Fort Polk, one of nine Army forts named after Confederate generals, will be renamed for New York National Guard Sgt. Henry Johnson, a Black soldier from Albany who became a World War I hero, at a ceremony on the Louisiana post Tuesday.
Named after Gen. Leonidas Polk, a Confederate general and resident of New Orleans who was killed in the Civil War, the Army installation will now be known as Fort Johnson. It is home to the Joint Readiness Training Center and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division.
Born in Winston Salem, N.C., Johnson moved to Albany as a teenager and worked as a driver, soda mixer and a red cap porter at Albany’s Union Station. He enlisted in the New York National Guard’s segregated 15th New York (Colored) Infantry Regiment on June 5, 1917, just two months after the U.S. entered World War I.
Army units were segregated during World War I. The 15th New York was renamed the 369th Infantry Regiment and eventually became known as “the Harlem Hellfighters.”
In May 1918, the 15th Infantry was assigned to the French 16th Infantry Division and issued French helmets, rifles and equipment, though they continued wearing American uniforms. On the night of May 15, 1918, Johnson heroicly fought off a German raiding party with a knife and saved fellow Soldier Needham Roberts from being captured.
Johnson was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, the first American recognized by the French military. He suffered 21 wounds in the battle, and was not able to resume work when he returned to the states. He was not fully recognized by his own country for his courage due to discrimination.
Johnson contracted tuberculosis and died in 1929. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Johnson posthumously received the Purple Heart in 1996, the Distinguished Service Cross in 2002 and after a long campaign spearheaded by Senator Chuck Schumer, the Medal of Honor in 2015.
There were no descendants alive left to accept the medal.
“It took years of research from impassioned advocates and local historians, and, of course my staff, to allow Sgt. Johnson to receive our nation’s highest military award in the Medal of Honor,” Sen. Schumer said in a statement Tuesday morning. “When the Naming Commission was established to look at renaming those bases previously named for Confederate soldiers, I knew right away that Henry Johnson was the perfect candidate for this honor. Now this culmination of work has paid off in a profound way and I am thrilled that we officially have Fort Johnson standing proud to inspire generations to come.”