THE WALL OF FACES

Some may think you are forgotten
Though on earth you are no more
But in our memory you are with us
As you always were before….

David as a Classmate at Purdue was one of the finest men I have know. Brother, I miss you.

Dear Sp4 David Johnson, Thank you for your service as a Military Policeman. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It's now autumn. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

PFC David L. Hemke, SP4 David A. Johnson, and PFC Robert L. McArthur were Military Policemen serving with B Company, 720th MP Battalion. On January 31, 1970, they were members of one of two B Company Ambush Teams being transported at night in three Boston Whaler “skimmers” on the Dong Nai River in Bien Hoa Province, RVN. The three boats picked up the two ambush teams at the "Steel Bridge" on the Rach Ben River. Each team had a separate ambush site to proceed to, so their plan was to leave together and select two separate drop-off points along the way. The boats departed east on the Rach Ben towards the main river, the Dong Nai. It was getting dark as the three boats entered into the Dong Nai. As they began their turn southward, SGT Ralph TakenAlive, a Squad Leader in the third boat, said he saw the middle boat dip into the water. He couldn’t recall specifically if it was because the boats hit a wake caused earlier by a passing ARVN riverine patrol boat (PBR) on the Dong Nai, or because they suddenly slowed to turn towards the near river bank. The boat immediately sank, dumping all of the ambush team and boat crew into the river. The men were wearing full combat gear and loaded with weapons, ammunition, and a PRC-25 radio. He recalls that the radio net became jammed and believed it was caused when the PRC-10 radio in the boat went under. The two remaining boats picked up the men they found in the river and searched for others without success, assisted by a U.S. PBR that came to their aid. They immediately proceeded to Long Hung village on the near bank and conducted an immediate head count and confirmed that SP4 Johnson, and PFC’s Hemke and McArthur were missing. Due to the darkness and fast running tidal waters, further searching was canceled. B Company elements recovered two bodies the next day around noon, and the third was not recovered until three days after the incident. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and 720mpreunion.org]

Specialist Four David Allen Johnson, Served with Company B, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Group, 18th Military Police Brigade.