Fort Johnson, the Army installation in Louisiana that was renamed in his honor in June 2023, is the largest physical marker of his legacy — a base that covers hundreds of thousands of acres, houses tens of thousands of soldiers, and now carries his name in its daily institutional operations. The fort’s renaming was a political and institutional decision that placed his name in a context of active military service rather than historical commemoration.
The 369th Veterans Association and Museum at the Harlem armory maintains the regimental records, photographs, and artifacts from the regiment’s service. It is the institutional home of the regiment’s memory, connecting the present-day 369th Sustainment Brigade to its origins.
## Needham Roberts’s Later Life
The historical record on Needham Roberts after the war is thinner than the record on Johnson, but what exists is worth noting.
Roberts received the Croix de Guerre for his role at Outpost 20. He survived the war and returned to the United States with the regiment in February 1919. His post-war life is not documented in the depth of Johnson’s in the main historical accounts.
Roberts was 17 years old during the action at Outpost 20. His wounds from that night — serious enough that he could not stand and was at risk of capture — were the product of the same German raiding party that Johnson fought off. His survival was contingent on Johnson’s action; had Johnson not prevented his capture, Roberts would have been taken as a prisoner to Germany.
The 1918 accounts — particularly the Irwin article — noted both men’s roles, and both received the Croix de Guerre. But the subsequent narrative focused on Johnson, partly because Johnson’s individual actions were more dramatic and partly because Johnson was the one who had been used for Army recruiting materials and bond sales, creating a public profile that Roberts did not have.