While leafing through World War I clippings in the Glen Cove Public Library seven years ago, Dr. Richard Harris noticed something that stopped him cold: Nearly 40 men from Glen Cove and the surrounding area had served in the Harlem Hellfighters, the famed 369th Infantry Regiment. Among them were six brothers from the Fowler family, most of whom fought side by side in France.
That moment of discovery set Harris, an assistant dean at Webb Institute, in Glen Cove, and a longtime student of military history, on a path that eventually led to the belated presentation of one of the nation’s highest honors.
On Sept. 3, at Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol, the Harlem Hellfighters were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The ceremony marked the culmination of years of local research, grassroots organizing and political persistence that began in part with Harris’s determination to ensure that Glen Cove’s soldiers were not forgotten.
Harris recalled that instead of filing the discovery away, he felt compelled to act. “I saw that there were families that had sent multiple sons to the war, and some had been decorated by the French,” he explained. “Instead of just saying, oh, that’s interesting, I thought, let me go after that — let me find what stories there might be here.” His curiosity led to a 2018 exhibit at the North Shore Historical Museum featuring his collection of Harlem Hellfighters artifacts, which drew strong community interest. That momentum spurred Harris and local veterans to form the Harlem Hellfighters Recognition Committee, setting the stage for broader advocacy.
The effort drew the attention of U.S. Rep Tom Suozzi, who took up the cause in Washington. In 2019, the Willett family, of Glen Cove and Oyster Bay, approached Suozzi, seeking help in obtaining a Purple Heart for Sgt. Leander Willett, who had been bayoneted and gassed in France in World War I, but survived. After initial denials due to incomplete records, Suozzi’s office found documentation proving Willett’s injuries. He had died in 1956. In November 2019, Suozzi presented Willet’s family with a posthumous Purple Heart in a ceremony at the North Shore Museum.
That experience deepened Suozzi’s commitment. He introduced legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the entire Hellfighters regiment, enlisting the support of Harlem’s congressional representative Adriano Espaillat, as well as the Congressional Black Caucus, veterans from both parties, and senators including New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand. The bill quickly gained momentum, earning more than 300 co-sponsors and passing unanimously. President Joseph Biden signed it into law in 2021.
For Suozzi, the Sept. 3 ceremony was the fulfillment of years of work. “Who would’ve thought you’d get Tom Suozzi, Hakeem Jeffries, Speaker (Mike) Johnson, and (Defense) Secretary (Pete) Hegseth all on the same page, praising African American soldiers from World War I?” he reflected afterward. “It was really a remarkable example of people working together for something we all believe in.”
The medal was accepted by Col. Bryon Linnehan, commander of the 369th Sustainment Brigade of the New York National Guard, and by Debra Willett, Sgt. Leander Willett’s granddaughter and senior library assistant and education coordinator for special sections at Hofstra University.
For Debra, the moment carried the weight of generations. Born in Oyster Bay in 1895, her grandfather served in France from 1917 to 1919, alongside his cousin Marston Willett and other relatives. After he was wounded, he returned home to raise a family, work as a handyman and pass on a love of boxing that his descendants carried forward. He died decades before receiving official recognition.
“Our families have been neighbors and allies with the Suozzis for over 100 years,” Debra Willett said, noting how moved she was to see Harris, another neighbor, who had no family connection to the regiment, devote years to ensuring that African American soldiers from Long Island were remembered. “I thank him for that over and over again,” she said.
The North Shore Historical Museum continues to keep the story alive. Georgie Connett, president of its board of directors, called the Capitol ceremony “a truly long journey for this well-deserved recognition that began in the First World War.” She traced its origins back to the museum’s 2018 exhibit, and a Glen Cove City Council resolution in 2021 declaring Feb. 17 Harlem Hellfighters Remembrance Day in the city.
“We learned there were 31 men from Glen Cove who fought for our freedom and were never recognized for their bravery and service,” Connett said. The exhibit, she added, is now part of the museum’s permanent collection.
City Councilwoman Marsha Silverman also attended the Sept. 3 ceremony. “It was amazing to travel to Washington, D.C., to witness the bipartisan recognition of a group of highly successful African American soldiers, many of whom were from Glen Cove,” Silverman said. “As co-chair of the Memorial Day Parade, I am aware of the importance of appreciating those who sacrifice for our freedoms.”
The Harlem Hellfighters’ heroism remains extraordinary even by wartime standards. Assigned to the French Army because white American troops refused to fight alongside them, the Hellfighters were issued French rifles, helmets and belts, but wore American uniforms. They endured 191 days in combat — the most of any American regiment —and earned accolades from French and German forces alike. Yet when they returned home, they faced the same racism they had left behind.
The Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, has been awarded to fewer than 200 individuals and groups since the American Revolution. The Hellfighters are only the third African American military group to receive it, joining the Tuskegee Airmen and the Montfort Point Marines.
