Christopher C. Johnson
Chief Warrant Officer 2, United States Army
November 27, 1975 – August 14, 2007
Age – 31
Grand Rapids, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, Task Force 49, Fort Wainwright, AK
Died of injuries sustained when his helicopter crashed during a test flight
Chief Warrant Officer Christopher C. Johnson of Gallup, New Mexico grew up in Mich before moving with his parents to New Mexico. He attended Grandville Christian School in Grandville, Mich., Calvin Christian Mid School in Wyoming, Mich., and graduated from Tri-Unity Christian School.
He had joined the military in 1994 becoming a Green Beret. After being part of covert operations around the world, he decided to pursue his dream of flying. He always told his mother, ‘Mom, don’t be afraid because it’s the fastest, the biggest and the safest.’ And he told me he wouldn’t have to kill anybody, that he would be transporting things and helping people. He always wanted to help people,”
As a spunky little boy who called himself “Chris-tougher” who once went out into a street where he stopped cars while dressed in a Superman costume, a teenager who loved pickup trucks and motorcycles and gave his parents more than their fair share of gray hairs, a young man who loved being in the military and lived life to the fullest, and a loving husband and father who was brought to tears when his young stepson, Jonathan, thanked him for becoming his dad.
Although he died a young man he packed more living into his 31 years of life than other people do in 80 years. Chris was buried in the scenic desert hillside where as an avid motorcyclist, had enjoyed riding his Harley Davidson.
Christopher Johnson looked danger in the eye many times before as a Green Beret, but it was his dream of flying for the armed services that led him to train to become part of a helicopter crew.
The 31-year-old pilot accomplished his goal and was doing what he loved when he was killed Aug. 14 near Anbar province in Iraq. His CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed during a routine post-maintenance test flight, killing all five on board. Johnson, a member of Task Force Dragon, had been in Iraq for less than a month.