Fort Polk renamed in honor of Black WWI hero Sgt. William Henry Johnson

Louisiana's Fort Polk has been renamed Fort Johnson in honor of Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black World War I hero. Johnson's 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. Johnson and his comrade Pvt. Needham Roberts became the first U.S. soldiers to receive the Croix du Guerre — France's highest military honor — as a result of their actions, and later returned home as national heroes.