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259:. On the night of 16–17 September, the enemy launched his heaviest attack on Company B, putting his greatest pressure against the lone defender of the left flank. In spite of mortar fire which crashed about him and machinegun bullets which whipped the crest of his shallow trench, Sgt. Johnson stood erect and repulsed the attack with grenades and
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high ground to his front, had by the afternoon of 16 September killed or wounded all his men. Collecting weapons and ammunition from his fallen comrades, in the face of hostile fire, he held his exposed position and inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy, who several times came close enough to throw
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fire. He remained awake and on the alert throughout the night, frustrating all attempts at infiltration. On 17 September, 25 German soldiers surrendered to him. Two men, sent to reinforce him that afternoon, were caught in a devastating mortar and artillery barrage. With no thought of his own safety,
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gunner, having expended his ammunition, assumed the duties of a rifleman. As leader of a squad of 7 men he was ordered to establish a combat post 50 yards to the left of the company to cover its exposed flank. Repeated enemy counterattacks, supported by artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire from the
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regiment had been repeatedly committed to the attack on
Company B without success. Twenty dead Germans were found in front of his position. By his heroic stand and utter disregard for personal safety, Sgt. Johnson was in a large measure responsible for defeating the enemy's attempts to turn the
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is named in his honor. A 46-mile section of
Michigan Highway M-69 running through Foster City was renamed the Oscar G. Johnson Memorial Highway. The 91st Division Training Support Headquarters in Dublin, California, was dedicated in his memory on July 15, 2000.
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by the name of James L. Christopher from Mount Vernon, Ohio in rendering aid. That night he secured their removal to the rear and remained on watch until his company was relieved. Five companies of a German
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Sgt. Johnson rushed to the shell hole where they lay half buried and seriously wounded, covered their position by his fire, and assisted a
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He practically single-handed protected the left flank of his company's position in the offensive to break the German's
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and, on June 25, 1945, awarded the Medal of Honor by
General Mark W. Clark III in Gorizia, Italy.
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before his discharge in April 1964. He died at age 77 and was buried in DeWitt
Cemetery,
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Oscar G. Johnson, Jr. after having been presented with the Medal of Honor in 1945
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soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the
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had been killed or wounded. He was subsequently promoted to
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in
October 1942, and by September 16, 1944 was serving as a
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Michigan
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
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323:List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
242:Johnson's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
404:"Medal of Honor recipients - World War II (G–L)"
203:. On that day and the following two days, near
187:Johnson joined the Army from his birthplace of
466:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor
412:United States Army Center of Military History
345:United States Army Center of Military History
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456:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
451:United States Army personnel of World War II
167:(March 25, 1921 – May 13, 1998) was a
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446:People from Dickinson County, Michigan
226:in July 1959, and reached the rank of
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393:Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center
343:from websites or documents of the
285:Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center
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318:List of Medal of Honor recipients
471:Military personnel from Michigan
339: This article incorporates
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371:WWII Army Enlistment Records
461:United States Army officers
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228:Chief Warrant Officer Four
122:Chief Warrant Officer Four
222:Johnson later joined the
165:Oscar Godfrey Johnson Jr.
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408:Medal of Honor citations
113:1942 - 1945, 1959 - 1964
92:United States of America
289:Iron Mountain, Michigan
238:Medal of Honor citation
224:Michigan National Guard
197:363rd Infantry Regiment
133:363rd Infantry Regiment
341:public domain material
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201:91st Infantry Division
137:91st Infantry Division
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189:Foster City, Michigan
110:Years of service
51:Foster City, Michigan
175:—for his actions in
20:Oscar G. Johnson Jr.
274:exposed left flank.
193:private first class
169:United States Army
104:United States Army
232:De Witt, Michigan
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177:World War II
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143:Battles/wars
63:(1998-05-13)
61:May 13, 1998
441:1998 deaths
436:1921 births
248:gothic line
430:Categories
418:2008-01-28
329:References
261:small arms
88:Allegiance
44:1921-03-25
271:paratroop
205:Scarperia
183:Biography
296:See also
217:Sergeant
98:Service/
279:Legacy
252:mortar
153:Awards
100:branch
68:DeWitt
213:squad
209:Italy
283:The
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118:Rank
58:Died
53:, US
38:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
