PFC Raymond Kenneth Blake buried in Section 25 of Arlington National Cemetery. PFC Blake shares Section 25 with Private Henry Johnson, a member of the 369th. He fought in the Argonne Forest and was the first American soldier to earn France’s highest military honor – the Croix de Guerre. On the night of May 14, 1918, Pvt. Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts were on sentry duty when a squad of Germans began firing at them. Roberts was severely wounded soon after the firing began. Johnson continued fighting even after taking bullets in the arm, head, side and suffering 21 wounds in hand-to-hand combat. Johnson was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. On June 2, 2015, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Johnson the Medal of Honor to Pvt. Johnson for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

[igp-video src=”” poster=”https://www.arlington.media/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/pfc-raymond-kenneth-blake-buried-in-section-25-of-arlington-national-cemetery.-pfc-blake-shares-sect-1.jpg” size=”large”]PFC Raymond Kenneth Blake buried in Section 25 of Arlington National Cemetery. PFC Blake shares Section 25 with Private Henry Johnson, a member of the 369th. He fought in the Argonne Forest and was the first American soldier to earn France's highest military honor – the Croix de Guerre. On the night of May 14, 1918, Pvt. Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts were on sentry duty when a squad of Germans began firing at them. Roberts was severely wounded soon after the firing began. Johnson continued fighting even after taking bullets in the arm, head, side and suffering 21 wounds in hand-to-hand combat. Johnson was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. On June 2, 2015, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Johnson the Medal of Honor to Pvt. Johnson for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."