This is frustrating,
after he earned it. This is frustrating, but it also teaches patience and
but it also teaches patience and persistence. Justice delayed is justice
persistence. Justice delayed is justice denied, yes, but sometimes denied.
denied, yes, but sometimes denied. Justice can still be reclaimed if people
Justice can still be reclaimed if people refuse to give up. The scholars who dug
refuse to give up. The scholars who dug through archives, the families who kept
through archives, the families who kept memories alive, the advocates who pushed
memories alive, the advocates who pushed for recognition, they all played a role
for recognition, they all played a role in eventual vindication. This doesn't
in eventual vindication. This doesn't excuse the initial injustice, but it
excuse the initial injustice, but it does offer hope that wrongs can [music]
does offer hope that wrongs can [music] be acknowledged and partially writed
be acknowledged and partially writed even generations later.
even generations later. Ninth, the story warns us about the cost
Ninth, the story warns us about the cost of valor. The Hellfighters paid a
of valor. The Hellfighters paid a terrible price for their achievements.
terrible price for their achievements. Many died. Many more were wounded
Many died. Many more were wounded physically and psychologically. Those
physically and psychologically. Those who survived often struggled with
who survived often struggled with trauma, discrimination, and poverty.
trauma, discrimination, and poverty. Their heroism came at enormous [music]
Their heroism came at enormous [music] personal cost. This should make us think
personal cost. This should make us think carefully about how we ask people to
carefully about how we ask people to prove themselves. About the burdens we
prove themselves. About the burdens we place on marginalized groups to be twice
place on marginalized groups to be twice as good to get half as much. The Hell
as good to get half as much. The Hell Fighters shouldn't have had to fight so
Fighters shouldn't have had to fight so hard to be treated as human beings. The
hard to be treated as human beings. The fact that they did and that it still
fact that they did and that it still wasn't enough in many ways is an
wasn't enough in many ways is an indictment of the society that forced
indictment of the society that forced that bargain on them. 10th, and perhaps
that bargain on them. 10th, and perhaps most importantly, the Hell Fighters
most importantly, the Hell Fighters teach us that change is possible but not
teach us that change is possible but not inevitable.
inevitable. They helped crack open doors that had
They helped crack open doors that had been welded shut. Their service
been welded shut. Their service contributed to the eventual
contributed to the eventual desegregation of the military and the
desegregation of the military and the broader civil rights movement. But this
broader civil rights movement. But this didn't happen automatically. It required
didn't happen automatically. It required continued struggle, organization,
continued struggle, organization, activism, and sacrifice from subsequent
activism, and sacrifice from subsequent generations. The Hell Fighters started
generations. The Hell Fighters started something, but others had to carry it
something, but others had to carry it forward. This is how progress actually
forward. This is how progress actually works. Not through single heroic moments
works. Not through single heroic moments that solve everything, but through
that solve everything, but through accumulating efforts across time, each
accumulating efforts across time, each generation building on what came before.
generation building on what came before. For young people today facing their own
For young people today facing their own challenges, the Hell Fighters offer a
challenges, the Hell Fighters offer a complex but ultimately hopeful example.
complex but ultimately hopeful example. They show that it's possible to maintain
They show that it's possible to maintain dignity and purpose even in the face of
dignity and purpose even in the face of systemic injustice. They demonstrate
systemic injustice. They demonstrate that proving yourself to skeptics can be
that proving yourself to skeptics can be worthwhile, even if you shouldn't have
worthwhile, even if you shouldn't have to do it. They illustrate that
to do it. They illustrate that solidarity and community support can
solidarity and community support can sustain you through the hardest times.
sustain you through the hardest times. And they remind us that your actions
And they remind us that your actions echo beyond your lifetime.
echo beyond your lifetime. The Hell Fighters couldn't have known
The Hell Fighters couldn't have known how their story would inspire people a
how their story would inspire people a century later. But it does. That's both
century later. But it does. That's both humbling and empowering. What we do
humbling and empowering. What we do matters, even if we don't see all the
matters, even if we don't see all the results in our own time. For those
results in our own time. For those working on issues of justice and
working on issues of justice and equality today, the Hellfighters story
equality today, the Hellfighters story offers strategic lessons.
offers strategic lessons. First, representation matters. Having
First, representation matters. Having black soldiers prove themselves in
black soldiers prove themselves in combat made arguments for segregation
combat made arguments for segregation harder to sustain. Visibility, presence,
harder to sustain. Visibility, presence, and performance in spaces where you're
and performance in spaces where you're told you don't belong can change minds
told you don't belong can change minds and open doors.
and open doors. Second, documentation is crucial. The
Second, documentation is crucial. The black press covering the Hellfighters,
black press covering the Hellfighters, veterans writing memoirs, photographs
veterans writing memoirs, photographs being preserved. All of this created a
being preserved. All of this created a record that couldn't be entirely erased.
record that couldn't be entirely erased. In Movements for Change, creating and
In Movements for Change, creating and preserving evidence of what actually
preserving evidence of what actually happened is vital.
happened is vital. Third, multiple strategies work
Third, multiple strategies work together. The Hell Fighters fought in
together. The Hell Fighters fought in the military. Civil rights activists
the military. Civil rights activists fought in the political and social
fought in the political and social spheres. Artists and writers fought in
spheres. Artists and writers fought in culture. None of these alone would have
culture. None of these alone would have been sufficient, but together they
been sufficient, but together they created pressure for change from
created pressure for change from multiple directions. The Hell Fighters
multiple directions. The Hell Fighters also remind us to be skeptical of
also remind us to be skeptical of meritocracy myths. They were as good as
meritocracy myths. They were as good as they needed to be and then some. They
they needed to be and then some. They proved themselves beyond any reasonable
proved themselves beyond any reasonable standard, and it still wasn't enough for
standard, and it still wasn't enough for immediate equality.
immediate equality. This teaches us that systems of
This teaches us that systems of oppression don't yield just because
oppression don't yield just because you've proven you deserve better.
you've proven you deserve better. They're defended by people with vested
They're defended by people with vested interests in maintaining them. Changing
interests in maintaining them. Changing unjust systems requires not just
unjust systems requires not just personal excellence, but collective
personal excellence, but collective action and political power. Finally, the
action and political power. Finally, the Hell Fighter story is a reminder that
Hell Fighter story is a reminder that history is full of stories we don't know
history is full of stories we don't know yet. How many other regiments, units,
yet. How many other regiments, units, individuals have been erased or
individuals have been erased or forgotten? How many contributions have
forgotten? How many contributions have been written out of the record? The
been written out of the record? The recovery of the Hell Fighters legacy
recovery of the Hell Fighters legacy should make us ask what else we're
should make us ask what else we're missing. It should make us curious about
missing. It should make us curious about the gaps in our historical knowledge and
the gaps in our historical knowledge and committed to filling them. As we reach
committed to filling them. As we reach the end of this story, we need to
the end of this story, we need to understand that endings are always also
understand that endings are always also beginnings. The Harlem Hell Fighters
beginnings. The Harlem Hell Fighters journey didn't conclude in 1919 or with
journey didn't conclude in 1919 or with the last veteran's death. It continues
the last veteran's death. It continues every time someone learns their story.
every time someone learns their story. Every time someone draws strength from
Every time someone draws strength from their example, every time someone
their example, every time someone refuses to accept the limitations others
refuses to accept the limitations others try to impose.
try to impose. Let's return to where we began. The
Let's return to where we began. The laughter of German soldiers who thought
laughter of German soldiers who thought facing black American troops would be
facing black American troops would be easy. The arrogance of American
easy. The arrogance of American commanders who didn't believe black
commanders who didn't believe black soldiers could fight. The skepticism of
soldiers could fight. The skepticism of bomber crews who wait, that's the Red
bomber crews who wait, that's the Red Tales. Let's stay with the Hell
Tales. Let's stay with the Hell Fighters. The German soldiers learned
Fighters. The German soldiers learned their error in the forests of France, in
their error in the forests of France, in the trenches of the Argon, where the men
the trenches of the Argon, where the men they mocked fought with a fury and
they mocked fought with a fury and discipline that shocked them. The
discipline that shocked them. The American commanders learned slowly over
American commanders learned slowly over decades as evidence piled up that their
decades as evidence piled up that their prejudices were baseless. Some never
prejudices were baseless. Some never learned at all, clinging to racism until
learned at all, clinging to racism until death. But institutions eventually
death. But institutions eventually changed, not because of moral awakening,
changed, not because of moral awakening, but because maintaining segregation
but because maintaining segregation became unsustainable. The Hell Fighters
became unsustainable. The Hell Fighters were part of making it unsustainable.
were part of making it unsustainable. Think about what they accomplished. They
Think about what they accomplished. They fought for 191 days in combat, longer
fought for 191 days in combat, longer than any other American unit in World
than any other American unit in World War I. They never lost a trench, never
War I. They never lost a trench, never had a man captured who wasn't wounded
had a man captured who wasn't wounded first. They earned hundreds of French
first. They earned hundreds of French military honors. They introduced jazz to
military honors. They introduced jazz to Europe. They returned home to the
Europe. They returned home to the largest parade Parliament [music] had
largest parade Parliament [music] had ever seen. But more than specific
ever seen. But more than specific achievements, they changed what was
achievements, they changed what was possible. Before the Hell Fighters, the
possible. Before the Hell Fighters, the idea of black combat soldiers in a
idea of black combat soldiers in a modern [music] war was widely considered
modern [music] war was widely considered laughable. After them, it was proven
laughable. After them, it was proven fact. That shift from impossible to
fact. That shift from impossible to actual opened space for everything that
actual opened space for everything that followed. Every black soldier who served
followed. Every black soldier who served in World War II, every civil rights
in World War II, every civil rights activist who pointed to military service
activist who pointed to military service as proof of earned equality, every
as proof of earned equality, every person who drew strength from their
person who drew strength from their example was building on the foundation
example was building on the foundation the Hellfighters laid. The individual
the Hellfighters laid. The individual men of the 369th were human, flawed,
men of the 369th were human, flawed, complex. Some struggled with trauma and
complex. Some struggled with trauma and addiction. Some became community
addiction. Some became community leaders. Some faded into obscurity. They
leaders. Some faded into obscurity. They weren't saints or symbols. They were
weren't saints or symbols. They were people who found themselves in
people who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances and rose to
extraordinary circumstances and rose to meet them. Henry Johnson, the hero of
meet them. Henry Johnson, the hero of May 15th, 1918, died poor and largely
May 15th, 1918, died poor and largely forgotten. But his great-grandson grew
forgotten. But his great-grandson grew up hearing stories about him, and those
up hearing stories about him, and those stories shaped a life of service and
stories shaped a life of service and activism. The echo continues, "James Ree
activism. The echo continues, "James Ree Europe revolutionized American music
Europe revolutionized American music before his tragic early death. His
before his tragic early death. His influence ran through jazz, through the
influence ran through jazz, through the Harlem Renaissance, through every
Harlem Renaissance, through every American art form that followed. The
American art form that followed. The echo continues. Colonel Hayward spent
echo continues. Colonel Hayward spent years advocating for his men, writing
years advocating for his men, writing letters, giving speeches, fighting
letters, giving speeches, fighting bureaucracy. He didn't change
bureaucracy. He didn't change everything, but he changed some things.
everything, but he changed some things. The echo continues. The soldiers who
The echo continues. The soldiers who returned and joined the NAACP, who
returned and joined the NAACP, who fought against lynching, who demanded
fought against lynching, who demanded voting rights, they carried the
voting rights, they carried the Hellfighters legacy into the civil
Hellfighters legacy into the civil rights struggles of the 1920s and
rights struggles of the 1920s and beyond. The echo continues, "The
beyond. The echo continues, "The families who preserved photographs
families who preserved photographs [music] and letters, who told stories to
[music] and letters, who told stories to children and grandchildren, who refused
children and grandchildren, who refused to let the memory die, they kept the
to let the memory die, they kept the legacy alive through decades of
legacy alive through decades of institutional eraser." The echo
institutional eraser." The echo continues. The scholars who researched,
continues. The scholars who researched, [music] who wrote articles and books,
[music] who wrote articles and books, who recovered the story from archives
who recovered the story from archives and fading memories, they brought the
and fading memories, they brought the Hellfighters back into public
Hellfighters back into public consciousness. The echo continues. And
consciousness. The echo continues. And now, a century later, people are still
now, a century later, people are still discovering their story, still finding
discovering their story, still finding inspiration, still learning lessons
inspiration, still learning lessons relevant to contemporary struggles. The
relevant to contemporary struggles. The echo continues. This is how history
echo continues. This is how history [music] actually works. Not as a series
[music] actually works. Not as a series of isolated events in the past, but as
of isolated events in the past, but as ongoing conversations between past and
ongoing conversations between past and present, the Hell Fighters speak to us
present, the Hell Fighters speak to us across a century because their story
across a century because their story touches fundamental questions about
touches fundamental questions about courage, justice, identity, and human
courage, justice, identity, and human dignity. These questions don't age. When
dignity. These questions don't age. When you face doubt, when people tell you
you face doubt, when people tell you that you can't do something, that you
that you can't do something, that you don't belong, that success is impossible
don't belong, that success is impossible for someone like you. Remember the Hell
for someone like you. Remember the Hell Fighters? They heard all of that and
Fighters? They heard all of that and worse. They were mocked by enemies,
worse. They were mocked by enemies, rejected by their own country, told they
rejected by their own country, told they lacked the fundamental qualities needed
lacked the fundamental qualities needed for the challenge ahead. They proved
for the challenge ahead. They proved every doubter wrong. Not through
every doubter wrong. Not through arguing, not through complaining, but
arguing, not through complaining, but through discipline, courage, and
through discipline, courage, and excellence under the most extreme
excellence under the most extreme pressure imaginable. When you're
pressure imaginable. When you're exhausted, when the struggle feels
exhausted, when the struggle feels endless, when you wonder if anything you
endless, when you wonder if anything you do really matters. Remember the Hell
do really matters. Remember the Hell Fighters. They fought for 191
Fighters. They fought for 191 consecutive days. They climbed out of
consecutive days. They climbed out of trenches into machine gun fire. They
trenches into machine gun fire. They held positions when everything in them
held positions when everything in them wanted to run. They did this not knowing
wanted to run. They did this not knowing if it would lead to recognition or
if it would lead to recognition or change, but because it was what they'd
change, but because it was what they'd committed to doing. And their
committed to doing. And their perseverance did matter, did change
perseverance did matter, did change things, even if they didn't live to see
things, even if they didn't live to see the full impact. When you're tempted to
the full impact. When you're tempted to give up on institutions or systems that
give up on institutions or systems that seem irredeemably broken, remember the
seem irredeemably broken, remember the Hell Fighters. They served a military
Hell Fighters. They served a military that didn't want them, fought for a
that didn't want them, fought for a country that treated them as secondclass
country that treated them as secondclass citizens, and still managed to plant
citizens, and still managed to plant seeds of change that would eventually
seeds of change that would eventually flower. They show us that you can work
flower. They show us that you can work [music] within broken systems while
[music] within broken systems while simultaneously pushing to transform
simultaneously pushing to transform them. You don't have to choose [music]
them. You don't have to choose [music] between participation and resistance.
between participation and resistance. When you wonder if history will remember
When you wonder if history will remember you fairly, remember the Hell Fighters.
you fairly, remember the Hell Fighters. They were forgotten deliberately, erased
They were forgotten deliberately, erased systematically, denied recognition for
systematically, denied recognition for decades. But the truth survived.
decades. But the truth survived. Families kept it alive. Communities
Families kept it alive. Communities preserved it. Scholars recovered it. And
preserved it. Scholars recovered it. And now their story is being told again.
now their story is being told again. Their contributions acknowledged, their
Their contributions acknowledged, their legacy claimed by new generations. This
legacy claimed by new generations. This teaches us that historical justice,
teaches us that historical justice, while often delayed, is possible if
while often delayed, is possible if people refuse to let truth die.
people refuse to let truth die. When you think about what courage looks
When you think about what courage looks like, remember the Hell Fighters.
like, remember the Hell Fighters. Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's
Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's not reckless bravado or thoughtless
not reckless bravado or thoughtless aggression. The Hell Fighters were
aggression. The Hell Fighters were afraid. They'd have been foolish not to
afraid. They'd have been foolish not to be, but they acted anyway, disciplined
be, but they acted anyway, disciplined in the face of terror, committed to
in the face of terror, committed to their mission even when it cost them
their mission even when it cost them dearly. That's real courage. Acting with
dearly. That's real courage. Acting with purpose despite fear, maintaining
purpose despite fear, maintaining standards under pressure. staying true
standards under pressure. staying true to your values when it would be easier
to your values when it would be easier to abandon them. When you think about
to abandon them. When you think about leadership, remember Colonel Hayward and
leadership, remember Colonel Hayward and the black officers of the 369 who led
the black officers of the 369 who led under impossible conditions. Leadership
under impossible conditions. Leadership isn't about having all the answers or
isn't about having all the answers or being free from doubt. It's about making
being free from doubt. It's about making decisions under pressure, taking care of
decisions under pressure, taking care of those under your command, and fighting
those under your command, and fighting for them even when institutions oppose
for them even when institutions oppose you. The officers of the 369th led men
you. The officers of the 369th led men who carried the weight of representing
who carried the weight of representing their entire race. That's leadership
their entire race. That's leadership under pressure few can imagine. When you
under pressure few can imagine. When you think about community, [music] remember
think about community, [music] remember Harlem welcoming the Hell Fighters home.
Harlem welcoming the Hell Fighters home. Remember the black press covering their
Remember the black press covering their achievements when white [music] papers
achievements when white [music] papers ignored them. Remember families
ignored them. Remember families preserving memories and passing down
preserving memories and passing down stories. Community isn't just about
stories. Community isn't just about shared space or common background. It's
shared space or common background. It's about mutual support. collective memory
about mutual support. collective memory and the willingness to honor and
and the willingness to honor and preserve what matters even when the
preserve what matters even when the broader world doesn't care. The
broader world doesn't care. The Hellfighter story is ultimately about
Hellfighter story is ultimately about human potential and the artificial
human potential and the artificial barriers we place on it. They were
barriers we place on it. They were ordinary men, no different in their
ordinary men, no different in their basic humanity from the soldiers who
basic humanity from the soldiers who doubted them or the enemies they fought.
doubted them or the enemies they fought. What made them extraordinary was the
What made them extraordinary was the circumstance they faced and their
circumstance they faced and their response to it. They were told they
response to it. They were told they couldn't. They proved they could. That
couldn't. They proved they could. That simple reversal, repeated across
simple reversal, repeated across hundreds of men and dozens of battles,
hundreds of men and dozens of battles, changed history. It didn't change it as
changed history. It didn't change it as much as it should have. Justice came too
much as it should have. Justice came too slowly. Recognition arrived too late for
slowly. Recognition arrived too late for many who deserved it. But it did change
many who deserved it. But it did change things. And that change continues,
things. And that change continues, rippling forward through time. Today,
rippling forward through time. Today, the 369th Infantry Regiment still exists
the 369th Infantry Regiment still exists as a National Guard unit, now fully
as a National Guard unit, now fully integrated, carrying on the traditions
integrated, carrying on the traditions of the Harlem Hell Fighters. When its
of the Harlem Hell Fighters. When its members put on their uniforms, they wear
members put on their uniforms, they wear the legacy of men who fought when the
the legacy of men who fought when the odds were stacked against them. That
odds were stacked against them. That legacy is a gift and a responsibility.
legacy is a gift and a responsibility. In Harlem, there are memorials to the
In Harlem, there are memorials to the Hell Fighters. Streets bear their name.
Hell Fighters. Streets bear their name. Plaques mark their history. Children
Plaques mark their history. Children walk past these memorials every day.
walk past these memorials every day. Maybe not always knowing the full story,
Maybe not always knowing the full story, but absorbing through the landscape of
but absorbing through the landscape of their neighborhood that something
their neighborhood that something important happened here. That people
important happened here. That people from this place did something that
from this place did something that mattered. In France, there are graves
mattered. In France, there are graves and memorials where some of the hell
and memorials where some of the hell fighters remain, buried far from home in
fighters remain, buried far from home in soil they helped defend. French school
soil they helped defend. French school children sometimes leave flowers taught
children sometimes leave flowers taught by their teachers about the American
by their teachers about the American soldiers, black soldiers who came to
soldiers, black soldiers who came to help France in its darkest hour and
help France in its darkest hour and never left. In museums and archives,
never left. In museums and archives, researchers continue to uncover new
researchers continue to uncover new details about the 369th.
details about the 369th. Letters are discovered, photographs are
Letters are discovered, photographs are identified, stories that were lost are
identified, stories that were lost are recovered. Each discovery adds texture
recovered. Each discovery adds texture and complexity to our understanding,
and complexity to our understanding, reminding us that history is never fully
reminding us that history is never fully known, always being reconstructed,
known, always being reconstructed, always offering new insights. In homes
always offering new insights. In homes across America and beyond, descendants
across America and beyond, descendants of the Hell Fighters carry the story
of the Hell Fighters carry the story forward. Some know every detail, have
forward. Some know every detail, have researched extensively, become keepers
researched extensively, become keepers of the flame. Others know only
of the flame. Others know only fragments. a great-grandfather who
fragments. a great-grandfather who served. A metal passed down through
served. A metal passed down through generations. But these connections
generations. But these connections matter. They're threads linking past to
matter. They're threads linking past to present, turning history from abstract
present, turning history from abstract narrative into family legacy. And in
narrative into family legacy. And in this moment, as you hear or read this
this moment, as you hear or read this story, the echo continues through you.
story, the echo continues through you. What you do with it is up to you. Maybe
What you do with it is up to you. Maybe you'll share it, extending its reach to
you'll share it, extending its reach to someone who needs to hear it. Maybe
someone who needs to hear it. Maybe you'll dig deeper, learning more, adding
you'll dig deeper, learning more, adding to the recovery and preservation of this
to the recovery and preservation of this history. Maybe you'll draw personal
history. Maybe you'll draw personal strength from it, applying its lessons
strength from it, applying its lessons to your own struggles and challenges. Or
to your own struggles and challenges. Or maybe you'll simply remember, carrying
maybe you'll simply remember, carrying the knowledge that a century ago, a
the knowledge that a century ago, a group of men from Harlem fought in the
group of men from Harlem fought in the forests of France and proved that
forests of France and proved that courage and excellence transcend the
courage and excellence transcend the barriers prejudice tries to impose.
barriers prejudice tries to impose. Whatever you do with it, the story
Whatever you do with it, the story remains. The Harlem Hell Fighters fought
remains. The Harlem Hell Fighters fought for 191 days in World War I. They fought
for 191 days in World War I. They fought longer than that for recognition and
longer than that for recognition and justice. And in a sense, they're still
justice. And in a sense, they're still fighting every time their story
fighting every time their story challenges someone's assumptions. Every
challenges someone's assumptions. Every time it inspires someone to persevere,
time it inspires someone to persevere, every time it reminds us that history is
every time it reminds us that history is written by those who show [music] up and
written by those who show [music] up and refuse to quit. The German soldiers
refuse to quit. The German soldiers stopped laughing. The American
stopped laughing. The American commanders eventually grudgingly changed
commanders eventually grudgingly changed their minds. The French honored them
their minds. The French honored them with their highest medals. And a century
with their highest medals. And a century later were still telling their story,
later were still telling their story, still learning from their example, still
still learning from their example, still grappling with the questions they force
grappling with the questions they force us to confront. That's legacy. That's
us to confront. That's legacy. That's how ordinary men become extraordinary.
how ordinary men become extraordinary. Not through superhuman abilities, but
Not through superhuman abilities, but through responding to their moment with
through responding to their moment with courage, discipline, and an unwavering
courage, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to proving that the
commitment to proving that the limitations others imposed on them were
limitations others imposed on them were lies. The Harlem Hell Fighters were
lies. The Harlem Hell Fighters were rejected by America, but called heroes
rejected by America, but called heroes by Europe. They fought for a country
by Europe. They fought for a country that didn't fully accept them. They
that didn't fully accept them. They earned honors their own military was
earned honors their own military was reluctant to give. They returned home to
reluctant to give. They returned home to both celebration and discrimination.
both celebration and discrimination. They struggled, persevered, and
They struggled, persevered, and eventually triumphed. Not completely,
eventually triumphed. Not completely, but significantly. Their story is messy,
but significantly. Their story is messy, complicated, frustrating, and ultimately
complicated, frustrating, and ultimately inspiring. It's not a simple tale of
inspiring. It's not a simple tale of good versus evil or easy victory over
good versus evil or easy victory over injustice. It's a human story full of
injustice. It's a human story full of contradiction and complexity, which is
contradiction and complexity, which is why it still resonates. As we close,
why it still resonates. As we close, remember this. The laughter of their
remember this. The laughter of their enemies ended in the mud of France. The
enemies ended in the mud of France. The doubts of their commanders were answered
doubts of their commanders were answered in blood and courage. The attempt to
in blood and courage. The attempt to erase their legacy was defeated by
erase their legacy was defeated by persistent truthtelling. And the echo of
persistent truthtelling. And the echo of what they accomplished continues through
what they accomplished continues through you. Through everyone who hears and
you. Through everyone who hears and shares their story, through every person
shares their story, through every person who faces doubt and remembers that a
who faces doubt and remembers that a century ago, some men from Harlem proved
century ago, some men from Harlem proved that nothing is impossible when you
that nothing is impossible when you refuse to accept the limitations others
refuse to accept the limitations others try to impose. If you found yourself
try to impose. If you found yourself moved by this story, if the Harlem Hell
moved by this story, if the Harlem Hell Fighters reminded you that courage takes
Fighters reminded you that courage takes many forms and that justice, though
many forms and that justice, though delayed, is worth fighting for, then
delayed, is worth fighting for, then carry that forward. Share the story.
carry that forward. Share the story. Tell others. Make sure these men are not
Tell others. Make sure these men are not forgotten again. They earned that much
forgotten again. They earned that much at least. They earned it in the trenches
at least. They earned it in the trenches of France, in the struggle for
of France, in the struggle for recognition, and in the ongoing fight
recognition, and in the ongoing fight for equality. Their service helped
for equality. Their service helped advance. The Harlem Hell Fighters
advance. The Harlem Hell Fighters rejected at home. Heroes abroad.
rejected at home. Heroes abroad. Fighters always. Their story doesn't end
Fighters always. Their story doesn't end here. It echoes forward, waiting for the
here. It echoes forward, waiting for the next person who needs to hear it. The
next person who needs to hear it. The next moment when someone needs proof
next moment when someone needs proof that what seems impossible isn't. The
that what seems impossible isn't. The next generation that needs heroes who
next generation that needs heroes who look like them and face challenges they
look like them and face challenges they recognize.
recognize. The echo continues. Make sure it never
The echo continues. Make sure it never stops.
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
