Already being known for their very talented marching band led by James Reese Europe, the Harlem Hell Fighters had a chance to impress the world with their fighting.Because the French had suffered a great number of casualties and President Wilson was reluctant to send his favored white soldiers to fight under another flag, the 369th regiment was mobilized to fight alongside the French as a throw away regiment. On April 15, 1918, the 369th infantry regiment entered the war under the flag of the French Army. While under for the French flag, the 369th were treated as equals for the first time during the war, despite the Americans’ efforts to persuade the French army to treat the African American troops inhumanely. On August 7th, 1918, the Linard memo was sent to the French. In this memo, Linard begs the French army to continue to treat African Americans like they were in the Jim Crow South because he feared Black Americans would begin to demand respect after the war.  

However, the French did not obey this memo. In fact, when speaking about the French in his interview, Jones suggested that the French troops would often take up for the African American soldiers when they had altercations with the whites.  

On the battle field, the Harlem Hell Fighters performed exceptionally well, and leaving a long list of honors in their wake, such as: being the first allied unit to reach the Rhine; Corporal Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts of the Hell Fighters being the first Americans (black or white) to earn the Croix de Guerre from the French Army; and another 171 of the Harlem Hell Fighters officers and men receiving the Croix de Guerre for their role in taking Sechault.