On the Western Front of World War I, death did not discriminate.
Artillery screaming towards the trenches treated men of all color the same. But the soldiers of the 92nd and 93rd divisions lived segregated lives both in and out of war.
These all-Black units, which served under mostly white officers, readily took up arms with their fellow Americans, hopeful that their patriotism and service would lead to better treatment at home.
In the end, the Harlem Hellfighters, as they were likely first dubbed by their German adversaries, spent more time in continuous combat than any other American unit of its size, with 191 days in the front-line trenches, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The unit also suffered 1,400 total casualties, more than any other American regiment. Many of those soldiers are buried or memorialized at American military cemeteries overseas managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
