Capital Region News

Schumer: Bring WWI Hero's Medal Of Honor To His NY Hometown

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published July 16, 2015 at 4:59 PM EDT

WWI hero Henry Johnson is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants the New York National Guard to bring the Medal of Honor posthumously awarded to World War I soldier Sgt. Henry Johnson of Albany upstate to be put on public display.

President Barack Obama awarded the medal June 2 to Johnson, who was black, and Sgt. William Shemin of the Bronx, who was Jewish. The honor came after long campaigns to bestow recognition on WWI heroes who may have been unjustly denied the medal due to discrimination.

Johnson has no living relatives, so his medal was accepted by the highest-ranking enlisted man in the New York Army National Guard.

Tags

Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

See stories by Dave Lucas