369th Corps Support Battalion
The origins of the 369th can be traced back to World War I when it was the 15th Infantry, a National Guard unit comprised of African-Americans. The unit particpated in the Meusse-Argonne offensive which claimed nearly one-third of its troops.
In October 1913 the New York National Guard activated a new regiment, the 15th. Its armory was a storefront and a former dance hall above it. These were up in Harlem, because the regiment was to be recruited from among black volunteers. A project of Governor Charles S. Whitman, the regiment had some problems securing Federal recognition because of its racial composition.
Actually, the race of the troops was not the major problem. There were four black regiments in the Regular Army, and several others in the National Guard. What made the 15th different was that it was to have black officers, at least in company grades. Aside from some chaplains and two regular officers (Maj. Charles Young and 1Lt Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.) there were no black officers in the army or the National Guard.
The cream of New York's black community was recruited, such as James Europe, already famous as an orchestra leader, N.B. Marshall, a noted attorney, Horace Pippin, an artist (who produced some remarkable drawings depicting army life), and Vertner Tandy, an architect, who later designed the landmark 369th Infantry Regiment Armory, in New York. The white officers were from New York's upper crust, including many veterans of the toney 7th Regiment, such as William Hayward, the regimental commander, and Hamilton Fish, Jr., who commanded a company and lived into the 1990s, after achieving considerable fame as a thorn in the side of Franklin Roosevelt. The regimental recruiting surgeon was Dr. George Bolling Lee, a grandson of Robert E. Lee.
During World War I the "15th Heavy Foot" acquired a number of unusual distinctions. It was the only American unit to go overseas still under its state designation, not being officially dubbed the "369th Infantry" until much later. Moreover, the regiment served virtually its entire tour in France as part of the French Army, with mostly French equipment, wearing a combination of French and American uniforms, and even drawing French rations (though, alas, without daily pint of wine). In addition, during the war it went into action carrying the New York State flag, thereby becoming the last American unit to formally carry its state colors into action. And because when upon presenting the state flag to the regiment Governor Whitman had said something like "Never let it drag in the mud," the colors were always carried by the color bearer, even when the troops were taking a break, even during a shelling.
The 369th Infantry saw more front line service than any other American regiment in the war, some 200 days. Among its most notable heroes was Henry Johnson, who earned a Croix de guerre for disposing of five Germans with a knife, while suffering from multiple fractures in both legs.
After World War I the regiment returned to state control. Upon mobilization for World War II, the 369th Infantry was reorganized and redesignated as the 369th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft), which later became the 369th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. After the war the regiment returned to the National Guard, and went through several other redesignations and reorganizations, to emerge as the 369th Transportation Battalion, and served in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Now designated the 369th Support Battalion, the "15th Heavy Foot" remains a major component of the National Guard in New York City.
The unit was later redesignated and reorganized as the 369th Transportation Bn and was again redesignated as the 369th Corps Support Battalion.
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