JOHNSON, SAMUEL ROBERT
Name: Samuel Robert Johnson Rank/Branch: O4/United States Air Force Unit: 433rd TFS Date of Birth: 11 October 1930 Home City of Record: Dallas Tx Date of Loss: 16 April 1966 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 173500N 1061700E Status (in 1973): Returnee Category: Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C Missions: 25 NOTE: Flew 62 missions in Korea in F-86's
Other Personnel in Incident: Larry Chesley, WSO, Returnee
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK 06 September 1996 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
REMARKS: 021273 RELEASED BY DRV
SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977 Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret), Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor P.O.W. Publications, 10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602 Text is reproduced as found in the original publication (including date and spelling errors).
SAMUEL R. JOHNSON Colonel - United States Air Force Shot Down: April 16, 1966 Released: February 12, 1973
The nearly seven years that I spent in Hanoi but most especially the more than two years in a camp called Alcatraz engendered a close-knit bond between me and some great Americans. I count these men as true friends and their courage and ideals have brought home vividly to me what America is all about. I can only emphasize that the freedoms that most Americans take for granted are in fact, real and must be preserved. I have returned to a great nation and our sacrifices have been well worth the effort. I pledge to continue to serve and fight to protect the freedoms and ideals that the United States stands for.
February 14, 1997. Updated with this letter and additional material provided by Cong. Sam Johnson. On the Letterhead of:
Congressman Sam Johnson 3rd District, Texas 801 East Campbell Road, Suite 425 Richardson, Texas 75081 972/470-0892
1030 Longworth H.O.B. Washington, D.C. 20515 202/225-4201
Fax: District 972/470-9937 D.C. 202/225-1485
sam.txO3(gmail.house.gov WebSite:
http://www.house.gov/samjohnso
Elected in a in May of 1991, Congressman Sam Johnson is serving his fourth term in the U.S. Congress. He represents the Third Congressional District of Texas which includes parts of Dallas and Collin Counties.
A staunch fiscal conservative, Johnson is a member of the prestigious House Ways & Means Committee which oversees all tax laws, tariff and trade laws, and the Social Security and Medicare systems. He has consistently fought for lower taxes and limited government, whether it is standing up against wasteful spending, attacking the bloated size and budgets of cabinet level agencies, or pushing for a new tax system.
In addition, he sits on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. As a member of the Early Childhood, Youth and Families Subcommittee, Johnson has worked to return control of education to parents, teachers, and local school boards.
Johnson serves as an Assistant Whip to Majority Whip Tom DeLay. As a member of the Whip organization, Johnson works to "grow-the-vote" for Republican initiatives in the House.
Sam Johnson is also a member of the Speaker's Advisory Group on Corrections in the House. This committee reviews legislation to quickly fix dumb laws and repeal unnecessary regulations.
After months of pushing for an accurate and balanced exhibit of the B-29 "Enola Gay" airplane at the National Air and Space Museum, Johnson was appointed to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution by Speaker Gingrich. He now plays an active role in the display of America's great heritage and is determined to make sure that all exhibits are factually correct and properly reflect the values on which this country was founded.
Johnson was recognized in the 102nd, 103rd, and 104th Congresses with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce "Spirit of Enterprise" Award, the Watchdog of the Treasury Award, and the National Federation of Independent Business "Guardian of Small Business" Award. He also has received high ratings from the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens for a Sound Economy, the Christian Coalition, and Citizens Against Government Waste.
Sam Johnson grew up in Dallas, attended Woodrow Wilson High School, and graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration. In 1974 he earned his Masters degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.
After graduating from SMU, Johnson began a 29 year career in the U.S. Air Force, where he served as director of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and flew with the Air Force Thunderbirds precision flying demonstration team. He also graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College and the National War College. In Korea he flew F-86s in 62 combat missions.
While serving with the 8th TFW in 1966, Johnson's F-4 was shot down over North Vietnam on his 25 mission. He and the WSO, Lt. Larry Chesley were on a "milk run" mission about 30 miles north of the DMZ. During his ejection he suffered a broken arm, a broken back, and a dislocated shoulder. Johnson spent nearly seven years as a prisoner of war, some of those years in "Alcatraz." Three of those years were spent in solitary confinement. Johnson's autobiography, Captive Warriors, details his POW experience. In recognition of his service to his country, Johnson was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, one Bronze Star with Valor, two Purple Hearts, four Air Medals, and three Outstanding Unit Awards.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1979 with the rank of Colonel, Johnson began a home building company. In 1984 he was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives where he served seven years.
Sam Johnson is married to the former Shirley L. Melton of Dallas. They have three children and ten grandchildren.
======================
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/politics/columnists/tgillman/stories/020903dnnattexwatch.47624.html
POW past shaped indefatigable congressman's career
02/09/2003 By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON - For Sam Johnson , the seeds of a political career were planted in conversations conducted in code - taps so faint that only inmates of the Hanoi Hilton could hear them, pressing tin cups against the walls.
A fellow American pilot was beaten for shouting the code key to the Air Force major, fresh from being shot down on his 25th mission. Over the next six years, 10 months and 19 days, there was plenty of time to ponder the handling of the war, to complain that the politicians had let them down.
Mr. Johnson was released 30 years ago next Wednesday.
His body is a testament to cruelty and sacrifice. His back cracked and his arm was broken in two places when he went down. Torture and malnutrition left him stoop-shouldered. His right hand is still mangled.
The memories are fresh for Mr. Johnson: memories of beatings and rats; of 42 months in a dark, solitary cell for resisting North Vietnamese attempts to force information or propaganda out of him; of the hero's welcome at Sheppard Air Force Base near Wichita Falls; and the sweet embrace of his wife, Shirley, and their three kids.
Back home in Plano during his imprisonment, they prayed nearly as much as he did. The Air Force told Mrs. Johnson that her husband was missing and probably dead. She waited two years for word he was alive.
"When he makes up his mind he's going to do something, he doesn't make a big deal out it. He just does it," Mrs. Johnson, holding the hand of the man she married 52 years ago, said in his Capitol Hill office.
A reminder of sacrifice
There was a time when Mr. Johnson, 72, didn't care much for talking about that dark period. Lately, he's been on a quest to remind people about the high price sometimes paid for freedom. The number of combat veterans in Congress has dwindled - to a dozen, from 17 at the 25th anniversary of his release from the infamous Hoa Lo prison. Soon, he frets, there won't be anyone in Congress with the moral authority and perspective needed on military issues, and children will know nothing of that era.
"The schools don't teach history anymore," he said. "I think it's important."
Rather than test his faith, he said, the torture and imprisonment renewed it. He recounted the day his captors pulled him from his cell and told him he was to be executed. They lined him up against a wall.
When the order to fire was given, "they all went click-click-click-click-click. I praised the Lord and started laughing at them," he said. "I was probably not a very good Christian when I got shot down. ... We did a lot of praying."
Endurance and service
Mr. Johnson had other bits of luck. After flying 62 combat missions in the Korean War, he had run the Air Force's "Top Gun" fighter training school. So by the time he got to Vietnam, he'd flown every combat plane there was. He was a trove of useful intelligence, though his jailers never found that out.
He gave the Air Force almost seven more years after his release, retiring as a colonel in 1979 after 29 years. He went into the homebuilding business and, prodded by friends, ran for the Legislature in 1984. He moved to Congress in 1991 when Steve Bartlett resigned to become Dallas mayor.
He has never been shy about his political views. When Bill Clinton ran for president, Mr. Johnson was one of three Republican veterans who alleged that the KGB had lured the Democratic nominee to Moscow during the war - when "I was sitting in a POW camp in Vietnam eating fish eyes and pig fat," he said at the time.
The episode illustrated some of Mr. Johnson's most enduring qualities: distrust of Democrats, hatred of communists and steadfast conservatism. (This month, for the third year in a row, National Journal ranked him 100 percent conservative based on key economic, social and foreign policy votes.)
A number of his fellow POWs went into public service. Jeremiah Denton served Alabama as a senator. James Stockdale ran for vice president with Ross Perot. John McCain is a senator from Arizona. Mr. McCain and Mr. Johnson spent 18 months in a tiny cell together, though Mr. Johnson backed fellow Texan George W. Bush instead of Mr. McCain for president in 2000.
Mr. McCain at first demurred when asked about his old cellmate. He doesn't care much for talking about the old days.
"I think so little about it," he said. "It's a little boring. I've sort of put it behind me. ...
"Of course, I wasn't really as courageous as Sam Johnson. I mean that. He suffered a lot more than I did."
That's probably why Mr. McCain was more ready to normalize relations with Vietnam a few years ago. Unlike him, Mr. Johnson has never returned for a visit and probably never will.
"I don't need to go," Mr. Johnson said.
No plans to quit
Going to Vietnam or going quietly home. Neither is on the table. When Mr. Johnson won his seat in 1991, he campaigned for a strong defense, fiscal responsibility and term limits.
"I think 12 years is enough" for a congressman, he said then.
He will mark his 12-year anniversary on Capitol Hill in May. Fellow Republicans, perhaps trying to nudge him aside to make room for their own ambitions, have whispered of his retirement. But he won't take the bait.
He's a patient man, a man with a sense of purpose and an iron will that no mere politician could bend. Ask the Vietnamese.
"I'll be here another 30 or 40 years," he says, laughing.
====================