[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 475-476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR AND IN MEMORY OF CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER PHILIP A. JOHNSON, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 2004

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, January 16, the First 
Congressional District of Alabama and, indeed, our entire State and 
Nation, said goodbye to another casualty of the war in Iraq.
  Army Chief Warrant Officer Philip A. Johnson, Jr., was a native of 
Davenport, Iowa, and a longtime resident of Mobile, Alabama. He 
originally joined the United States Marine Corps in 1993 and 
transferred to the Army in 1997, where he was serving his 6th year. He 
was a member of the 501st Medivac Unit attached to the 4th Infantry 
Division. He and his wife, Melissa Johnson, a member of the Air Force, 
were living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, when Philip's unit was 
activated and deployed to Iraq last year.
  On January 8, 2004, the medical helicopter he was on crashed about 4 
miles south of Fallujah, a stronghold of anti-American insurgency. U.S. 
military officials have confirmed that a rocket struck the helicopter 
before it went down. CWO Johnson and eight other soldiers died in this 
crash.
  Philip, who lived in Mobile for several years, was a devoted husband, 
son, and brother. He was a committed soldier who was not only doing 
what he wanted to do, but doing what he loved. He truly felt he was 
doing the right thing. Philip had given 9 years of his life fighting 
for the lives of the American people. Tragically, Philip A. Johnson, 
Jr., became the third soldier from Alabama's First Congressional 
District to die in Iraq.

[[Page 476]]

  According to his parents, Philip recently told them he never realized 
that you have to teach people to be free. His mother, Barbara Johnson, 
said, ``He died doing what he loved; it was just a little early.''
  Mr. Speaker, it is only appropriate for us to pause and give thanks 
to God that there are still young men like Philip A. Johnson, Jr. He 
represented what is best about America.
  I urge my colleagues to take a moment and pay tribute to Chief 
Warrant Officer Philip A. Johnson, Jr., and his selfless devotion to 
not only our country and the freedom we enjoy, but to a people who are 
but now in the infant stages of a new life, a new freedom in their own 
land.
  We should also remember his wife, Melissa; his parents, Philip 
Johnson, Sr., and Barbara Johnson; and his two younger brothers, 
Matthew and Peter. May God give them the strength and courage that only 
He can provide to sustain them during the difficult days ahead.
  It was Joseph Campbell who said, ``A hero is someone who has given 
his or her life to something bigger than oneself.'' Make no mistake, 
Philip A. Johnson, Jr., was not only a dedicated soldier who made the 
ultimate sacrifice serving in the uniform of his country; but he was 
also a true American hero.

                          ____________________