Byron F. Johnson

Byron Fillmore Johnson (November 15, 1894 – April 10, 1980) was a highly decorated officer and Naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general. A veteran of several conflicts, Johnson distinguished himself in Nicaragua in early 1930s and later participated in the Chinese Civil War in 1945–1946 as assistant wing commander, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and Air advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

Early career

Johnson was born on November 15, 1894, in Elk Falls, Kansas, as the son of Charles Gilbert Johnson and Gertrude Ida Blackburn. He completed the high school in Monroe, Louisiana, and subsequently enrolled the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. His studies were interrupted by the United States entry into World War I in April 1917. Johnson enlisted in the Marine Corps as a private on July 13, 1917, and was ordered to the officer basic training at Marine Barracks Quantico, Virginia.

He sailed for his second tour of expeditionary duty to Nicaragua in April 1930 and participated in the combat flights as a member of Aircraft Squadron, Second Marine Brigade, against Sandino Bandits until summer 1931. Johnson distinguished himself on the morning of June 19, 1930, while in command of a two-plane patrol, encountered and developed a hostile group of bandits, variously estimated at from two hundred to six hundred, on Saraguasa Mountain.

He completed the course one year later and served at Quantico and was promoted to the rank of major in June 1935. Johnson was transferred to the Headquarters Marine Corps in July 1937. Johnson held additional duty as commanding officer of Marine Air Reserve Unit there until August 1940, when he was ordered to the Naval Air Station North Island, California.

World War II and Later service Johnson (3rd from left) during awards ceremony of lieutenant colonel Shaw in China, 1946. Johnson was ordered to Bogotá, Colombia in January 1941 and served as naval attaché and naval air attaché until March 1944. While in that assignment, he was promoted to colonel in May 1942 and received Order of Boyaca from the Government of Colombia. Following his return to the United States, Johnson served at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina until October 1944, when he was ordered to the Hawaii.

He assumed command of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa and was responsible for the administration and specialized and advanced tactical training of squadrons deploying from the States to combat zones as well as control of Marine aviation units assigned to area garrison forces. While in this capacity, Johnson was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on January 8, 1945.

Johnson was appointed assistant wing commander, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and deputy to Major General Louis E. Woods and served in this capacity during the occupation of North China with headquarters in Tianjin. He served in this capacity during the Chinese Civil War, when units of 1st Marine Wing participated in the combats against Chinese communists guerillas. Johnson distinguished himself in this capacity and received the Legion of Merit. He also held additional duty as Aviation advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and received Order of the Cloud and Banner for assistance in helping to establish Chinese air units in North China during 1946.

He returned to the United States in March 1946 and assumed duty as assistant to the commanding general, Marine Air, West Coast, William J. Wallace. Johnson remained in that capacity until November 1, 1946, when he retired from active duty and was advanced to the rank of major general on the retired list for having been specially commended in combat.

Johnson then returned to Coronado and served as Chief Air Raid Warden for several years. Major General Byron F. Johnson died on April 10, 1980, and is buried at Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory in San Diego. He and his wife, Helen Louise Bell Johnson, had two children, Byron Jr. and Doris.

Decorations

Here is the ribbon rack of Major General Johnson:

Distinguished Flying Cross citation

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain Byron F. Johnson (MCSN: 0-1801), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while attached to the Second Brigade, United States Marine Corps, operating in the Republic of Nicaragua. On the morning of 19 June 1930, Captain Johnson, while in command of a two-plane patrol, encountered and developed a hostile group of bandits, variously estimated at from two hundred to six hundred, under Sandino, on Saraguasa Mountain; with courage, coolness and skill he attacked with bombs and machine gun fire, and though his airplane was struck by six bullets and the leading edge of the lower wind of his plane crushed in by contact with a buzzard, he nevertheless, at great personal risk, over perilous jungle and under constant enemy rifle and machine gun fire, continued the attack until his ammunition was exhausted. Again on the afternoon of the same day he returned in a six plane patrol to the same place, where, though his plane was struck with four bullets, he continued the assault under constant hostile fire for an hour and twenty minutes. As a result of these contacts the bandits suffered many casualties, were forced to retire and organized banditry was dealt a severe and telling blow.