Lee Johnson talks about WWII like it was yesterday
RIGHT THERE — Lee Johnson of Ellendale points to a picture of himself during Basic Training in Arkansas in 1945. Also in the picture, fourth from top in the far right row, is rural New Richland resident Richard Crumb, featured in an earlier article in the Star Eagle. Johnson, 90, is a 69-year member of the American Legion. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
Lee Johnson still remembers the day the lieutenant pulled him aside.
“He said, ‘Lee, you might think I’m nuts, but I just wanted to know if you wanted to re-up for another two years,’” said Johnson.
The lieutenant was right.
“I said, ‘Hell no! I’m ready to go home,’” said Johnson.
And so it was at the end of World War II for Johnson, a lifelong area resident who still lives in his home across the street from NRHEG Elementary School in Ellendale.
Interviewing Johnson is not like talking to a normal 90-year-old.
He’s a walking, talking and, yes — still driving — history book, full of stories, facts, names, dates and details.
He can point to a Basic Training picture of more than 200 men — Company C of the 131st Army Battalion — and pick out an old classmate, esteemed rural New Richland resident Richard Crumb.
Johnson isn’t tough to spot. His mug was circled in red years ago.
Unlike Crumb, who witnessed some gruesome scenes in Germany, Johnson rode out his Army stint in relative comfort — though it could have been much different.
After growing up on a dairy farm near Geneva, the youngest of six siblings, Johnson enlisted at age 21.
“It was March 1, 1945,” said Johnson. “We were inducted in Albert Lea. We all got on the bus and they hauled us to Fort Snelling.”
From there it was on to boot camp at Fort Joseph T. Robinson in Little Rock, Ark., where an incident happened that he still gets a kick out of.
“It was during bayonet practice,” said Johnson. “There were dummies, and you were supposed to jab ‘em and then come up under the chin with the butt of your rifle.”
He broke the stock off his rifle.
He was told, “Johnson, you don’t have to hit ‘em that hard!
Johnson gave him a look that said, “We’re going to war here, not a football game.”
As things turned out, it was about the closest Johnson came to seeing action, but it could have been much different.
After shipping out from Camp Stoneman in California, Johnson was aboard a ship headed overseas.
“I found out later, we were slated for the invasion of Japan,” he said. “Thankfully, old Harry dropped the bomb. We were halfway across the Pacific when they dropped the bomb.”
By the time they reached the Philippines, Japan had surrendered and invasion plans were scrapped, leaving the Army wondering what to do with all the soldiers.
“They didn’t have any place to put us,” said Johnson. “There was no place to go.”
So he moved from one island to the next, working as a motor pool mechanic and corporal of the guard before he was shipped to Guam to join the 20th Air Force 30th Weather Squadron. There he was asked another of those questions he’ll never forget: can you run a teletype?
“I said, ‘Maybe,’” said Johnson. “They said, ‘Well, I see you typed in high school, you should be O.K.’ I had never seen a teletype machine before.”
So he learned, and that’s where he finished his Army career, putting out weather forecasts throughout the Pacific.
He was happy to be back home in August of 1947.
“I seen a hell of a lot that I wouldn’t pay to see again,” he said. “It was a good feeling to be back home.”
He described natives in the Philippines as, “Mostly sociable, but some were a little feisty.”
“There was a cave on one of the islands that you could only access by water,” said Johnson. “There were a few Japs stuck in that cave, with weapons and ammunition, and every once in a while, one would get to the mainland. The locals would take care of them real soon.”
Johnson never did make it to Japan.
“When I got to Guam, a lieutenant told me he was going to take me with him to Japan,” said Johnson. “We didn’t get that done. He also told me he was going to get me a .45 pistol for 25 bucks; that didn’t happen either.”
He has mostly good memories of his service days.
“I had a lot of good times in the Army, yes,” he said. “There were USOs here and there, and I think the gals seemed to make you feel a little better. On Sunday, people would come to the USO and take soldiers to church, take them home to dinner and pretty much treat them as their own kids. One gal seemed to like me because I went to her home quite a few times.”
Johnson worked quite a few different jobs after returning home. He worked as a herdsman, farmed, managed several creameries — including the one in Ellendale — hauled bulk milk, and worked for eight years at E.F. Johnson Co. in Waseca before retiring in 1987.
“I’ve been here pretty much ever since,” he said.
The one exception was in 2013.
He and his second wife, Jean, moved to an assisted living facility in January that year and, a week later, she suffered a heart attack and died. Johnson remained there about seven months before returning home.
“We would have been married 27 years Feb. 14, 2014,” said Johnson.
Around 200 people turned out at a 90th birthday party in October for Johnson at George’s of Geneva.
So what is it like to be 90?
“Nice,” said Johnson. “I don’t know. My philosophy is I believe in the Lord Jesus.”
He laughed when asked if he had any advice on longevity.
“I don’t think I have anything to do with it,” he said. “I think it’s in God’s hands. I’m here to do what he wants me to do, I guess.”