William Darrell Johnson, American Soldier, MIA/POW

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You are Always On My Mind

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"Greater love has no one than this,
that one lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13
(New American Standard Version)

My dad and three out of four of his brothers served in one branch or another of the armed services!! I grew up with a respect and even a love for the men that fought for my freedom!! Even though I was young when the Vietnam war began and slowly ended..I can remember my dad's outrage at the feelings of the people toward the returning soldiers...I can remember him saying they have no idea what kind of nightmare those young men face 24/7 so they have no right to pass judgment!! I can remember friends that never again saw their dads or brothers and the pain that brought. As a young girl of eight or nine I put on a POW-MIA bracelet...I wore it 24/7 until it was damaged in a ball game....at that point I put it safely in my jewelry box. I found Gunny's page while surfing the web and it caused me to go and get the bracelet from it's soft velvet bed and wonder what ever happened to my soldier!! Regrettably I wrote to Gunny asking I be allowed to continue sponsoring the same soldier if he were still missing!! I say regrettably because Gunny did write back giving me updated material on Darrell Johnson, and he was indeed still MIA!! I think the part that broke my heart was he was from my dad's home town!! That made it like family if you know what I mean *S*

I was not quite eight years old when W. Darrell Johnson was listed as missing. I know nothing about W. Darrell Johnson or his family, whether his parents are still alive and still nurturing hope that one day their son will come home. I do know, he served his country but his country did not serve him!! The first and foremost reason I care is because he and others like him fought for my freedom!! I have 4 sons of my own and if one day they are called, I would like to think someone like me will care enough to help me get answers if one or all are lost!! He and so many others volunteered or were drafted into that war...they fought...some died...some were captured...and the lucky ones came home!! They all deserve to return home!! Regardless of whether they are dead or alive...it is their right as an American citizen to return to their home!! Please help us!! Write to your senators..the president..whoever!! Just add your voice to all of ours....maybe together we can make enough noise to finally be heard!!

UPDATE: Johnny Williams, A friend of Darrells' sent me a letter (Dec. 12, 1999) with the following information:
I have just been introduced to the web page for the Vietnam Wall. While looking up the two names of friends of mine, I found your personal comments under Darrell's name (which is what we called him). Darrell and I grew up together in Rocky Mount. He was a year older than I. Our friendship started at the YMCA playing small-fry baseball. I have a picture of our team when we were on little league, and numerous newspaper pictures and clippings from when we played high school football together.
Darrell was one of Rocky Mount's most outstanding athletes. He was about 6' tall, and weighed 195 lbs. in high school. Darrell was quiet, almost shy, but had a swagger about himself (a James Dean type but not rebelious). As an example of how good an athlete he was, he played on the Rocky Mount baseball and football teams which won the state 4-A championships his junior year in high school. Darrell was a running back and had to play quarterback after our quarterback was injured. His transition to these positions was remarkable! He was recruited by many college football teams and signed to play with the S.C. Gamecocks.
I did not have contact with Darrell after he graduated except one time he came to see me play during my senior year. He was one break, which was in '66. He dropped out of S.C. and was drafted (he may have volunteered). The next I heard was he was missing in action. It's my understanding that he was walking point on a recon patrol that was ambushed. The Vietcong always let the point man walk through the ambush to enable the patrol to be hit with the full force of the ambush. This, of course, isolated Darrell from the members of his patrol. I'm not sure how many were killed in Darrell's patrol, but his body was never found. His family and all of Rocky Mount kept a never ending vigil for any information or his return.
I know Darrell's mom and dad are dead, but he does have a sister who is about 49 or 50. She used to work in a local bank and I would talk with her occasionally about Darrell. She was very proud of her brother and it has taken her many years to accept his fate, as it has me. He was a very dear friend and this was a terrible tragedy.
The summer of '97 my wife and I while visiting her brother in Washington, DC (he is a Colonel in the Air Force, stationed at the Pentagon) we visited The Wall for the first time. Finding Darrell's name as a casualty brought back many memories of our youth growing up together. My wife gave me a picture of The Wall with the rubbing of Darrell's name as well as another friend from Rocky Mount. It will always be a reminder of our friendship. I hope this note will give you a better understanding of the young man you have tried to honor. He was truly a credit to his country and his family and friends.
I too hope this will enlighten those of you that visit this page!! Now you have more information on Darrell the person, son, brother and friend...not just Darrell, one of many missing soldiers!! He was real...he was loved and he is missed!!

We Remember

The Wall
Written by ~Lynne Tuck~
(c)02/10/98

Walking up from a distance, it resembles a black hole.
A miniature portion of hell, for each and every soul!!

Each step brings me closer, to anguished cries of pain,
Of all the ones left behind, searching for a name!!

Panel 34-line77, is the one I seek.
My eyes begin to burn, as a tear rolls down my cheek.

No, I did not know you, I never saw you face.
But I still have the bracelet tucked in a safe place!!

I know you can not hear me, but this is something I must do!!
Gently touching W. Darrell Johnson's name, I whisper "Thank You!!"

If you would like to check to see if a loved one or a friend is listed on the "Wall" go to: The Vietnam Memorial-The Wall!!

Sgt. W. Darrell Johnson

Name: William Darrell Johnson Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 December 1946
Home City of Record: Rocky Mount, NC
Date of Loss: 19 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144324N 1074020E (yb876293)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
UPDATE
Casualty was on Feb 20, 1979
in KONTUM, SOUTH VIETNAM
Hostile, died while missing
GROUND CASUALTY
Body was not recovered

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project, 15 October 1990, from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

SYNOPSIS: The last time anyone saw PFC Darrell Johnson was on January 19, 1968, in the tri-border area of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. He was about 10 miles west of Dak To in Kontum Province, South Vietnam. His company-sized group was ambushed by North Vietnamese regulars and nearly overrun. During the withdrawal, Darrell's platoon was assigned cover.

While working their way back to their fire base, Darrell, as a point man went into a ravine to investigate an English-speaking voice and never returned. Five other members of his platoon also disappeared during the withdrawal. A subsequent search of the battle area turned up the bodies of five men, but no trace of Darrell was found. Nothing has been heard from him since that day. He was not among the 591 Americans released from Vietnam in 1973, although there is reason to believe the Vietnamese know his fate.

Examination of intelligence reports indicate that there was more than one prison "system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released were maintained in the same systems. If Johnson was captured and kept in another system, the POWs who returned did not know it.

Now, over 20 years later, men like Johnson are all but forgotten except by friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. :"priority" placed on determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since Johnson went missing, over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. that Americans are still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether Johnson is among them is not known. What is certain, however, is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of nearly 2500 of our best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do everything in our power to bring these men home.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue inside the Belt way...The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before. If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside...We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia. If you would like to see what some others are doing in addition to writing their congressmen, senators and the White house, check out some of these sites: http://hawk.nji.com/~mred/mialist.htm

Another remarkable site is by an 11 year old angel who never even set foot on American soil...She not only put up a page...she started a major project for an organization of Kids on the Net called Key Pals International. If you come away from that site without a lump in your throat, then you weren't paying attention.