Career
Camp Leroy Johnson in New Orleans, Los Angeles, was renamed after him in 1947. Johnson joined the Army from Oakdale, Louisiana in 1943, and by December 15, 1944 was serving as a Sergeant in Company K, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. On that day, near Limon, Leyte, the Philippines, he smothered the blast of two enemy-thrown grenades with his body, sacrificing himself to protect those around him.
Johnson was buried at the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, the Philippines.
A bronze memorial plaque in his honor was mounted on the wall of the Oberlin, Louisiana, courthouse. Johnson was from Oakdale, just a few miles north of Oberlin in Allen Parish.
