thedrifter
10-26-07, 07:57 PM
Fort Bliss family needs help in tragedy
Staff writer - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 26, 2007 15:43:46 EDT
A Department of Defense-recognized nonprofit organization is soliciting donations to help the family of Army Spc. John Austin Johnson, whose wife and three children were in a fatal traffic accident while traveling to visit him at a Texas hospital.
Two of the children, Logan and Ashley, ages 2 and 5, were killed in the Oct. 13 accident. The third child, 9-year-old Tyler, was listed in critical condition Oct. 26 at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Johnson’s wife, Lisa, was treated and released with minor injuries.
Spc. Johnson had been recovering from combat injuries at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he is still receiving outpatient treatment.
“There’s going to be a lot of financial strain on this family,” said Karla Ayala, founder of the Texas chapter of Operation Homefront, which is working to provide emergency assistance to the family.
The family lost its only vehicle in the accident, and had declared bankruptcy earlier this year, Ayala said.
Lisa Johnson and the children were en route from Fort Bliss, near El Paso, to Brooke Army Medical Center — a distance of more than 500 miles — when they crashed. Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Schmidt told The Associated Press the accident apparently was the result of overcorrecting the sports utility vehicle after a gust of wind on the Texas plains.
Spc. Johnson, who is attached to the 9th Cavalry Squadron, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, arrived at Brooke in late August after suffering injuries from an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq – the fifth such attack he had experienced during his deployment, according to Schmidt, who works at the medical center as part of C Company, Warrior Transition Battalion. Johnson was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.
The Johnsons attended funeral services for their children on Tuesday in their home state of Arkansas, and then returned to Children’s Medical Center, Schmidt said.
Ayala’s organization contacted the Army Times and other media outlets to spread word about the family’s needs.
“It’s bigger than Texas,” she said. “It’s going to be an ongoing need.”
Gestures of goodwill are arriving. American Airlines donated flights to the family so they could attend and return from the memorial services; one person donated five burial plots at the Pine Crest Memorial cemetery in Alexander, Ark., and another donated two gravestones. Operation Homefront donated a 2002 Saturn Vue.
“They’re good people. They have strong religious background that they fall back on,” Schmidt said. “Even now, people are giving and helping. [The Johnsons] are just so humbled by all the support they get from everybody.”
How to help
* The family has established the Ashley and Logan Johnson Memorial Fund at Bank of America. Donations can be made at any branch with instructions to deposit the money in the Dallas-based fund.
* To donate to Operation Homefront, see the Web site of Operation Homefront Texas at www.operationhomefront.net/Chapter_ root/chapter_index.asp?Chapter_ID=44. Checks can be sent to Operation Homefront Texas, 17305 IH 35 N, Suite 105, Schertz, Texas 78154.
Ellie
Staff writer - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 26, 2007 15:43:46 EDT
A Department of Defense-recognized nonprofit organization is soliciting donations to help the family of Army Spc. John Austin Johnson, whose wife and three children were in a fatal traffic accident while traveling to visit him at a Texas hospital.
Two of the children, Logan and Ashley, ages 2 and 5, were killed in the Oct. 13 accident. The third child, 9-year-old Tyler, was listed in critical condition Oct. 26 at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Johnson’s wife, Lisa, was treated and released with minor injuries.
Spc. Johnson had been recovering from combat injuries at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he is still receiving outpatient treatment.
“There’s going to be a lot of financial strain on this family,” said Karla Ayala, founder of the Texas chapter of Operation Homefront, which is working to provide emergency assistance to the family.
The family lost its only vehicle in the accident, and had declared bankruptcy earlier this year, Ayala said.
Lisa Johnson and the children were en route from Fort Bliss, near El Paso, to Brooke Army Medical Center — a distance of more than 500 miles — when they crashed. Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Schmidt told The Associated Press the accident apparently was the result of overcorrecting the sports utility vehicle after a gust of wind on the Texas plains.
Spc. Johnson, who is attached to the 9th Cavalry Squadron, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, arrived at Brooke in late August after suffering injuries from an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq – the fifth such attack he had experienced during his deployment, according to Schmidt, who works at the medical center as part of C Company, Warrior Transition Battalion. Johnson was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.
The Johnsons attended funeral services for their children on Tuesday in their home state of Arkansas, and then returned to Children’s Medical Center, Schmidt said.
Ayala’s organization contacted the Army Times and other media outlets to spread word about the family’s needs.
“It’s bigger than Texas,” she said. “It’s going to be an ongoing need.”
Gestures of goodwill are arriving. American Airlines donated flights to the family so they could attend and return from the memorial services; one person donated five burial plots at the Pine Crest Memorial cemetery in Alexander, Ark., and another donated two gravestones. Operation Homefront donated a 2002 Saturn Vue.
“They’re good people. They have strong religious background that they fall back on,” Schmidt said. “Even now, people are giving and helping. [The Johnsons] are just so humbled by all the support they get from everybody.”
How to help
* The family has established the Ashley and Logan Johnson Memorial Fund at Bank of America. Donations can be made at any branch with instructions to deposit the money in the Dallas-based fund.
* To donate to Operation Homefront, see the Web site of Operation Homefront Texas at www.operationhomefront.net/Chapter_ root/chapter_index.asp?Chapter_ID=44. Checks can be sent to Operation Homefront Texas, 17305 IH 35 N, Suite 105, Schertz, Texas 78154.
Ellie