William Henry Johnson was born in Winston Salem, North Carolina in 1892.

 While still a teenager, Johnson moved to New York...he was an industrious

young man and found work as a soda mixer, in a coal yard, as a chauffeur,

and eventually as a redcap porter in Albany’s train station. 

In April of 1917 the United States declared war on Germany and, just two

months later, William Henry Johnson volunteered to serve his country—he

enlisted on June 5, 1917.