Veterans' Memorial Project
John Bernerd Johnson
Belleville, IL
World War II
Mr. Johnson died in a plane crash in Tallahoma, Tennessee. A newspaper article found by the family reports: “Lieutenant Johnson was killed when his spinning plane struck him after he had baled out and was parachuting to safety. Apparently the pilot baled out after the plane went into a spin on a night flight and the craft followed the parachute down. Lieutenant Johnson was president of his class in his junior year at the University of Illinois, in 1941. He entered the Army on June 5, 1942, as second lieutenant of field artillery and transferred to the Air Forces. In October, 1942, he was among a group of officers selected to serve as a personal bodyguard to President Roosevelt when the commander-in-chief visited Kelly Field, Texas. Lieutenant Johnson had won his wings twice, first as a pilot and then as an air observer. He was in a final stage of training when he crashed. In another month he was scheduled to be graduated as a pilot-observer and expected to be assigned for overseas service.”
– submitted by Rachel Johnson, great niece
