He Fought 20 Germans Alone—America Let Him Die Homeless On May 15, 1918, Private Henry Johnson of the 369th Infantry Regiment—the legendary Harlem Hellfighters—single-handedly fought off a German raiding party of at least 20 soldiers in France's Argonne Forest. Sustaining 21 wounds, he fought with grenades, his rifle, a bolo knife, and his bare hands to save his fellow soldier from capture. France immediately awarded him their highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre avec Palme, and nicknamed