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 'Harlem Hellfighters' of New York are 104 years old By Maj. Bryon Linnehan
                369th Sustainment Brigade
 CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - June marks the 104th anniversary of the 15th Infantry Regiment, the forbearers of today's 369th Sustainment Brigade. This storied unit, given the famous nickname "The Harlem Hellfighters" by their German adversaries, has earned a distinguished place in history as a result of the tenacity they displayed both on and off the battlefield. As the first and only all-black New York National Guard unit, the story of the 369th Infantry in World War I is a heroic tale of the struggle of African-Americans to prove their worth as Soldiers on the battlefield as well as assert their rights as citizens at home," said Courtney Burns, the director of military history, New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs. On June 2, 1913, the 15th Infantry Regiment was constituted as a part of the New York National Guard. The men who formed the initial ranks of the unit faced a society at the time that was highly fragmented along racial lines, enduring prejudice and unjust treatment in the segregated Army of the time. They were forced to fight under the command of the French army, as many white American Soldiers refused to fight alongside the black Soldiers. The unit's fortitude would soon be put to the ultimate test on the ground in war-torn France, where the Hellfighters did not merely survive, but thrived on the battlefield. Their resilience resulted in a proud heritage as those men from Harlem never lost a man through capture, lost a trench, or a foot of ground to the enemy. With 191 days in continuous combat, the first American unit to cross the Rhine, and the only American unit awarded the French Croix de Guerre, the 369th was one of the most successful units in the U.S. Army, black or white. Their deeds earned them widespread respect and acknowledgement and helped to lay the groundwork for the 20th century civil rights movement," said Burns. Sgt. (then Pvt.) Henry Johnson earned the French Croix de Guerre avec Palme (France's highest award for valor) and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart in 1996, the Distinguished Service Cross in 2002, and in June 2015 received the American military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor. While on sentry duty, Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts were attacked by a German raiding party of at least a dozen Soldiers. Johnson managed to fight off the German forces while also preventing the wounded Needham from being captured by the enemy, even though he himself had also suffered significant injuries. First Lt. George S. Robb would also earn the Medal of Honor for his valor displayed in the fields of France. Despite being severely wounded several time while leading his platoon near Sechault, France, Robb displayed courage and tenacity by remaining with his platoon. When his commanding officer was killed, he assumed command of the entire company and continued to take out machine gun nests and sniping posts, greatly contributing to his battalion completing their objective. During World War I, the unit was credited with campaign participation in Champagne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Champagne 1918, Alsace 1918, and Lorraine 1918, earning a regimental French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star and Streamer and more than 170 individual Croix de Guerre medals. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, the unit underwent extensive reorganization. The unit transitioned from the 15th Infantry to the 369th Infantry, prior to being converted and re-designated on August 30th, 1940, as the 369th Coastal Artillery. Despite all these organizational changes, the Hellfighters did not lose their fighting spirit. By the end of World War II, the various units that trace their lineage back to the 15th Infantry are credited with campaign participation in Ryukyus, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Eastern Mandates, Western Pacific, North Apennines, Luzon and Po Valley. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the Hellfighters were ordered into active federal service as the 369th Transportation Battalion, having made the transition from Artillery to Transportation in February, 1968. The Hellfighters would be credited with campaign participation in the Defense of Saudi Arabia, the Liberation and Defense of Kuwait, and the ceasefire. During peacetime, the Hellfighters maintain their ability to operate in a joint environment, and build upon their operational effectiveness and deployment capability by conducting numerous partner nation exercises on the African continent as well as mobilizing for state civil-support missions in the case of a natural disaster or other state emergency. When Hurricane Sandy ripped up the East Coast and caused extensive destruction in the New York metropolitan area, the unit was called upon by the governor of New York to help mitigate the suffering of their neighbors and fellow New Yorkers. Today, 104 years since the original Hellfighters first fought for equality and against naked aggression in western Europe, the Brigade Headquarters, Battalion Headquarters, and Headquarters Company are deployed to the Middle East fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The unit continues to build upon the strong foundation laid over a century ago despite facing seemingly insurmountable odds at times. The unit, first commanded by Col. William Hayward, is now commanded by Col. Stephen Bousquet, a native of Buffalo. Bousquet, a supervisory health physicist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, commands a high degree of respect from his Hellfighters as a master logistician who leads several thousand Hellfighters in the U.S. Army Central Command's Area of Operations. "The professionalism and expertise the 369th possesses is second to none. Senior leaders, both here in theater and back in New York, have remarked upon the outstanding job we have done and offered their gratitude for our continuing efforts," said Bousquet. "We are the best sustainment brigade in the Army and it is important that we continue to earn that reputation and our place in the Hellfighter legacy every day."
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