369th Ww1 Infantry: Harlem Hellraisers

369th WW1 Infantry Private Henry Johnson of Albany, New York, His French Lebel rifle firmly in his hand Peered into the dreary wastes of no-man's-land His ears were alert for the coming of German raiders Shapes shifted in the feeble light of the moon He'd been a porter, son of a tobacco farmer A soldier now, the best in his platoon He crouched down in the battlefield front line Silence, snip, the barbed wire being cut He fired a warning rocket to the sky, Grenades exploded, he was badly hurt He shot and clubbed the Germans in his dugout Killed four, won Croix de Guerre for bravery One of the Harlem Hellfighters black troops Who trained in the deep South's Jim-Crow country Jim Crow laws were race laws in the South. To keep the whites and black people apart In public places, transport, restaurants, schools Though black and white share soul, share breath, share heart The 369th endured huge casualties General Pershing assigned them to the French 144 killed and near 1,000 wounded In ditch, in woods, on barbed wire, and in trench In 1919, crowds along Fifth Avenue Honoured the Hell-fighters with a parade The soldiers marched French style,16 abreast Henry in car, held flowers at his chest Ninety-seven years after Henry's valour in France, Obama awarded him a posthumous Medal of Honour, America's highest military award, To Henry Johnson hero, man of colour