[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 132 (Wednesday, October 9, 2002)] [Senate] [Pages S10221-S10222] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IN RECOGNITION OF MR. ALBERT JOHNSONMr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, I rise to recognize the ongoing efforts of my friend and fellow Tennessean, Mr. Albert Wm. Johnson of Nashville. Mr. Johnson is chairman and CEO of Dobson & Johnson Financial, a leading national mortgage banking advisory firm since its founding in 1955. Let me say that Albert Johnson continues to enjoy a remarkable life. Upon graduation from college, he entered the military service as an aviation cadet en route to a distinguished military career. Mr. Johnson flew 49 missions against German bombing targets in WW II before being shot down in Austria and becoming a prisoner of war, POW, until the end of the conflict. During his World War II service, Al Johnson accumulated numerous decorations, citations, and commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, DFC, with two Oak Leaf Clusters. After the war, Mr. Johnson was a senior instructor assigned to assist the Tennessee Air National Guard until returning to Europe to again serve with notable commendation on the NATO staff responsible for planning Germany's integration into NATO. Upon leaving active military service, Albert Johnson returned to Nashville and cofounded Dobson & Johnson, thereby embarking on a brilliant business career that has featured the holding of billions of dollars in residential mortgage loans in trust for State mutual saving banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and private investors. His remarkable leadership in the mortgage banking and real estate industry has received well-deserved national acclaim and his firm has been recognized as one of the largest private business enterprises in Nashville. [[Page S10222]] In 1994, for his ``commitment to free enterprise, limited government, traditional American values and strong National Defense,'' Albert Johnson received the Medal of Freedom from the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee thereby joining the ranks of other distinguished recipients of that award, including former President Ronald Reagan, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf. Recently, I have been advised that Mr. Johnson has embarked on a new undertaking that features a joint venture whose mission is to build 20,000 private homes in Kabul, Afghanistan, using imported capital, local Afghanistan labor and materials, and fully funded mortgage loans with no down payment and long-term rates to assist that country in developing their infrastructure. This sounds like a daunting task. Nevertheless, Albert Johnson of Nashville has a track record to suggest he is the right man for the job. There is very little that Mr. Johnson, an embodiment of American values, has not been able to achieve. To the extent that his ongoing efforts foster stability and peace in strife torn Afghanistan, I wish him well. ____________________