Leroy Alfred Johnston "American Hero"
Pine Bluff native and World War I veteran, Leroy Alfred Johnston, was a member of the Harlem Hell Fighters military band that introduced jazz to Europe during the war. He also posthumously received the Purple Heart because his military record was deliberately altered.
Leroy Alfred Johnston was born on April 2, 1893 or 1894, to Reverend Lewis Johnston Jr. and school teacher Mercy Ann Taborn Johnston in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. There is some uncertainty about the year he was born because the 1900 census lists his date of birth as April 1893, while his military records list his date of birth as April 2, 1894. The Johnston’s were a prominent African American family in Jefferson County. Johnston’s father served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War and was the first African American minister ordained in the Covenanter Church. In 1886, his parents founded the Richard Allen Institute, one of the first Presbyterian schools for African American students in Arkansas. Johnston had five siblings.
On November 9, 1917, Johnston enlisted in the National Guard in New York City. In late 1917, he was shipped to France after completing basic military training at Camp Whitman in New York and combat training at Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina. During World War I, he served with New York’s Fifteenth National Guard, later renamed 369th Infantry Regiment.
On April 8, 1918, the 369th Infantry was assigned to the French Army. Though they wore green United States uniforms, their weapons and supplies were issued by the French. They were one of the first African American regiments to engage in combat. They suffered some of the highest casualties in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and spent 191 days under fire. The German soldiers soon renamed them the Harlem Hell Fighters because of their fierceness and resilience in battle. Johnston also played the bugle in Company M, Third Battalion, of the 369th Infantry. The Harlem Hell Fighters military band became famous for introducing jazz to Europe.
In July 1918, Johnston was wounded at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry. On September 26, 1918, he was so severely wounded during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive that he had to crawl back to an aid station on his hands and knees. His wounds also meant that he was unable to come back to the United States with his regiment. Johnston was one of the 171 members of the 369th Infantry Regiment who were awarded the Croix de Guerre (Legion of Honor) medal by France.
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