[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 24 (Thursday, March 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E306-E307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD WAR I VETERANS MEDAL OF HONOR JUSTICE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 7, 2002

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 3890, a bill 
to facilitate the posthumous awarding of a long overdue medal of honor 
to Sergeant Henry Johnson, of Albany, NY, for actions he preformed in 
the First World War. Additionally, the legislation requests that the 
Secretary of the Army review the cases of other African-American 
veterans from World War I, who have had their accomplishments 
overlooked due to racism.
  This legislation is not without precedent. During the 100th Congress, 
my former colleagues Joe Dioguardi and Mickey Leland first brought the 
issue of racism in the awarding of medals of honor to national 
prominence. In 1997, after years of study, the Secretary of the Army 
finally recommended that seven Black veterans from World War II have 
their prior Distinguished Service Cross Awards upgraded to Medals of 
Honor. Likewise, a similar decision was taken regarding Asian-American 
veterans from World War II, including that of our esteemed colleague in 
the Senate, Daniel Inouye. Furthermore, last year, I joined my 
colleague from Florida, Bob Wexler, in introducing legislation to 
reconsider the records of several prominent Jewish veterans from World 
War II and Korea, who had been previously denied Medals of Honor. I was 
gratified that this bill, H.R. 606, was included in the fiscal year 
2002 Defense Authorization Act.
  Yet, despite this important progress, Henry Johnson and his 
colleagues from the Great War still await due recognition for their 
service to their country. The sole exception to this shameful legacy 
was the example of Corporal Freddie Stowers, who was posthumously 
awarded the Medal of Honor in 1991, in large part due to the tireless 
efforts of former Congressman Dioguardi in promoting his case to the 
Department of Defense from 1987-1991.
  Unlike more recent conflicts, which have been promoted heavily 
through print and televised media, the First World War has largely 
receded into the mists of time. What was originally known as the Great 
War receives scant attention these days, primarily it has become viewed 
as a failure of sorts. It was, in the words of President Wilson, the 
``War to end all wars,'' yet tragically, it did nothing of the kind. 
World War I was the most widespread, destructive and costly conflict 
the world had ever seen up to that point, but it paled in comparison to 
the destruction of the Second World War.
  Against this backdrop, the American public has, especially since 
1945, forgotten the sacrifices of the generation that made the world 
``safe for democracy.'' This is no more true for the African-American 
veterans of World War I, and especially, for Sergeant Henry Johnson.
  On May 14, 1918, Sergeant Johnson, an NCO with the 369th Infantry 
Regiment, a Black unit of New York National Guard troops,

[[Page E307]]

was stationed as part of a five-man watch in Northern France. Early 
that morning, Johnson and a fellow soldier were attacked by 24 Germans. 
Johnson's companion was wounded and captured. When his rifle 
subsequently jammed, Sergeant Johnson used his bayonet and a knife to 
kill and wound several Germans. He eventually freed his companion and 
drove the Germans off, before succumbing to the nearly two dozen wounds 
he suffered himself.
  For his actions in battle, the Government of France awarded its 
highest military honor to Sergeant Johnson, the Croix de Guerre with 
Gold Palm. Yet he received nothing from his own country until 1997, 
when he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, a decoration which 
all U.S. personnel are entitled to if wounded in combat.
  Henry Johnson returned to civilian life after the war and attempted 
to resume his old job as a railway porter. However, his wounds 
prevented this and he died penniless in 1937.
  Mr. Speaker, Sergeant Johnson's case is not unique among African-
American veterans of World War I, but it is the most egregious. It is 
not as if the U.S. Army was totally ignorant of his accomplishments. 
There is ample evidence that his profile and his story were used to 
sell war bonds in African-American communities in the closing days of 
the war. Moreover, in 1976, the Army had no problem featuring him in a 
U.S. Army recruiting poster. Yet to this day, more than 83 years after 
the fighting stopped on the Western Front, elements of the military are 
resisting awarding Sergeant Johnson the Medal of Honor.
  Last year, after a 4-year long review, outgoing Secretary of the Army 
Caldera approved a recommendation that Henry Johnson be awarded the 
Medal of Honor. Last spring, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
General Shelton recommended against such an award stating that ``proper 
procedure'' had not been followed in the application process.
  I believe that any reasonable person would be able to see that it 
would be impossible to follow outlined procedure in this case, 83 years 
after the fact. The chief requirement for the award, eyewitness 
testimony, is an unreachable goal in that any such persons in this 
instance are long dead. Moreover, it is absurd to argue that Sergeant 
Johnson should have submitted an application for the award within the 
proscribed time frame of 3 years. Given the entrenched and pervasive 
racism that existed in American society and the Army in 1921, it is not 
a stretch of logic to say such an effort would have been fruitless.
  It is for this reason that this legislation further requires the Army 
to revisit the service records of every other African-American soldier 
from World War I who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross or the 
French Croix De Guerre to determine if a medal upgrade or additional 
award of the Medal of Honor is warranted.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation has belatedly acknowledged that certain 
African-American and Asian-American veterans of World War II were 
unjustly denied proper recognition for military service above and 
beyond the call of duty. It is now time for us to admit that one debt 
remains to be paid: The proper acknowledgement of the courageous 
service of African-American veterans in World War I.
  The American veterans of World War I have almost all departed. The VA 
estimated that approximately 1,000 remained alive at the start of 
fiscal year 2002. It is long past time for us to recognize the service 
of Henry Johnson and his fellow African-American soldiers in World War 
I. When he first brought this issue before this House in 1987, my 
former colleague from New York, Representative Dioguardi, in 
criticizing the Pentagon's aversion to review the cases of Black 
veterans from the World Wars for possible medal upgrades, stated that 
``The statute of limitations was established for criminals, not war 
heroes.''
  With this legislation, we have an opportunity to correct a 
longstanding injustice, a glaring blot on the nobel and historic legacy 
of the United States Army. These cases have been referred to by some as 
the last loose ends of World War I. It is now time to close out this 
unfinished business.

                          ____________________