WASHINGTON - Black New York National Guard Soldiers, known as “hellfighters” by their German enemies 100 years ago, were recognized with Congress’ highest honor during a Sept. 3 ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
The Congressional Gold Medal was presented to descendants of some of the 4,000 Soldiers who served in the 369th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters, during World War I.
The medal is the “highest honor that this body can bestow on any group or individual,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Congressional Gold Medal allows the House and the Senate to “show our national appreciation for the achievements and contributions of truly great Americans,” said Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana.
The official recognition of Harlem Hellfighter heroism made the event “a joyous occasion,” said Col. Bryon Linnehan, the commander of the Hellfighters of today, the New York Army National Guard’s 369th Sustainment Brigade.
Each of the 4,000 Hellfighters had an individual story of courage and sacrifice, Linnehan told an audience that included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; Air Force General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Air Force General Steven Nordhaus, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.
“Today’s Hellfighters honor all of these men to preserve their legacy and example,” Linnehan said in his remarks.
Army Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, and New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Leylan Jones, the state senior enlisted leader, also were part of the New York National Guard delegation at the ceremony.
The 369th Infantry got its start in 1916 as the 15th New York, a National Guard unit for Black Americans who wanted to serve in the segregated Army of the time in the days before World War I.
While the unit was based in Harlem, it eventually expanded to include Black Americans from across the country after the United States entered World War I in 1917.
When the Soldiers left for France in 1917, they got a new regimental number. They were denied combat duty with the American Army, but fought with the French Army.
The 369th Infantry Soldiers served in combat for 191 days, took 1,400 casualties, earned 171 Croix de Guerre medals --France’s highest award for valor-- and were the first Americans to march into Germany at the war’s end.
When they came home in 1919, 3,000 Hellfighters marched up New York’s Fifth Avenue, cheered on by hundreds of thousands.
Despite their fame, veterans of the 369th were lynched when they came home - killed by white mobs who resented Black veterans.
Her knowledge of that history made the ceremony in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall especially powerful, said Staff Sgt. Jodian Beckford, a member of the 369th “Sustainment Brigade’s 1501st Field Feeding Company who attended the ceremony.
As a Black Soldier, it was “more than just a regular day for me,” she said.
“They were being embraced not by families only, but America as a whole. It was an out-of-body experience for me,” Beckford said.
“They were fighting for more than just for the U.S. They were fighting for themselves, to be a part of America,” she added.
Army Spec. Matthew Aronberg, a military police officer who won the 369th’s Best Warrior competition in 2024, said, “It was a complete honor to be there surrounded by the families of the actual heroes.”
“It is very humbling to be there and learn the history, hearing the family stories. Everybody is so passionate about it,” Aronberg added.
The effort to create a Congressional Gold Medal for the Harlem Hellfighters began when Debra Willet, the granddaughter of a Hellfighter, began pushing for honor.
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York, embraced the idea. With the support of New York’s congressional delegation and others, a bill was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2021, commissioning the medal.
“My grandfather and the other brave men that fought alongside him never thought that their courage and their exploits would be celebrated in such a revered setting,” Willet said.
“They sacrificed, and they thought that they were making a difference, and today proves that they did,” she added.
While in Washington, the 369th delegation of 11 officers and enlisted Soldiers also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
They also visited the grave of Sgt. Henry Johnson, a 369th Soldier from Albany who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions.
The day ended with a reception at the French embassy in Washington.
“It was an important time for them to connect with the unit’s history, and also be part of it,” Linnehan said.
But the most impressive part of the day for him, Linnehan recalled, was when the descendants of Harlem Hellfighters in the audience were asked to stand up.
“That was moving, having the descendants there,” he said. “I really appreciated that our country’s leadership turned out for them.”
The 369th delegation was presented with a bronze version of the gold medal presented to Willet.
That’s appropriate, Linnehan said. The Frenchmen whom the Black Americans of the 369th fought beside called them the “hommes de Bronze or “men of Bronze” because of their color and their courage, he added.