Howard R. Johnson, World War II CasualtyPorter County Data on World War II Casualties . . . .
Howard R. Johnson
Sergeant, Radar Gunner, US Army Air Corps
Date of Birth: 1925
Date of Death: May 5, 1945
Cause of Death: Missing in Action, Airplane Crash (bombing mission near Honshu
Island, Japan)
Date of Enlistment: February 22, 1944
Hometown: Wheeler
Newspaper Notices:
Howard Johnson Reported Lost
Sgt. Howard Johnson, U. S. Army Air Corps, has been missing since May 15 in the
Marianas, according to word received by his father, Charles Johnson, 3 Weston
avenue, Valparaiso. Young Johnson was a radar gunner on a B-29 bomber.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
June 5, 1945; Volume 18, Page 1, Column 8
Union Center
Sgt. Howard Johnson, nephew of Mrs. Anna Kent, has been reported missing in
action in the Pacific. He was on a B-29 bomber. Howard was a graduate of Wheeler
school in 1943 and has many friends here who will be hpoing to hear good news
later.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
June 14, 1945; Volume 18, Page 7, Column 5
Sgt. Johnson Feared Dead, Parents Told
Sgt. Howard R. Johnson, listed as missing since May 5, 1945, was presumed to
have lost his life in action, according to a letter from The Adjutant General of
The Army to his mother, Mrs. Charles Johnson, 501 Indiana avenue, this week.
Sergeant Johnson, of the United States Army Air Corps, was a member of the crew
of a B-29 (Superfortress) aircraft which was damaged by fire from enemy fighter
craft while on a bombing mission to Kuro, Honshu Island, Japan, May 5, 1945, and
was seen to crash in a mountainous, uninhabited region, the report from the War
Department said.
Major General Edward F. Witsell wrote:
"In view of the fact that 12 months have now expired without receipt of evidence
to support a continued presumption of survival the War Department must terminate
such absence by a presumptive finding of death."
Brother in Service
Surviving , in addition to his mother, are: two brothers, Milton of Hobart, and
Leroy of Puerto Rico, and three sisters, Mrs. Allene Dewey, and Mrs. Irene Csaba
of Valparaiso, and Mrs. Ethel Shults of Hobart. His father, Charles J. Johnson,
died April 21, 1945.
Sergeant Johnson entered the air service Feb. 22, 1944. He took preliminary
training at Fort Meyers, Fla., and Clovis, New Mexico. On March 8, 1945 he was
sent to the Mariannas. Attending Valparaiso high school for three years he
graduated from Wheeler high school in 1943. He was 20 years of age. A brother,
Leroy Johnson of the U. S. Army Air Corps, is still stationed in Puerto Rico.
Sergeant Johnson's death brought to 109 the number of Porter county men who lost
their lives in World War II.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; May 16, 1946; Volume 19,
Page 1, Column 2
NO TRACE OF SON
Mrs. Stena Johnson received word from the government that so far no trace has
been found of her son, Howard Johnson, nor of any of the crew of the plane he
was one which was shot down over the mountains of Japan. Howard was a nephew of
Mrs. Anna Kent and he was a graduate of Wheeler school in the class of 1941.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; May 16, 1946; Volume 19,
Page 6, Column 4
Return to
List of
Porter County World War II Casualties
Information abstracted and transcribed by Steven R. Shook