Henry Johnson

Along with this, though, he was decorated from the French, and as a result of his bravery, Johnson and Robert’s fearless efforts in battle lead the two to receiving decorations of the Croix de Guerre, France’s highest military honor, and Johnson additionally earning the Gold Palm, given for exceptional valor(King). This evidence shows some acknowledgement for his efforts, but this is not from his country of origin, America. This tangible remembrance would take a long time to cross the waters to the USA. As a result of his valor during battle, “Though former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt called Johnson one of the “five bravest Americans” to serve in World War I”(Pruitt). This proclaims the recognition of Johnson’s bravery, in that a former US President was willing to call him one of the bravest Americans to serve in the war despite Johnson’s difference in race. This expert testimonial also shows the bridge between segregation had started to come to fruition. Although racism was rampant throughout America at the time, military men could respect him due to his actions. 

Despite his heroism towards the U.S, with him and others suffering with segregation from the military, their integration was barred forcing those of whom desired to partake in the war to fight under a flag other than that of the country of their allegiance. With this, in their return, gratitude and recognition of their venerable acts through the duration of the war were profusely stinted, to the extent of repealing customary privileges attributed towards those of whom participated in the conflict, with an example none more pungent than that of the injustice Henry Johnson was subjugated to. Despite the horrors of war this individual had sustained minimal mental trauma from his experiences, either demonstrating his resilience or the lack of concern shown towards him and his mental stability; however, his scars of war still persisted in a manner of more physical demeanor proving detrimental to life post war as excerpted “Johnson returned to Albany, and to his job as a railroad porter, but his injuries made it difficult for him to work, and he soon began to decline into poverty. His wife and children left him, and he died penniless in 1929 at the age of 32. As far as anyone in his family knew, he ended up in a pauper’s grave in Albany”(Pruitt). His sacrifice through conflict had left him permanently debilitated, with his injuries proving lethal a mere decade after his service, possibly catalyzed by his impoverished persistence proceading the war. Despite his patriotic acts for a nation showing insouciance towards himself and his race, and inevitably succumbing to the trauma obtained by his unwavering heroism, his acts, as demonstrated, were never herald as may be expected through hs extent in the military and the duration of the war by his native country, with only hesitant appreciation being made in the mannerism of ephemeral praise by a modicum of news papers describing the zenith of his accomplishments. His arrival home as such was one of depressing reality. Though being demonstrated an almost uncanny equality for this individual by the comportment of the French army, such was clearly abraded when returning, forced back to persist in an exceedingly meager existence solely due to the color of his skin barring his praise, proving it infeasible for him to attain a simple living as to comfortably approach his demise, instead meeting it in a reprehensible manner of utter poverty and nothingness in contrast to his life and what he had fought so brazenly for. 

In further disgrace to the public negligence of this individual and his sacrifice is its tangence towards government’s feasibly deliberate transgressions against this individual provoking his strenuous demise as is quoted. “His discharge records erroneously made no mention of his injuries, and so Johnson was denied not only a Purple Heart, but a disability allowance as well” (King). It is sensibly assumed that through the myriad of grievous injuries sustained upon his physical form and in assessment of the treatment he had endured thus far through the military, that such a mishap may not simply transpire by catastrophic negligence customary actions. Such may be attributed how through in his combat of which he obtained such injuries, he had been fighting under the French flag due to stringent segregation within the United States military; however, this is often met with much skepticism alluding towards an exclamation of far more devious nature, with its acknowledgment decades later with the correction of this mishap. Such demonstrates how even in the defiance of racism to fight for belief and country, that of which he had perished defending, whom had attributed none of what was minimal to be provided, causing such an admirable individual in his conquest, to suffer most in his home, beyond foreign trenches due to racism and injustice he was subjected towards. In the waning moments of his existence tainted by grief and despondency he would perish, his life acclaimed by the French, though marginalized by the United States omitting him of all recognition meritoriously attained through his gallant  virtue and patriotism displayed negligent towards the inclemency towards which his home country had incited. With time however, comes the inevitable and perpetual existence of change of which through the valor of other courageous individuals provokes civil egalitarianism, though beyond such provided an amended perspective lacking the tarnish of prejudice.

Works Cited