Harlem'S Hell Fighters: The African-American 369th Infantry in World War I

Description

The 369th became one of the few U.S. units that American commanding general John J. Pershing agreed to let serve under French command. Donning French uniforms and taking up French rifles, the men of the 369th fought valiantly alongside French Moroccans and held one of the widest sectors on the Western Front. The entire regiment was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the French government's highest military honor. Stephen L. Harris's accounts of the valor of a number of individual soldiers make for exciting reading, especially that of Henry Johnson, who defended himself against an entire German squad with a large knife. After reading this book, you will know why the Germans feared the black men of the 369th and the French called them "hell fighters."

Stephen L. Harris is the author of Duty, Honor, Privilege: New York's Silk Stocking Regiment and the Breaking of the Hindenburg Line (Brassey's, Inc., 2001), which Douglas V. Johnson, coauthor of Soissons 1918, called "a wonderfully researched, beautifully written, superbly balanced piece of military social history." Harris lives in Weybridge, Vermont.

"The story of James Reese Europe and the Hell Fighters is one of the best I know, and here it is told superbly. It is a story of bravery and courage, creativity and controversy, tragedy and transcendence. It reminds us, in nearly every line, of the extraordinary contributions of African Americans have made-not just to American life, but to the very essence of what it means to be an American." "Very good . . . Useful not only to students of African-American history, but also to the general student of the American role in the Great War." "The story of Harlem s Hell Fighters is an important piece of history, both for America and the world."