Johnson leads Post 31 Color Guard for a decade

Times have changed a lot over the last 60 years.

Many teenagers today come home from school, lock their eyes on one of various electronic screens and whittle away the hours.

In the summer of 1967, the United States was embroiled in a prolonged military action in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The U.S. was involved in the war in some capacity from the early 1950s through 1973.

Tuscumbia native Donald Johnson, a 1966 Deshler graduate, said every time he would visit the home of his then girlfriend, every newscast was showing footage from Vietnam.

Especially wounded soldiers being medevaced by helicopter.

A military draft was ongoing for the war effort, and young men like Johnson could be conscripted at any moment.

Between the Vietnam War and a conflict between a coalition of Arab nations and Israel, later known as the Six-Day War, Johnson decided if it was going to be war, he’d better be well trained.

Despite being eligible for draft deferment do to being an enrolled student, Johnson decided to enlist with the United States Marine Corps.

“A friend of mine from high school had joined the Marines, and I asked him about basic training at Parris Island,” Johnson said. “I thought if I’m going to be a good warrior, I might as well be a Marine.”

So, one day in college Johnson decided to skip his afternoon classes and go talk to the local Marine recruiter.

Johnson said he told the man he wanted to join but didn’t need any “sales talk,” just guarantee him a two-year enlistment and he would sign up.

Johnson said the recruiter put him on a bus to Nashville for a physical, and he got sworn in that day.

After the 13-week basic training course at Parris Island in South Carolina, Johnson was sent to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

There he trained to be an anti-tank fighter. He learned to use flamethrowers and recoilless rifles (known collectively as bazookas).

From there, Johnson said he was sent to Camp Pendleton in California to learn about jungle combat and evasion for a month.

Johnson would then receive orders to go to Vietnam. The only problem was, the enemy had nothing in the way of tanks to speak of, so his Lejeune skills could not be put to good use.

However, every Marine qualifies as a rifleman, so Johnson was put to work in that capacity.

He said he was eventually made a machine gunner using an M60, and that was his task until he was discharged after his two years of service.

Once Johnson returned, he graduated from the University of North Alabama.

He went to work for Tennessee Valley Authority, where he spent most of his working life.

“I was hired to be a unit operator for a coal-fired plant,” Johnson said. “They sent me for training at Cumberland Steam Plant. I was there for a year and a half. When I left, the only opening was at Widows Creek Power Plant in Stevenson. I worked there 20-plus years.”

During that time Johnson said he married a pretty “brown-eyed girl” named Linda just like Van Morrison sang about. They would go on to raise six sons together.

Johnson also found another way to serve his country.

“I was married and bought a house,” he said. “One day, I was up a ladder painting, and my first cousin drove up with a uniform on. He said ‘Cuz, you oughtta come over to the Army Reserve. You only go two days a month, they pay you for four, and they will let you in at the rank you were in the Marine Corps.’

“I said I would go talk to them if it will make you happy. Sure enough, they had a good story for me. They promised I could do what I wanted to, so I said OK. I spent 22 years in the Army Reserve as military police.”

Johnson would eventually transfer to the Colbert steam plant, where he worked until his retirement.

In 2010, a friend from the Reserves told Johnson he “oughtta come and join the American Legion.”

He said he went to a few of the meetings at Post 31 in Tuscumbia.

“I felt at home, so I joined up,” he said. “A year or two later, the Color Guard was getting more active, so I joined it. We went to a lot of funerals. In 2014, the Color Guard leader said he was too busy and said I would be a good Color Guard leader.”

Johnson said it took three separate requests, including being given until the end of the meeting to give an answer, before he agreed to become the leader of the Post 31 Color Guard.

He was Color Guard commander for 10 years until last year. He said the detail would provide honors at funerals for veterans like folding the flag, making a gun volley salute and playing “Taps.”

The Color Guard is also in charge of placing and retiring the flags during events like the Memorial Day and Veterans Day programs.

They also attend veteran-related programs at various local schools.

“We do maybe two funerals a week. They really add up,” Johnson said. “We’ve got some people that are very good at what they do. They are very professional.”

Johnson said when he was in the infantry in Vietnam, there were other Marines he was around every day. Whether it was eating C rations or standing watch, they were together every day.

“It was like a family,” he said. “When I joined the American Legion Post 31 Color Guard, I spent a lot of time with these guys. They are like a family. That’s what makes it so important to me.”

While he may no longer be Color Guard commander, Johnson is still active with the group.

They performed veteran funeral rites on Nov. 3, and they will place and retire the colors during the Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11 at the Colbert County Courthouse.

They will also be seen marching with the flags at the front of the Veterans Day Parade ahead of the ceremony.