Elden H. Johnson was born in the small community of Bivalve, a section of what was known as Commercial Township in Cumberland County on Feb. 12, 1921. But the family moved to Massachusetts sometime in his youth.
Since Johnson enlisted in the Army from Weymouth, Mass., that state is credited with his Congressional Medal of Honor.
However, the private was one of America’s Heroes honored aboard the USS New Jersey, BB62 in May during the 80th anniversary of the highly decorated battleship, now a museum and Memorial on the Delaware River in Camden.
Johnson joined the army in April 1943 and was a private in the 10th Infantry Regiment of the Third Infantry Division in 1944. Killed near Valmontone, Italy by hostile German gunfire. He was 23 years of age at the time of his death.
His Medal of Honor for his actions the day of his death was awarded to family members the following year, May 16, 1945.
Following his death, there were several honors paid to the private prior to the BB62 honors this year. In 1947, an evacuation transport ship, which in itself had also suffered from enemy fire, was repaired and returned to service as an Army transport ship named the Pvt. Eldon H. Johnson. The ship was in service with the Army and operating in the Pacific Ocean until the end of the war. It was then returned to Navy custody and was decommissioned and transferred to the Maritime Administration in 1950.
In 1949, the former German Panzerkaserne, in Germany, was named the Johnson Barracks honoring the private. From the 1970s, the John Barracks was home to the 16th Engineers Battalion in support of two brigades of the First Armored Division and one Brigade of the Second AD. It also contained warehouses and other facilities for supplying elements from the William O. Darby Barracks.
An elementary school in Weymouth, Mass was named in Pvt. Johnson’s honor and a copy of his Congressional Medal of Honor is on display there, now known as the Johnson Early Childhood Center. The Childhood Center is unique in that while it is part of the Weymouth public school system, tuition is required.
Pvt. Johnson is buried in Union Cemetery, Scituate, Mass.
Pvt. Johnson’s Medal of Honor reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Pvt. Johnson elected to sacrifice his life in order that his comrades might extricate themselves from an ambush.
Braving the massed fire of about 60 riflemen, 3 machine guns, and 3 tanks from positions only 25 yards distant, he stood erect and signaled his patrol leader to withdraw. The whole area was brightly illuminated by enemy flares.
Then, despite 20mm. machine guns, machine pistol, and rifle fire directed at him, Pvt. Johnson advanced beyond the enemy in a slow deliberate walk. Firing his automatic rifle from the hip, he succeeded in distracting the enemy and enabled his 12 comrades to escape.
Advancing to within five yards of a machine gun, emptying his weapon, Pvt. Johnson killed its crew. Standing in full view of the enemy he reloaded and turned on the riflemen to the left, firing directly into their positions. He either killed or wounded four of them. A burst of machine gun fire tore into Pvt. Johnson and he dropped to his knees. Fighting to the very last, he steadied himself on his knees and sent a final burst of fire crashing into another German. With that he slumped forward dead.
Pvt. Johnson had willingly given his life in order that his comrades might live. These acts on the part of Pvt. Johnson were an inspiration to the entire command and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces.
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