Johnson would be singled out for his heroism and actions under fire. Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper promised Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz that the United States would maintain Israel's qualitative edge in the Middle East. The Army adopted the bolo knife from its experience in the Philippine Insurrection of 1899. … Just fought for my life. ", "Johnson fired his three shots — the last one almost muzzle-to-breast of the German bearing down upon him. Around 2 a.m., shots rang out and the sounds of wire cutters alerted the two American soldiers.
However, a huge celebration was held in Roberts’ honor when he returned home to Trenton, New Jersey. Roberts — who already had earned a Silver Star for valor on Hamburger Hill two months earlier — and his follow soldiers also were ambushed and pinned down by intense machine gun fire. Using his rifle as a club, he swung at the enemy, landing crippling blows until his stock finally shattered. Weighted along the back of its sharp, curved blade, the bolo made an exceptional slicing and hacking weapon that could cleave bones with one well-balanced swing. Former President Theodore Roosevelt called Johnson one of the five bravest Americans to serve in World War I. The question of whether the African-American 15th New York Infantry would fight as well as any other unit was answered in the darkness of May 15, 1918. Roberts became one of 261 soldiers who earned the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. Some 97 years after his combat service, the Defense Department reviewed Johnson's records and recommended him for the Medal of Honor. From that point on, Johnson was known as "Black Death.". From the darkness, the Germans responded in kind with grenades and gunfire. They were relieved to be free of the supply and service tasks of the past months and ready to join the fight.
Outfitted in French military garb, Johnson and another private, Needham Roberts of New Jersey, were serving sentry duty on the night of May 4, 1918, when German snipers began firing on them. Herman Johnson had spent most of his life believing his father was laid to rest in some unknown pauper’s grave. A Five-Foot Finnish Farmer The Deadliest Sniper In History, Over 7 Decades Later, 1 Million Japanese Soldiers Still Missing, The Day North Korea Fired A Missile At SR 71 Blackbird (Watch), WW2 Bomb Suddenly Explodes in German Field Leaving Giant Crater, The MOH Marine who Carried an Aircraft Machine Gun on Iwo Jima, Gravestone for Dambusters Dog Replaced Due to Racist Name. The whole French force in the region gathered to see Johnson and Roberts awarded the Croix du Guerre, the county’s highest military honor. He earned that award while serving as a rifleman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry (Band of Brothers regiment) of the 101st Airborne Division on July 11, 1969, during an intense battle at Hill 996 in the A Shau Valley, Thau Thein Providence, South Vietnam, near Laos.