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Fort Polk to be renamed in honor of Sgt. Henry Johnson

 A statue of Sgt. Henry Johnson in Albany's Washington Park.
WAMC's Dave Lucas
A statue of Sgt. Henry Johnson in Albany's Washington Park.

Fort Polk in Louisiana will be renamed in honor of Albany resident Sergeant Henry Johnson.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York says the renaming will occur in June and comes after Congress authorized the Naming Commission to provide new names for U.S. military bases and other Department of Defense installations originally named after Confederate leaders.

Johnson, a member of the Harlem Hellfighters, was awarded a Medal of Honor in 2015 for his actions in World War I – in which he fought off a German advance and rescued a fellow soldier from capture.

“Sgt. Henry Johnson, Albany resident and Harlem Hellfighter, is a true American hero, who displayed the most profound battlefield bravery in World War I, yet for almost a century the nation for which he was willing to give his life shamefully failed to recognize his heroics, just because he was a black man. Now, this summer Sgt. Johnson’s name is slated to rightfully take the place of a Confederate general and have the southern military base renamed in his honor," Schumer said in a statement."

The Army installation is home to the Joint Readiness Training Center and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division. Schumer says its new name will be Fort Johnson.

Jim is WAMC’s Associate News Director and hosts WAMC's flagship news programs: Midday Magazine, Northeast Report and Northeast Report Late Edition. Email: jlevulis@wamc.org
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