Churchill: We need a greater honor for Albany's Henry Johnson
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Army Pvt. Henry Johnson. Pvt. Johnson was one of two World War I Army heroes on June 2, 2015, who finally received the Medal of Honor they may have been denied because of discrimination, nearly 100 years after bravely rescuing comrades on the battlefields of France. (U.S. Army via AP)
The bust of WWI hero Henry Johnson in a park that bears his name is seen June 11, 2025, in Albany.
On a night in 1918, a pack of more than 20 German soldiers decided to mess with the wrong guy.
That guy was Albany’s Henry Johnson, who single-handedly fought them off with grenades, a rifle, his bolo knife, and, when all that wasn’t enough, his bare hands. In doing so, our Johnson suffered no fewer than 21 wounds, including a knife slash to his face, and saved the life of a fellow soldier.
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Pretty damn heroic, if you ask me, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Consider the words of Teddy Roosevelt Jr., son of the former Republican president, who in a book about World War I called Johnson “one of the five bravest American soldiers” to fight in the conflict. How Roosevelt came up with that ranking, I don’t know, but there’s no doubting Johnson’s heroism.
Donald Trump and © Times Union
