Private First Class Johnson was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 15 December 1950 and died while a prisoner on 22 April 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Johnson was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.