[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 23, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S679-S681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Lance Corporal Larry Johnson

  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I rise for two purposes this morning. The 
first is to speak about a native of Scranton, PA, who died serving our 
country in Afghanistan. LCpl Larry M. Johnson, just 19 years old, lost 
his life in the service to his country in the last couple of days. He 
becomes for Pennsylvania the 43rd soldier killed in action in 
Afghanistan, with an additional 191 Pennsylvanians who have been 
wounded at last count.
  When we lose one of our brave young soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq 
or anywhere around the world, we have a lot to say about their 
sacrifice and their service. I often, as we all do at one time or 
another, quote Abraham Lincoln: ``These Americans gave the last full 
measure of devotion to their country.'' No one said it better than 
Lincoln. He captured the essence of their service and the sense of loss 
we all feel when someone who is serving their country is lost in 
combat.
  LCpl Larry Johnson's duties were the following: He was the combat 
engineer. His main responsibility was to combat and detect improvised 
explosive devices, and we know them by the acronym IEDs. He lost his 
life doing that work. Just 19 years old, he was a graduate of Scranton 
High School in 2008.
  In instances such as this, probably the best testimony about the 
soldier's life, their commitment to their country and the sacrifice 
they made, probably the best testament of all of those subjects comes 
from members of their family. In this case, there was testimony in news 
articles over the last couple of days from friends and teachers, but, 
of course, most poignantly and most movingly from Larry Johnson's 
family. Yesterday in the Scranton Time-Tribune there was an article 
among several over the course of a couple of days, but this article in 
particular focused on Larry Johnson's family. I unanimous consent to 
have printed in the Record two stories, one entitled ``Teacher Recalls 
Scranton Marine's `Really Good Heart.' '' That is the name of the first 
story. That is February 21. The second story I ask unanimous consent to 
have printed in the Record is entitled ``Knock at the Door Brought 
Tragedy Home for Marine's Kin.'' That is from Borys Krawczeniuk, 
February 22.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From citizensvoice.com, Feb. 22, 2010]

        For Marine's Family, Knock at Door Brought Tragedy Home

                         (By Borys Krawczeniuk)

       Johanna Johnson thought she would die first, not any of her 
     four kids.
       ``You're not supposed to bury your son. Your son is 
     supposed to bury you,'' Johnson, 43, said Sunday. ``It isn't 
     supposed to be this way.''
       She worried about Larry, her third child, the Marine in 
     Afghanistan, the one who loved the outdoors and a good time 
     and loved his mom so much that he always promised he would 
     someday make sure she no longer had to work. He would buy her 
     a double-block home in California, and she would live on one 
     side and live off the rent from the other half.
       ``I'm 43 and he's acting like I'm 70,'' Johnson said.
       She worried about him the way a mom worries about a son 
     fighting a war a world away, but this was not supposed to 
     happen.
       Two serious-looking Marines are not supposed to come to the 
     door of a tiny, third-floor apartment on Moosic Street in 
     Scranton to report that your son gave his life in service to 
     his country.
       Last Thursday, they did.
       The official Marine version says Lance Cpl. Larry M. 
     Johnson, 19, of Scranton, died that day ``as a result of a 
     hostile incident while conducting combat operations in 
     Helmand province, Afghanistan.''

[[Page S680]]

       Family members say a Marine who transported his body to the 
     U.S. told them Cpl. Johnson, trained as a combat engineer 
     whose job was to seek and destroy improvised explosive 
     devices, was the victim of one himself. He was part of the 
     renewed thrust into Helmand, the United States' biggest push 
     in Afghanistan since 2001. The goal is to chase away the 
     Taliban.
       His funeral will be Thursday or Friday, family members 
     said.
       Johanna Johnson was not home when the Marines arrived with 
     the bad news.
       She was at work, second day on the job on the assembly line 
     packaging helmet shields at Gentex Corp. in Simpson where 
     they make the helmets American troops wear in places like 
     Afghanistan.
       Ashley, 21, Larry Johnson's older sister, heard the knock 
     on the door from the bathroom.
       It was a hard knock, she remembered.
       ``Is your mom home one Marine asked.
       ``I went to turn away and I was like, `Wait, did something 
     happen to my brother?' '' Ashley Johnson asked.
       They never actually said Larry Michael Johnson was dead.
       ``I just knew,'' Ashley said. ``I saw the look in their 
     face that he was dead. I didn't even have to ask the 
     question.''
       She broke down. She chokes up re-telling the story.
       Her brother, a 2008 Scranton High School graduate, always 
     smiled. He loved to laugh and was good at breaking the 
     silence when a conversation paused with a joke.
       He was no more than 5 feet 7 inches tall, and suggesting 
     Larry Johnson would be a Marine might bring a chuckle. He 
     enlisted in October 2008 only two weeks after surprising his 
     mother with his decision.
       His father, an Army veteran also named Larry Johnson, would 
     do his best to get his son to bulk up by lifting weights, but 
     pictures show a skinny kid. In a senior prom picture, he has 
     a barely visible pencil-thin mustache.
       His sister Ashley always wanted to take care of him.
       He wanted to care for animals. As a 10-year-old, he dreamed 
     of being a veterinarian. He owned an unnamed python and could 
     draw highly detailed pictures of animals. Outdoors, he snow-
     boarded, skied, water-skied, camped, rode all-terrain 
     vehicles and liked to party, family members said. Though he 
     was underage, he liked a beer or two now and then.
       ``The transformation that these Marines did to Larry was 
     something,'' said Jeff Whitney, Johanna Johnson's boyfriend, 
     whom Cpl. Johnson viewed as a stepfather. ``Not that he was a 
     bad kid, don't get me wrong. But he was headed in the wrong 
     direction, hanging around with knuckleheads. He was headed 
     straight to jail. I kept on him every time. I kept on his 
     butt.''
       The Marines did the rest. His Marine pictures show a boy 
     turning into a man, with wider biceps and a more rugged look.
       He gained respect for others, family members said, always 
     answering, ``Yes, sir'' or ``No, sir.'' After being deployed 
     to Afghanistan in October, he talked about how he would no 
     longer take life for granted.
       At Christmas, he sent his mother a deep fryer and a crock 
     pot he bought online from Wal Mart.
       On patrol, he would sometimes call her via a satellite 
     phone, sometimes when he should not have.
       ``He'd be out on a mission and he would call me,'' Johanna 
     Johnson said. ``He always worried about his mother.''
       The last three weeks, well before he died, he did not call. 
     It is now apparent to family members that he could not 
     because the mission was being planned, and secrecy was 
     essential.
       ``I was stressing over my phone not ringing,'' Johanna 
     Johnson said. ``I kept saying `Why isn't he calling me? I 
     wish he would call me.' ''
                                  ____


            [From the Scranton Times-Tribune, Feb. 21, 2010]

       ``Teacher Recalls Scranton Marine's `Really Good Heart' ''

                          (By Erin L. Nissley)

       Jennifer Brotherton remembers former student Larry M. 
     Johnson as a good-natured kid who almost always had a smile 
     on his face.
       When the Scranton High School teacher heard Friday the 19-
     year-old 2008 graduate was killed while serving with the 
     Marines in Afghanistan, she was shocked.
       ``He had a really good heart and he was so full of 
     energy,'' said Ms. Brotherton, who was Lance Cpl. Johnson's 
     English teacher in 2006-2007.
       ``Any time a child dies, it's too soon,'' she added.
       Lance Cpl. Johnson was a combat engineer assigned to 2nd 
     Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. 
     He joined the Marines after graduating from Scranton High 
     School and was promoted to lance corporal on Dec. 1.
       Information released Saturday by military officials 
     indicates that Lance Cpl. Johnson died Thursday ``as a result 
     of a hostile incident while conducting combat operations'' in 
     Helmand Province, Afghanistan. His remains arrived in Dover, 
     Del., on Saturday.
       Efforts to contact family members were unsuccessful.
       Scranton School District officials plan to reach out to the 
     family in the coming days ``to see what they might need,'' 
     said Gregg Sunday, the district's business manager.
       ``I can't imagine what the family is going through right 
     now,'' Mr. Sunday said. ``It's a tragedy.''
       Lance Cpl. Johnson was deployed to Afghanistan in October. 
     His awards include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, National 
     Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal 
     and NATO International Security Assistance Force Medal.

  Mr. CASEY. The one that focused on his family begins with this line, 
speaking of Larry Johnson's family:

       Johanna Johnson thought she would die first, not any of her 
     four kids.

  This is what Larry's mom is quoted as saying in the second line of 
the story:

       You're not supposed to bury your son. Your son is supposed 
     to bury you. It isn't supposed to be this way.

  The story went on to talk about what Larry's hopes and dreams were, 
not only for himself but for his own mother. The story says that Larry 
Johnson ``loved his mom so much that he always promised he would some 
day make sure she no longer had to work. He would buy her a double-
block home in California, and she would live on one side and live off 
the rent from the other half.'' That was a soldier's dream for his 
mother--just 19 years old and not only thinking about the rest of his 
life, not only volunteering to serve his country in the Marine Corps 
and going to Afghanistan, but to have a dream--a dream for his mother's 
future that he hoped to bring to fruition.
  Larry Johnson's sister Ashley is 21 years old, just 2 years older 
than Larry. She talked about the knock at the door that no family, no 
mother or father, no brother or sister--no loved one--ever wants to be 
present for. But Ashley heard the knock at the door. It was a hard 
knock at the door, she remembered. The one marine who was at the door 
asked, ``Is your mom home?''
  This is what Ashley said after that. She went to turn away, and she 
asked herself: Wait, did something happen to my brother? He never 
actually said--the marine at the door--that Larry Michael Johnson was 
dead, but Ashley said the following:

       I just knew. I saw the look on their face that he was dead. 
     I didn't even have to ask the question.

  The story goes on to talk about Larry's father, by the same name--
Larry--who was an Army veteran who served his country as well. It is 
talking about how his father prepared him to go into the Marine Corps 
once Larry made the decision to become a marine.
  Then the story ends with a couple of references to, again, Larry's 
mom--the one he had a dream for, the one he wanted to build a house in 
California for someday in the future. The story says:

       At Christmas, he sent his mother a deep fryer and a crock 
     pot that he bought online from WalMart.

  He wanted to send that to her.
  It says:

       On patrol, he would sometimes call [his mother] via a 
     satellite phone, sometimes when he should not have.

  But, again, he loved his mother.
  Johanna Johnson is quoted toward the end of the story:

       He'd be out on a mission and he would call me. He always 
     worried about his mother.

  There is really not a lot more I could say about his life and his 
sacrifice than what was contained in this story about what it means to 
serve, what it means to give, as I said before, in Lincoln's words, 
``the last full measure of devotion to your country.'' But we know that 
when these lives are lost, it is not just about service, it is not just 
about combat and the military or the Marine Corps. All of that is 
relevant and critically important, but in the end these stories are 
about families, about mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters.
  For those who have loved and lost, we do our best to try to 
understand, but we can never fully understand what Johanna Johnson and 
her family are living through these last few days and will live with 
the rest of their lives. They will be able to manage that loss. They 
will be able to move on. But they will never be fully recovered from 
that kind of a loss.
  We are thinking of Larry Johnson and his family today. We are praying 
for them. We want him and his family to know, in our own small way, how 
much we appreciate his sacrifice.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of New Mexico). The clerk will call 
the roll.

[[Page S681]]

  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the introduction of S. 3017 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements of Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence 
of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. VITTER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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