Medal of Honor for WWI Guardsman?

President Barack Obama will have the authority to decide whether a New York National Guardsman who fought in World War I will receive the nation's highest military honor for his bravery in France in 1918. The 2015 defense policy bill now on the president's desk waives for one time the long-standing requirement that the award of a Medal of Honor be made within five years of the action being recognized.

Once Obama signs the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, he can consider awarding the medal to Sgt. Henry Johnson, who fought with the 369th Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard, a unit known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

A native of Virginia, Johnson was on sentry duty early on the morning of May 14, 1918, along with another soldier, Needham Roberts, when they were attacked by more than 20 German soldiers. Roberts was quickly wounded and the Germans tried to drag him away.

Johnson fought fiercely to save Roberts and killed and wounded several Germans with his knife and rifle, using his rifle as a club at one point to thwart the German effort. Johnson suffered as many as 20 wounds in the fight. He and Roberts were awarded the Croix de Guerre, one of France's highest military honors. In 2003, Johnson, who died in 1929 at age 32, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, which was accepted in Kansas City by his son, Herman Johnson, who has since died.

"Sgt. Henry Johnson is a true American hero, who displayed the most profound battlefield bravery," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., according to an Associated Press report. "Johnson's family has waited long enough for the recognition Johnson should have received almost a century ago."

The Harlem Hellfighters and Johnson are part of the World War I exhibit in the National Guard Memorial Museum at NGAUS headquarters in Washington, D.C.