The Harlem Hellfighters march up Fifth Avenue at the start of the Veterans Day Parade. (Photo by Nate Rawlings)
As nearly 20,000 active troops, reservists and veterans assembled at Washington Square Park in the pre-dawn chill on Veterans Day, listening to praise for their sacrifice from dignitaries as they double-checked uniforms, flags and banners for the parade up Fifth Avenue, the Harlem Hellfighters of the 369th Sustainment Brigade stood ready. Their preparations were complete before the speeches began.
“I wasn’t assigned this, I just took it,” Spc. Richard Figueroa, a soldier with more than 10 years in the unit, said of the brigade’s banner. Behind the Figueroa, more than 200 Hellfighters got set to march.
The 369th Sustainment Brigade, headquartered at 142nd Street next to the Harlem River, has soldiers from all over the city and upstate who do a myriad of complex missions. It includes two transportation companies in Staten Island and New Windsor, a communications unit in Peekskill and a finance company in Whitestone.
The 369th shoulders most of the combat support for the 53rd Troop Command, one of the two largest commands in the New York National Guard. The Hellfighters added units as part of an Army-wide reorganization after the start of the Iraq War that moved many different jobs into the same brigade.
“The unit’s changed, it’s a lot bigger now,” Figueroa said. “It was a lot more comfortable before — now we’re bigger, so it’s going to take a little bit of getting used to.”
While the 369th plays a supporting role today, the unit descends from the Harlem Hellfighters of the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit that fought in both World Wars. The original Hellfighters deployed to France in late 1917 under the command of future U.S. Congressman Hamilton Fish III and fought as part of the 16th French Infantry Division. The Hellfighters spent more than six months on the front lines, fought in four major campaigns and suffered more than 1,500 casualties, according to the New York State Military Museum.
The Hellfighters became one of most decorated New York units in World War I. Pvt. Henry Lincoln Johnson was the first American to be awarded the French Croix de Guerre for valor after fighting off 24 Germans in close, hand to hand combat.
In World War II, the Hellfighters fought as part of the all-black 93rd Division that saw action in New Guinea, Jolo and Morotai in the Pacific Theater.
Despite the change in the 369th’s mission, current troops remain well versed in the unit’s history and decorations. Before a soldier in the 369th can wear the unit’s crest, a blue shield with a curled rattlesnake, he or she must memorize and answer questions about the Hellfighters’s battle accomplishments.
“Once you can relate the history back to the higher rank officer, then you get pinned,” Figueroa said. “And that’s the way we keep our history going.”
Eight years after the 9/11 attacks and six years into the Iraq War, many reserve units are short-handed, but the 369th sees no shortage of reserve soldiers.
“We’re actually over strength right now,” said Staff Sgt. Jaime Lino, a former active duty paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division who left the regular Army to become a personnel specialist in the 369th. “We’re authorized 2146, and we have 2190-something, so we’re doing OK.”
“But that kills reenlistment bonuses,” Spc. Rafael Hernandez added.
The modern day Hellfighters see themselves as an important part of the community and keepers of Harlem history.
“A lot of money’s been brought into Harlem,” Figueroa said. “A lot of the brownstones have been fixed up now, a lot of new businesses. But they gotta keep their culture, their own culture. That’s why I think it’s real important for the unit to keep it going.”
At the call to attention, the Hellfighters straightened up. Behind the parade’s grand marshal, legendary actor and World War II Navy veteran Tony Curtis, the Hellfighters marched through a canyon of cheering crowds up Fifth Avenue toward Central Park.
