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T OVER BlOverwhelms a Rock of Them in The Trenches Over ThereHenry Johnson and Needham Roberts are the Negro HeroesWhen the »egro of the future tells lt;of the great war to his children orhfe * grandchildren the names ofHenry Johnson and Needham Roberts will he mentioned in the same breath with Generals March and Pershing and President Wilson, perhaps*For Henry Johnson and Needham poberts are heroes?—and' they are negroes.'ihe story that will be told of Roberts and. Johnson will have in it these facts:A detachment of twenty-four Germans was about to execute a well-developed coup against one of onr important points of resistance just west of Verdun. In the black-dark of No Man’s Land the patrol of boches in a closely knit group came upon Robert# and Johnson, two/of the first American negroes to man the trenches in France.The two negroes' gave battle. Each had a Tifle, hand grenades and a “bolo” knife. Four of the boehes were soon accounted * for, rifle hullets from the American pair putting them out of the fighting, but the Huns closed in, firing and clubbing with their rifle butts.Roberts was shot in .three places and sank, into the mire. Fiat, on his back he continued to hurl grenades into the group of forms ■which battled around him in thenight.Two of the foremost Germans leaped upon Johnson. One went down before his Roint-blank fire,the other with the butt of Johnson's rifle across his head. Johnson then sprang to the side of Roberts about whose . heck'-were the fingers of a Gera^n. . That German was disembowled with Johnson's “bolo” knife. Johnson’s wounds by this time, were three,, as were Roberts’, but the two continued to throw hand grenades and the remnants of the German patrol were. put to flight, one being literally blown to pieces by a grenade Johnson threw.Both have been awarded the cross de guerre by the French general under whose division they served and the gold palm of the French army is to be awarded to Johnson. Both boys are from. New York.
Newspaper Details
Lima Daily News
Lima, Ohio, US
Wed, May 29, 1918
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Schalene D.
USA 06 Feb 2018
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