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General <em>Harold Keith Johnson,</em> Army Chief of Staff for four years during the height of the Vietnam War and survivor of the infamous Bataan Death March during World War II, died on 24 September 1983 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a long but heroic battle with cancer. Services, conducted in the small chapel at Fort Myer and at graveside in Arlington on a beautiful autumn day, touched appropriately on those things which mattered most in Johnny Johnson's life—his love of God, family, and country; his desire for modesty, humility, and selflessness in the conduct of his life; and, his great concern for others in the pursuit of their service. Moving and nostalgic eulogies were delivered by retired classmate and neighbor Lieutenant General Oren E. Hurlbut, one of Johnny's closest personal friends since cadet days, and by retired General Clyde D. Eddleman, for whom Johnny worked on more than one occasion and with whom a very close personal and professional relationship had developed over the years. In addition to Eddleman and Hurlbut, honorary pallbearers included Generals G.A. Carver, S.E. Gee, J.H. Polk, H.G. Sparrow, M.F. Summerfelt, and Colonels R.A. Turner and N.M. Wallace. Army Chief of Staff General John A. Wickham cut short a European trip to return for the funeral and serve as pallbearer.</p>
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Born in Bowesmont, North Dakota, on 22 February 1912, “Keith" (as he was known to his immediate family throughout his life) graduated from high school in Grafton, North Dakota, and entered West Point in the summer of 1929. Looking back on these years, he frequently described himself as a “country boy,” a youngster not wanting in his early life, but one who nevertheless worked at a variety of odd jobs and who, at the time of his graduation from high school, refused to purchase a new suit for the occasion on the grounds that he would have no use for it at West Point. Much to the chagrin of his parents, Johnny graduated wearing “high waters,” at least three inches above the prescribed level.</p>
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Entering West Point in the summer of 1929 after a bout with scarlet fever (which threatened his admission), Johnny (nee “Keith,” and soon to be “GOP,” “Olaf,” or “Swede”) at first struggled through academics, but eventually moved from near the bottom in class standing to closer to the middle. He was active in Plebe intramurals, basketball and football (he was equipment manager in his First Class year), and in HOWITZER activities, serving as sports editor. He looked back fondly on his activities with the Dialectic Society, the 100th Night Show and other extracurricular activities which he was inclined to describe as “nefarious” in nature. Details are sketchy and his classmates are noncommittal.</p>
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Johnny Johnson’s early service included duty with the 3rd (Old Guard) Infantry at Fort Snelling, Minnesota (where he met Dorothy, his bride of 48 years), the 28th Infantry at Fort Niagara, New York, and The Infantry School at Fort Benning. In the spring of 1940, Johnny was assigned to the 57th Infantry, popularly known as the Philippine Scouts, at Fort McKinley, Philippine Islands. When the United States entered the war against Japan in 1941, the Philippine Scouts were deployed to Bataan where Johnny was assigned regimental operations officer and later as commander of the 3rd Battalion. In April 1942, Bataan fell to the Japanese and Johnny Johnson and other survivors of the 57th Regiment were taken prisoner and moved to prisoner of war (POW) camps elsewhere in the islands in what became known as the “Bataan Death March,” an event which achieved its place in history by virtue of the unparalleled brutality inflicted upon the POW’s and the fact that more than 8000 persons lost their lives during the march. Typical of Johnny, however, and characteristic of the balanced perspective he maintained on this harrowing experience (then, and in the years afterwards), was his view that the treatment accorded himself and other POW’s was frequently no worse than that inflicted upon their own people by the Japanese.</p>
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Johnny, a 30-year old lieutenant colonel at the time, was imprisoned successively at Camp O’Donnell, Camp Cabanatuan, and Bilibid Prison. He served variously as prison adjutant and then as purchasing and commissary officer, positions for which he was selected by his fellow prisoners by virtue of his known integrity and sense of fairness. The stories of prison camp life abound, but by all accounts Johnny surpassed even the most optimistic expectations in plying the Japanese security system with such success that surprisingly large sums of money and goods (valued at $750,000 by one estimate) were accumulated covertly and the “black market” in food and services was turned to the advantage of the POW’s. Many owe their lives to the success of this system.</p>
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In the winter of 1944, after Americans landed on Leyte, Johnny Johnson and 1600 other prisoners were shipped by freighter to Japan, many of them dying in route as a result of allied bombings of the unmarked POW ships, or from malnutrition, or lack of medical attention, Johnny was held first at Fukuoka, Japan, and later in a camp near Inchon, Korea, from which he was ultimately liberated in 1945. The late Colonel Walter Kostecki, a POW surgeon who examined him in Fukuoka, once recalled that “there was no medical reason why Harold Johnson should have been alive.” Johnny weighed barely 90 pounds at the time.</p>
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Returned to the United States, and after a frustrating period of recuperation, job seeking, and reorientation touring, Johnson was finally assigned as a student at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and served on the faculty for two years.</p>
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Outbreak of the Korean conflict in 1950 found Johnny as a battalion commander at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He took the 1st Provisional Infantry Battalion to Korea in August 1950 and joined the 1st Cavalry Division. He fought in the defensive action at Pusan, the pursuit of the enemy northward, the encounter with the Chinese in late 1950 and in the subsequent withdrawal southward. During these actions he commanded the 5th and 8th Cavalry Regiments and later served as operations officer for I Corps.</p>
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General Johnson attended the National War College in 1952-3, an affiliation he maintained throughout the years, following which he was assigned to the Army Plans and Operations Staff for three years. Between1956-1960, he served in a number of posts in Germany, eventually being named Chief of Staff of the Central Army Group, a NATO headquarters concerned with planning deployment of French, German and American troops.</p>
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In Augst 1960, Johnny Johnson was appointed Commandant of the Command and Staff College at Leavenworth and served in that post until early July 1963. He was named Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations at that time and the following year was promoted to Army Chief of Staff, the youngest man up to that time to hold the position with the exception of General Douglas MacArthur. On the occasion of Johnny’s appointment, Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall wrote that “No military nomination since the Second World War was less expected, and few, if any, have been more appropriate.” He described Johnny as a “man of character.”</p>
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And a man of character he was. This “character”, encompassing as it did an unflawed integrity, uncommon compassion, determined dedication and an unparalleled sense of public service, typified Johnny’s life in retirement as it did in uniform.</p>
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Johnny had a lifelong interest in the Boy Scouts, serving in the late-1940’s as scoutmaster (in old Gruber Hall at Leavenworth) and twice, in 1970 and again in 1977, as president of the National Capital Area Council in Washington. He was the recipient of Scouting’s highest awards for leadership and service—the Silver Beaver Award in 1962 and the Silver Buffalo Award in 1967. This commitment to the promotion of spiritual, moral, and patriotic ideals led him, in 1968, to an association with Freedom’s Foundation at Valley Forge which lasted until his death. Johnny served as president of the Foundation from 1971 until 1974 and was instrumental in expanding its base of financial support and in solidifying its widely renowned education and awards programs. He himself had been the recipient of Freedom’s Foundation’s highest honor, the George Washington Medal, in 1968.</p>
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Johnny was also a longtime member of the Order of the Scottish Rite and a 33rd Degree Mason. At the time of his death, he was serving as Director of Education and Americanism and as Grand Steward of the Supreme Council. In 1981, the Supreme Council conferred upon him its highest honor, that of Grand Cross of the Court of Honor. Deeply religious in an ecumenical, not a secular, sense, Johnny was active for many years in international Christian leadership activities and had received the Benemerente Award from Pope Paul VI and the National Citizenship Award from the Military Chaplain’s Association for his contributions in the spiritual field.</p>
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In all of these endeavors, and in the corporate world with which he served in retirement as well, Johnny Johnson touched people in special ways. He was truly, as Martin Blumenson described him in <em>ARMY</em> magazine in 1968 on the occasion of his retirement, “a most remarkable man.” His enduring impact as a speaker was captured in this piece:</p>
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“No one who was there will ever forget how he welcomed the new class in Bell Hall (at Fort Leavenworth). He has always been an outstanding speaker, fluent and articulate, standing as close to the front of the stage as possible to establish rapport and empathy. . . . He told (the students) that he expected them to work hard. He expected them to take nothing in their school work on faith—‘Challenge the assertion,’ he said, coining a slogan that became famous. He expected them to live up to a strict code of moral conduct. Men have gotten into trouble, he told them, because of wine, women, and song; he had no objection to singing. And at the end of his talk, he asked them to stand and bow their heads. He prayed, and as the house lights dimmed, he stepped back slowly while the curtain descended gently. His prayer ended as the curtain touched the stage floor. The theater was dark. For a few moments there was profound silence. Then the lights came on, and the audience stirred. As the men turned to go, several cynics said something about showmanship. But the fact is, none of the officers present would ever forget his words.”</p>
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And few, if any, have. Indeed, as noted in <em>ARMED FORCES JOURNAL</em>, no summary could recount the achievements of his outstanding career or the brilliance of his service as Chief of Staff. “But we venture the opinion that the Army has never had and perhaps never will have a greater leader. Perhaps the accolade that best characterizes his service to the Nation, to the Armed Forces, and to the Army, is the one that springs most easily to mind: He never forgot that he was a soldier.”</p>
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The Nation and the Army, family, friends, and associates, mourn the loss of this magnificent human being, but all may be encouraged by the splendid example he set in his professional and personal life and by the truly inspired leadership he provided in the military and civilian sectors of American life. As Johnny Johnson never forgot that he was a soldier, so, too, soldiers and others, in all walks of life, will never forget him.</p>
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<em>H. K. Johnson, Jr.</em></p>
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