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.