Thomas Johnson

Family-Placed Death Notice

JOHNSON, Thomas Colonel Thomas W. Johnson (72), U.S. Army (Retired), passed away on October 9, 2009, in Green Bay, WI. A resident of Whittier, NC, Col. Johnson was born in Green Bay in 1937. His military service spanned 32 years, during which he was stationed at various locations in Europe, the Far East, and throughout the United States. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment of the famed 101st Airborne Division, and in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968 was awarded the Silver Star, America's third highest award for gallantry in action. He lived in Marietta, was stationed at Ft. McPherson at the time of his retirement in 1987, and later taught junior ROTC at Cherokee High School in NC, coached and officiated at national levels in shooting sports, and was a secondary school administrator. Colonel Johnson was a 1960 graduate of St. Norbert College (De Pere, WI), and held graduate degrees from Marquette University and Salve Regina College. He was a life member of the Military Officers' Association of America, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Old Guard Association (3rd Infantry Regiment), and was inducted into the Order of the Silver Rose (for victims of Agent Orange). He is survived by his wife, Jeane Louise, five children from a previous marriage (three are residents of Alpharetta: Julie M. Wahl, Jennifer A. Nelson, and Brian J. Johnson; Col. Thomas W. Johnson, Jr., and Lt. Col. Mark W. Johnson are on active duty in the Army), and 13 grandchildren. He is predeceased by his first wife and mother of his children, Karen Elizabeth. Burial will take place on January 11, 2010, at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC. COLONEL THOMAS W. JOHNSON