Despite their unfair treatment, the 369th Infantry Regiment, also known as the “Harlem Hell Fighters,” had the best World War I record of any U.S Army regiment.
Two members of the all-black 369th Infantry, Sergeant Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, were awarded the French Croix de Guerre for aborting a German surprise attack. The two men killed or wounded more than twenty enemy soldiers.
In the 370th Infantry, black soldiers were awarded sixteen Distinguished Service Crosses and seventy-five Croix de Guerre medals. Having won honor and recognition on the battlefield, African Americans had mixed emotions about returning to the United States.
