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McCUNE —
McCUNE — Sgt. Thorvald K. “Catfish” Johnson was an Iowa farm boy who decided that life on the farm was not for him. Instead, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines on Oct. 22, 1940, and became a highly decorated World War II hero who nearly died in the service of his country.
A mannequin clad in his old Marine uniform with his medals was presented Saturday to the McCune Osage Township Library by his widow, Patience “Pat” Johnson, 92, and their children.
“Mom has been wanting to do this for years,” said son John Johnson.
He said that his father is mentioned several times in a book titled “Battalion of the Damned” by James Christ, an account of the First Marine Paratroopers at Gavutu and Bloody Ridge in 1942.
“John Battitori read that book and said that it mentioned Dad,” Johnson said. “He had told us stories, but we didn’t realize how terrible it was for him until we read that.”
He added that his father was always proud of his service as a paratrooper, took part in landings on three islands and was wounded in combaton Sept. 14, 1942, in the Battle of the Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
“Dad was wounded in both legs, and while going for aid a Japanese sniiper in a tree shot him in the right temple,” Johnson said.
Fortunately, some of his friends came along, took out the sniper and got Johnson to safety.
The defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of the Bloody Ridge contributed to their defeat in the Guadalcanal campaign and, finally, to their defeat throughout the South Pacific.
Johnson was discharged from military service on Nov. 29, 1944, and returned to the United States.
“He got a job at a shoe store in Kansas City and hated it,” his widow said. “So he came here and went to work for P&M, then worked in construction. We ran the Mineral Inn in West Mineral for 32 years.”
Johnson died on April 20, 1980, without ever getting all the medals he’d earned in his nation’s service.
Son John and his wife, Vicky, decided they were going to remedy that.
“First we had to get cleared by the National Personnel Records Center before we could even start looking, then we had to get to the U.S. Navy,” Johnson said.
“It took probably 100 telephone calls,” Mrs. Johnson added.
They finally obtained the missing medals. Included are Johnson’s parachute wings, Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense, American Campaign, Asiatic Pacific, World War II Victory Medal, Rifle Expert and Pistol Expert.
McCUNE — Sgt. Thorvald K. “Catfish” Johnson was an Iowa farm boy who decided that life on the farm was not for him. Instead, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines on Oct. 22, 1940, and became a highly decorated World War II hero who nearly died in the service of his country.
A mannequin clad in his old Marine uniform with his medals was presented Saturday to the McCune Osage Township Library by his widow, Patience “Pat” Johnson, 92, and their children.
“Mom has been wanting to do this for years,” said son John Johnson.
He said that his father is mentioned several times in a book titled “Battalion of the Damned” by James Christ, an account of the First Marine Paratroopers at Gavutu and Bloody Ridge in 1942.
“John Battitori read that book and said that it mentioned Dad,” Johnson said. “He had told us stories, but we didn’t realize how terrible it was for him until we read that.”
He added that his father was always proud of his service as a paratrooper, took part in landings on three islands and was wounded in combaton Sept. 14, 1942, in the Battle of the Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
“Dad was wounded in both legs, and while going for aid a Japanese sniiper in a tree shot him in the right temple,” Johnson said.
Fortunately, some of his friends came along, took out the sniper and got Johnson to safety.
The defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of the Bloody Ridge contributed to their defeat in the Guadalcanal campaign and, finally, to their defeat throughout the South Pacific.
Johnson was discharged from military service on Nov. 29, 1944, and returned to the United States.
“He got a job at a shoe store in Kansas City and hated it,” his widow said. “So he came here and went to work for P&M, then worked in construction. We ran the Mineral Inn in West Mineral for 32 years.”
Johnson died on April 20, 1980, without ever getting all the medals he’d earned in his nation’s service.
Son John and his wife, Vicky, decided they were going to remedy that.
“First we had to get cleared by the National Personnel Records Center before we could even start looking, then we had to get to the U.S. Navy,” Johnson said.
“It took probably 100 telephone calls,” Mrs. Johnson added.
They finally obtained the missing medals. Included are Johnson’s parachute wings, Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense, American Campaign, Asiatic Pacific, World War II Victory Medal, Rifle Expert and Pistol Expert.
They are now at the McCune library, along with a copy of “The Battalion of the Damned” which Pat Johnson donated to the library historical musuem.
She is grateful to her son and his wife for tracking down the medals.
“They made trips and phone calls and whatever you do on a computer to get them,” she said. “I also want to thank the library board for letting us do this.”
Roy Parsons of the library’s history and geneaology depatment is happy to have the exhibit, which includes a poster board display made by one of the younger family members as a school project.
“We sure appreciate the family for thinking of the museum and bringing these things here for the community to see,” Parsons said.
