Sergeant Johnson was a Light Weapons Infantryman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 27 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

For his leadership and valor, Sergeant Johnson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.