[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 172 (Thursday, December 5, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING PRIVATE PAUL M. JOHNSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ELIZABETH H. ESTY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 5, 2013

  Ms. ESTY. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks the 72nd anniversary of the 
attack on Pearl Harbor. As we remember the day that lives in infamy, we 
must stir our memory of those lost and whose sacrifice anchors Pearl 
Harbor's significance.
  Private Paul M. Johnson was born in 1922 in Waterbury, Connecticut. 
The son of a popular Waterbury Police Detective, he lived on Greenwood 
Avenue, attended Mary Abbott Grammar School, graduated from Leavenworth 
High School and was a member of Beth-El Synagogue. His uncle, Private 
David L. Fannick, was killed on the battlefields of France in June of 
1918, inspiring the formation of the local David L. Fannick Jewish War 
Veterans Post No. 91. Always wanting to be a soldier like his uncle, 
Paul enlisted on April 23, 1941. Sent to Fort Shafter, Territory of 
Hawaii, he was assigned to the 40mm Bofors AA, Battery ``E'' of the 
646th Coast Artillery.
  During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Pvt. Paul M. 
Johnson did what he was trained to do. Pvt. Johnson ran to his station, 
Battery E, 64th Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft, and returned fire with 
his anti-aircraft guns. Pvt. Paul M. Johnson was wounded defending our 
Nation, and died the next day, December 8, 1941 at age 19 as a result 
of his wounds. Private Paul M. Johnson was the first soldier from 
Waterbury to give his life in World War II. His was a sacrifice we 
cannot repay, so it is our solemn obligation to give it honor. We do 
that today as we remember the cost of war, the price that is paid, and 
the promise that we must keep in defending and protecting this great 
Nation.

                          ____________________