Sergeant La David T. Johnson (c. 1992-2017) of the US Army was killed in action in Niger near the Mali border at the edge of the Sahara on October 4th 2017. So did seven other soldiers, three Americans and four Nigeriens. His body was not recovered for two days, the names of his two children tattooed on his chest. They found him before the signal from his military beacon gave out.
Fallen soldiers: Some two dozen US soldiers have died so far under President Trump, but this one has made news nationwide because after nearly two weeks Trump still had not called or written his family and, when he did call, he said to his crying, pregnant widow, Myeshia Johnson:
“He knew what he signed up for”
That is according to Johnson’s Congresswoman, Representative Frederica Wilson, who was there at the time. She said Myeshia:
“was crying the whole time, and when she hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, ‘He didn’t even remember his name.'”
He said nothing about Johnson being a hero. Wilson said Trump was “almost like joking.”
Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, was also there. She backs Wilson’s account and said:
“President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband.”
President Trump said it was a “very nice conversation”, that the
“Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!”
Breitbart News, that champion of Western civilization, called it fake news and said:
“When Trump first called the media the ‘enemy of the people,’ it was somewhat shocking. And it remains unfair to those journalists who are committed to the truth. But those pushing this story are certainly earning the epithet.”
Credibility: Going by Trump’s PolitiFact scorecard, there is a 17% chance that he is telling the truth.
Given how Trump went after the parents of Humayun Khan, another fallen soldier, the Johnson family has got off easy. So far.
Niger, which is just north of Nigeria, has a US drone base at Agadez and 800 US troops. The US is fighting with Niger, Mali, and France against jihadists like Boko Haram and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Niger-Mali border, near where Johnson was killed, is a key point in the jihadist supply chain.
Myeshia Johnson will never see her husband again, not even in death: it will be a closed-coffin funeral. They have two children, ages two and six. A third child is due after Christmas.
Sgt Johnson was with the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), a Green Beret unit based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He is from Miami Gardens, Florida, a place without many heroes.
His awards and decorations: the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Army Parachutist Badge, the Army Air Assault Badge, the Driver and Mechanic Badge, and the Marksmanship Qualification Badge – Sharpshooter with Rifle.
Requiescat in pace.
– Abagond, 2017.
Update (October 24th): Myeshia Johnson says that Congresswoman Wilson’s account was “100% correct.” President Trump disagrees. Gen. John Kelly, his chief of staff, gave an account of the call that matches Wilson’s – and yet went on to attack her character with a barefaced lie! He was supposed to be “one of the adults in the room” at the White House.
Update (November 22nd): “Additional remains” of Sgt Johnson have been found in Niger. Last month his widow had said:
“I know my husband’s body from head to toe, and they won’t let me see anything.
“I don’t know what’s in that box. It could be empty, for all I know.”
The villagers who found his body said his hands were tied behind his back and his head had a gaping wound, as if he had been hit with a hammer. BBC.
See also:
- Humayun Khan
- The Somalia truck bombing – has a map of US bases in Africa
- Trump and Puerto Rico – yet more lack of empathy and human decency
- How to be a true US patriot in 8 easy steps
- Breitbart News diet
- jihad
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Racist to the very core of his being.
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This is so heartbreaking 45 is the liar in chief. I wish there was someone who could be brave and stand and point their finger at him and shout “You lie” like they did to President Obama, except in this case they would be telling the truth. The tangerine syphallitic sh*t gibbon can’t tell the truth to save his life. 45 is disgusting and deplorable.
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One of the saddest thing about this is the many who did not want that lying Mrs.
Clinton.
You are getting what you ask for.
People should be more aware of the political decisions they make.
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While everyone is so busy talking about the president’s handling of his call to the widow of the soldier killed in Niger, you’re all missing the important part of that story…the part about what happened that night in Niger.
The story that is emerging is so much worse than anything that happened in Benghazi, but the same GOP Congress that investigated Benghazi with a fury seems to have little or no interest in this story.
Here’s what we know so far…
These soldiers went to a meeting in an area near the border with Mali. This is a well known hot spot for ISIS activity.
Our soldiers were not backed up by US Military air support. No, they were backed up by the French, who were not authorized to intervene or even fire a shot.
Our soldiers did not have armored vehicles. They traveled in pickup trucks.
Our soldiers were given faulty intel that said “it was unlikely that they would meet any hostile forces.” Of course, they walked into an ISIS ambush. It was chaotic and they took three casualties.
It took the French 30 minutes to arrive. When they did they were not authorized to help. So, a dozen of our Green Berets fought a battle with more than 50 Isis fighters, without help, for 30 minutes.
Finally, a rescue helicopter arrived, but it was not a US military helicopter. No, we apparently outsourced that job to “private contractors.” So, these contractors landed and loaded the remaining troops, the injured and the dead.
Here’s where this gets really bad…
Because they were not military, they never did a head count. That is how Sgt. La David Johnson was left behind.
That’s right…they left him behind.
According to the Pentagon, his locator beacon was activated on the battlefield, which indicates that he was alive when they left him there.
They recovered his body 48 hours later but are refusing to say where. According to his widow, she was told that she could not have an open casket funeral. This indicates that he was mutilated after being left behind on the battlefield.
This is what led to the nonsense we’re obsessing over. This is the real story. As usual, you’re allowing it to be about Trump’s distraction, but this is Benghazi on steroids.
The Trump Pentagon gave these men bad intel, no support, outsourced rescue people and then tried for more than a week to pretend it never happened. In that time, Trump spoke on many occasions and never mentioned it. He tweeted attacks on many but never mentioned these men. Only after pressure from the media has he bothered to even acknowledge these men and their service.
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By all accounts, SGT Johnson was a fine young man, however, contrary to media misrepresentation, he was not a “green beret”. There is no mention of the Special Forces tab in his list of awards and decorations (it would have been listed along with his parachutist badge if he was). To the best of my knowledge as a retired airborne infantry officer, there is no way an E-5 with 3 years of service could possibly have completed the necessary training. I suspect he was assigned to SF in a supporting role as a mechanic or driver.
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RIP
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ya news said it was a little team of E5’s probably comms
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it didn’t say no officers got killed that effin lieutenant is washing someone’s wife drawers right now or should it be ‘in the brig right now’ isn’t it oh well you all know how that goes already
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@ Kristin L Hawthorne
That is some backstory. Do you have a link that you can share about what happened in Niger?
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@ Kristin
Yes, what are your sources? I left that part of the post vague because the media reports I read were vague and contradictory.
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May he Rest In Peace I feel horrible for his grieving family.
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@ Samuel Clemons
My source for Sgt Johnson being a Green Beret was The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/18/sgt-la-david-johnson-soldier-at-the-center-of-dispute-over-trump-remarks
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@ Abagond
I think Samuel Clemons may be correct. This article says Sgt. Johnson enlisted as a mechanic and was serving as part of a support team for a Green Beret unit:
https://www.google.com/amp/abcnews.go.com/amp/US/heartbroken-widow-imagine-life-fallen-soldier-center-latest/story%3Fid%3D50559923
I could easily see how many reporters might miss the distinction between being assigned to work with a Green Beret unit versus being a Green Beret.
I also ran across this article from his hometown of Miami which gives a real sense of what a dedicated soldier, husband, father, and all-around good person he was:
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-gardens/article179796766.html
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Or I guess I should say more properly from his home region or county, since Miami Gardens is its own incorporated city and the Herald is located in Miami.
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@ Samuel Clemons @ Solitaire
I changed the post to say:
Thank you!
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Notice that when Trump tweeted:
he did not say the names of any of the three people.
Yesterday his chief of staff, John Kelly, spoke for 12 minutes, defending Trump’s actions. He too referred to all three and yet did not once say any of their names. No “Sgt Johnson”, no “Mrs Johnson”. And instead of “Congresswoman Wilson”, it was “a member of Congress”, “that woman” and “an empty barrel.”
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Soldiers kill and die. That’s what they signed up for. I find it ridiculous that this is being made about how ‘sensitive’ Dotard Don is! How about somebody looking into what the US is up to in Niger? Please no bs about protecting the people there, Yemen is in worse condition with the active participation of the US, Democrats and Republicans. Reading this post, I get the feeling that US sensitivities are paramount. It’s always about you, never mind what the soldiers were doing to the people of Niger.
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@ Abagond
“John Kelly… defending Trump’s actions… referred to all three and yet did not once say any of their names. No “Sgt Johnson”, no “Mrs Johnson”…instead of “Congresswoman Wilson”, it was “a member of Congress”, “that woman” and “an empty barrel.”
That seems to be one way to signal disinterest and disrespect to another person: refuse to name, misspell or refer to someone as an object (“an empty barrel”).
Corporate news outfits followed Kelly’s lead and made part of the story about Kelly’s son, who perished in Afghanistan. In their eyes, that qualified Kelly to speak on this issue.
It may be that as more information about the death of Sgt. Johnson come to light, disrespecting the survivors will be the least of the Prez’s problems. We’ll have to wait and see.
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@ gro jo
Yes, Niger and especially Yemen deserve a post.
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Michelle Obama 13 months ago:
(http://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/)
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Thank you to the Johnson family for their service and sacrifice for our country and our benefit. Politics aside, appears that, with emotions running high, the call was bungled and / or misinterpreted. As Marine vet who has lost a number of comrades, CAO calls like this must be handled with the utmost sensitivity and strict protocol out of respect for the family. Also, the family’s handlers must understand that the higher up the chain of command the call originates from, the more likely it will be less personal. There is very little ANYONE can say at a time like this to help the widow / family grieve.
Like everyone serving in uniform, myself included, SGT Johnson took an oath of office to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. Hundreds of thousands of us have paid the ultimate sacrifice over the last 200+ years so that our fellow countrymen and women can live free. When we raise our hand and take that oath and sign our contract we know (or should know) what we are doing. We know where it could lead ultimately – God forbid – we know what we are getting into, especially if you’re in a trigger puller MOS. It is not an ordinary job – and from what I can tell tell Sgt Johnson was not an ordinary soldier / person – with his kids names tattooed on his chest – he went into the way of harm and danger on our behalf.
As pointed out earlier, an important story here is that this team – lead by some apparently senior SNCOs – had no back up or immediate QRF like support available – I’m guessing much like the black hawk down debacle, Jessica Lynch story of 2003 and perhaps the Pat Tillman fratricide event. Our military has been stretched so thin in the last decade+ by previous administrations that things like this will sadly happen. Heck it even happens with fully staffed and supported units because of military bureaucracy and fog of war issues. Like so many vets – that’s the thing that drives us nuts about serving: the noble cause is often not properly supported by the system. And in this case it looks like it cost us more honorable and brave soldiers who were selflessly serving in an ugly place.
Semper Fi Sgt Johnson and your beloved family…..
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@ LtCol
“CAO…SNCOs…QRF…MOS [?]”
Most of the readers here are civilians. We’d love it if you translated your military jargon into plain English.
“When we raise our hand and take that oath and sign our contract we know (or should know) what we are doing….we know what we are getting into, especially if you’re in a trigger puller MOS.
It is not an ordinary job – and from what I can tell tell Sgt Johnson was not an ordinary soldier / person – with his kids names tattooed on his chest – he went into the way of harm and danger on our behalf.”
Two thoughts:
➤ If Sgt. Johnson “knew or should have known” what he was “getting into”, fair enough. That same standard applies to the President of the USA. He knew or should have known that he was expected to honor the men and women of the military who perished on the battlefield. Instead, Trump’s actions toward the widow of Sgt. Johnson was dishonorable, disrespectful and beneath the Office of the President.
➤ While you are entitled to your opinions, the idea that the US military serve on the behalf of the American people is not based in fact. The US military serve giant corporations and their lackeys in Washington. That has been true for the past 125 years.
General Smedley Butler was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. General Butler described US wars and war in general as a “racket”. He wrote a book by the title, War Is A Racket. This is how General Butler described US wars in his book:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/115545.Smedley_D_Butler
Costa Rica abolished their military in 1948. They have enjoyed peace and prosperity since that time. Their tax dollars go into healthcare, education and housing.
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/15/opinion/la-oe-barash-costa-rica-demilitarization-20131208
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There has been so much focus on (and attempts at justifying) the first part of Trump’s statement — “he knew what he was getting into” — that the second part isn’t getting much attention.
The full statement was: “He knew what he was getting into, but I guess it hurts anyway when it happens.”
Kelly and others are focusing on the first part, saying that every soldier does in fact know what they’re signing up for. Kelly basically said that similar expressions helped him when his son was killed and that he advised Trump to say it.
Be that as it may, it’s the second part that is indefensibly cold and callous. It sounds like a shrug, like he’s saying: “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset, you knew this could happen.”
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“Credibility: Going by Trump’s PolitiFact scorecard, there is a 17% chance that he is telling the truth.“
If his empathy were as quantifiable as his credibility, the score would be even lower.
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http://www.military.com/army/enlisted-ranks.html
a little backstory
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i met a lot, quite a few, ex-e5’s mostly army in the tech sector
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Update (October 24th): Myeshia Johnson says that Congresswoman Wilson’s account was “100% correct.” President Trump disagrees. Gen. John Kelly, his chief of staff, gave an account of the call that matches Wilson’s – and yet went on to attack her character with a barefaced lie! He was supposed to be “one of the adults in the room” at the White House.
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45 when speaking to Sgt. LaDavid Johnson’s widow didn’t even refer to Sgt. Johnson by his name but he kept saying “Your guy.” I don’t know why we are surprised about 45 and his disrespect and lack of decorum this is who this ghoul is. Remember how disrespectful he was to the family of Humayun Khan? Such hypocrisy and liars both 45 and Kelly who is nothing but a hired water boy for the orange sh*t gibbon. My heart goes out to Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow and children.
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One thing I have yet to see mentioned in the press is the observation that “your guy” is in itself a disrespectful phrase. Trump should have said “your husband.” It’s like he didn’t think they were married or something. But even “your loved one” or “your partner” or “your soldier” would have sounded more dignified than “your guy.”
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I have so much respect for Congresswoman Fredricka Wilson who stood up to the two bullies 45 and John Kelly. Referring to Congresswoman Wilson as an empty barrel, code speak for stupid black woman. This administration wants to attack and silence black women who call them out on their b.s.. First Jamelle Hill of ESPN now Congresswoman Wilson.
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@ LoM/ASG-M
Would you kindly respect my preference that you not “like” any more of my comments?
Thank you.
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@ LoM/ASG-M
I had a bad feeling you were going to do that. Please cut it out.
This is the last I’m going to say about it. I made a polite and reasonable request. I hope you can find the dignity to honor it.
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@Samuel Clemons I just picked up on your comment about this young mans status. Why did you feel it necessary to include that in this comment section. He was a member of the US Military.
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information,thanks for providing these kinds of
statistics.
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Update (November 22nd): “Additional remains” of Sgt Johnson have been found in Niger. Last month his widow had said:
The villagers who found his body said he hands were tied behind his back and his head had a gaping wound, as if he had been hit with a hammer.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42074081
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not even one helicopter? i guess they came back at some point later, en force, one would suppose
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This is just one example out of 1000’s, that says no matter what black people do for this country, we are not respected. Even dying for it…
For this reason and more, black people should NEVER, sign up for armed services for the United States. if and only, we are given the same rights as white people, then and only then, should black people risk our lives for the United States.
Hell, we die unjustly just going about our day as US citizens, yet they constantly bombard us with armed service literature in our neighborhoods.
We’re not valued as fallen soldiers or citizens of The United States.
Any black parents reading this, you should never convince your child to join any armed services or you’ll be the one crying over your son or daughter’s casket, with nobody in government giving a friggin fig.
Far as the government is concerned, the purpose of your child has been for filled, to die…..
B 1st
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