Leroy Johnson

At just twenty-five years old, Sergeant Leroy Johnson made a decision on a battlefield in the Philippines that saved the lives of the soldiers beside him and cost him his own. A veteran of some of the hardest fighting in the Pacific, Johnson had already earned the Silver Star before his final act of extraordinary courage on Leyte made him one of the United States Army's Medal of Honor recipients of the Second World War.

Leroy Johnson was born on 6 December 1919 at Caney Creek, Louisiana. Before entering military service, he worked as a carpenter. He entered the United States Army at Oakdale, Louisiana, on 26 November 1941, and eventually served with Company K, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, the famed Red Arrow Division.

Johnson first distinguished himself in combat during the brutal Papuan Campaign in New Guinea. On 22 December 1942, while serving as a private with Company K near Sanananda, he displayed gallantry in action against Japanese forces and was awarded the Silver Star. His award is recorded in Headquarters, 32d Infantry Division, General Orders No. 28, dated 6 April 1943. The surviving secondary record identifies the action and the general order, although the complete original Silver Star citation text has not yet been located.

Nearly two years later, Johnson was a Sergeant and squad leader fighting with the 126th Infantry on Leyte in the Philippine Islands. On 15 December 1944, near Limon, he led a nine-man patrol ordered to reconnoiter a ridge occupied by a strongly entrenched Japanese force. After discovering an enemy machine-gun position, Johnson ordered his men to remain behind and crawled forward alone until he was only about six yards from the weapon. When a Japanese soldier moved to man the gun, Johnson withdrew, returned to his patrol and reported its exact position.

Johnson was then ordered to destroy the position. He selected three soldiers, armed them with hand grenades and personally led them toward the machine gun. After the weapon had been knocked out and the Americans began their assault, Japanese troops on the flank hurled grenades into their position. Johnson saw two unexploded grenades lying dangerously close to his men. He understood immediately what would happen when they detonated.

Instead of seeking cover, Sergeant Leroy Johnson threw himself onto the grenades.

He absorbed the explosions with his own body, shielding the soldiers beside him from the blast. Johnson was mortally wounded and died soon afterward on 15 December 1944, only nine days after his twenty-fifth birthday. The official Army citation described his sacrifice as an example of the highest traditions of the United States Army.

For his actions near Limon, Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration. The award was formally announced in War Department General Orders No. 83, dated 2 October 1945. His Medal of Honor citation records that he acted with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company K, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division.

Johnson's wartime record also included two awards of the Purple Heart, represented by the Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster. The surviving 32d Infantry Division historical record specifically identifies him as a recipient of the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, although the individual wartime orders for the two wounds have not yet been located.

Sergeant Leroy Johnson was laid to rest at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, Plot C, Row 10, Grave 79. His sacrifice was also remembered at home. In 1947, the former New Orleans Army Air Base was renamed Camp Leroy Johnson in his honor. The installation later closed, but the Army's presence on the former site continued, and Leroy Johnson's name remains associated with the location.

Leroy Johnson's story reaches far beyond the medal awarded after his death. He had already proved his courage in New Guinea, endured years of combat in the Pacific and risen from private to sergeant. On Leyte, confronted with a choice that allowed almost no time for thought, he placed the lives of his soldiers before his own. Sergeant Leroy Johnson died protecting the men he led, and his Medal of Honor preserves the record of a sacrifice made at the closest possible distance.