Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
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There were so many interesting things that I thought readers might appreciate from this interview that had no chance to make it in to the story because of time constraints. So here is the complete interview from start to finish with Johnny Johnson of West Jordan. His son Ty was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. He was serving his second tour in Iraq when he was killed by a road side bomb.
Lance Bandley: "Tell me a little bit about your son. Did your son grow up here in Utah?"
Johnny Johnson: "Yeah, Ty was born in Utah and lived here most of his life till he joined the military."
L: "Is that something he always wanted to do?"
J: "No, I really don't know what took him to the military. His brother was in the Marines, his brother was in and out of the Marines and he decided to join the Army. I just think he was looking for something in life and thought the Army was a good way to go for him. I don't know if he wanted to serve like his brother did or what."
L: "Was that right after high school?"
J: "No, his twin brother actually went in right out of high school, but Ty went actually four years after high school. So a little wait in between there. Getting married starting a family and all that."
L: "Did he meet his wife here?"
J: "He met his wife through a mutual friend up at Ricks College. His wife is from the Boston, Massachussetts area, that's where her family is. And they met up in school and got married a while after that."
L: "And they have a couple of children?"
J: "Yeah, they have a little girl and my grandson."
L: "How much time had he spent in Iraq?"
J: "He was on his second tour in Iraq. His first tour I can't remember where he was, he was located in...I can't remember the town. He was in Kuwait at first and then in to Iraq and then back home for about 6 to 8 months and then he was deployed again back to Iraq again for a second tour."
L: "Was that a surprise?"
J: "No, he knew he would be going back. He didn't know it would be Iraq he thought it would be Afghanistan or some other place but Fort Cambell they're the most deployed military base in the United States so he knew he would be going somewhere."
L: "What was his assignment?"
J: "He actually on the base was the driver of the commander of the base in Fort Cambell. And when he got deployed again that was what he was doing, driving the commander down there. So that was his main job this time. His first time there he was doing a lot of rebuilding. Building schools and roadways and things like that his first deployment."
L: "Did he tell you a lot about his experiences there?"
J: "He talked a little bit. He'd e-mail now and then. He e-mailed his wife every day. I got e-mails but the last time I talked to him was at Christmas time when he called. He'd say it was a different place to be so different compared to the United States, but things were starting to improve. Still had a lot of the bad things going on but he said they were helping and he was especially proud of the next generation of Iraqi's, the kids, that they might have a better life than they had before."
L: "I've heard that from a lot of soldiers recently."
J: "He was real proud about that. He told me stories, well I sent him a package and it had a little hot wheels car in it because he loved those as a kid and I thought it would be something fun to give him. He said he was waiting outside for his commander to come out of an establishment and a little Iraqi boy came up to him and said, "Mr. can I have your truck?' He says, 'no son I don't think the military will let you have my Humvee but I got something for you.' And he pulled the hot wheels car out and gave that little car to the boy and that little boy had never seen a car like that before. He was so happy to get something like that, he'd never had a toy. Things our kids take for granted that they've never seen. He was so happy and it made him feel so good that he was able to share that with the little boy."
L: "How did you find out what happened?"
J: "I came home from work Tuesday and my parents were here and my daughter had called them and told them and they came out here to tell me that he had passed. And then the military from the Draper area down there they came that night and they were here to talk to me too with a chaplin and military official. So they were really good about coming out and talking, seeing what they could do."
L: "I guess that's something you always have to have in the back of your mind when they go over to the Middle East?"
J: "He knew he was going to a war zone. He enlisted in a time they were at war. So he knew he would probably be involved in a war and it was something he really wanted to do. And he really thinks he helped. He was involved in the balloting collection. He actually collected 40,000 ballots himself and took back to the place to be counted. He was really proud to be involved in the first free election ever in that country and that was something he was really proud he was able to do. Bring democracy to some other place so they can enjoy what we have here."
L: "He gave his life doing something for others."
J: "He did yes. It's a sad thing. I would have loved to have him here his whole life. To have him leave the military and watch my grandkids grow up with him, their dad, but it's sad they won't be able to now but they still have a free country they can be in."
