The U.S. Army renames a base in honor of Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black WWI hero
Louisiana's Fort Polk became the latest U.S. Army installation to shed its Confederate namesake on Tuesday when it was officially renamed Fort Johnson after a Black World War I hero.
The base now honors Sgt. William Henry Johnson, whose actions on the front lines in France earned him the nickname Black Death during his lifetime and a posthumous Medal of Honor nearly a century later.
"The Warrior Spirit that burned with in Sgt. William Henry Johnson now inspires generations of Soldiers — Soldiers that will now call JRTC and Fort Johnson home and Soldiers that will continue to come here from all over the nation and the world to train," said Brig. Gen. David Gardner, commanding general of Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson, in a Facebook post.
Johnson's courage became the stuff
