Roy L. Johnson

Roy Lee Johnson (March 18, 1906 – March 20, 1999) was a highly decorated four-star Admiral in the United States Navy.

A Naval Academy graduate, he trained as Naval aviator and distinguished himself as Air Group Commander during several World War II campaigns.

Roy L. Johnson was born on March 18, 1906, in Eunice, Louisiana, to John Edward Johnson and the former Hetty Mae Long, as the eldest of 12 children.

He also married the former Margaret Louise Gross (November 26, 1910 – July 4, 1998), on the same day.

He completed high school and earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland on June 15, 1925.

While at Annapolis he played varsity baseball and was on the staff of academy yearbook, the Lucky Bag.

Johnson graduated with Bachelor of Science degree on June 6, 1929, and was commissioned Ensign on that date.

His first assignment as a junior officer was aboard the battleship USS Tennessee and remained with that ship until May 1930, when he was transferred to the battleship USS West Virginia for duty on the staff of Commander Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet under Admiral Frank H. Schofield.

During 1930, he underwent preliminary flight training at the Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, which he completed on January 28, 1931, and began flight training at the Naval flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, known as the "Cradle of US Naval Aviation".

One year later he was designated a Naval Aviator.

Johnson later served as an flight instructor at Pensacola.

In June 1940 he was ordered to Patrol Squadron Twelve and one year later, on March 28, 1941, he was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department in Washington, D.C., where he served consecutively under admirals John H. Towers and John S. McCain Sr.

Following the United States entry into the World War II, Johnson was promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant commander on January 1, 1942.

He remained with the Bureau through the early portion of World War II, and in May 1943 he was transferred to Fleet Air Command, Naval Air Station Quonset Point as Commander Carrier Air Group Two.

In early 1944, the Air Group joined the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-12).

Johnson later became the executive officer of that ship, which would later become known as the "Grey Ghost".

As air group commander ("CAG"), he directed and led attacks against Japanese forces at Palau, Woleai, Wake Island and Truk, striking against enemy aircraft, airfields, shipping and shore installations.

For his service as air group commander, he was awarded the Air Medal.

Later, he received the Bronze Star Medal and a second Legion of Merit, with Combat "V" for his service in action, which included campaigns against Japanese forces in the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

He also wore a Presidential Unit Citation, which was awarded to Hornet for her part in these campaigns.

On October 3, 1945, he was assigned to the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he served until July 1947, when he became the aviation operations officer on the staff of Commander Second Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia.

In January 1950, he was assigned as training officer on the Staff of the Chief of Naval Air Reserve Training at Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois.

On November 15, 1951, during the Korean War, Johnson became the commanding officer of the escort carrier USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116); affectionately known by her crew as the "Bing Ding".

She was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation.

He served as the commanding officer until July 1952, when he ordered to the National War College in Washington D.C. for a year's course in modern warfare techniques and strategies.

For two years after completing the War College program, he served as the Head of the Air Weapons System Analysis Staff and in the office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, (Air).

Following the War, he remained in the Navy and was the first captain of the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) first of the new supercarriers, commissioned in 1955.

In May 1955 he reported to Norfolk, Virginia as the Prospective Commanding Officer, (PCO) of the Navy's first "supercarrier", under construction.

Therefore, Johnson became the first commanding officer of the 60,000-ton attack aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59) on her commissioning day, October 1, 1955, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia.

Three months later, on January 1, 1956, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral.

In June of that year, Admiral Johnson was named director of the Long Range Objectives Group, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

In December 1958, he assumed command of Carrier Division Four, and a year later, on January 25, 1960, he was named Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Plans and Policy.

On December 15, 1961, he was promoted to vice admiral and a month later became deputy director of Joint Strategic Target Planning, headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska.

While in this capacity, Johnson was the Navy's senior representative in determining U.S. air strike priorities during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

On July 30, 1963, he assumed the duties of Deputy Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

While in this capacity, Johnson served consecutively as Deputy to Admirals John H. Sides, U. S. Grant Sharp Jr. and Thomas H. Moorer.

Johnson rose to the Flag rank and commanded the United States Seventh Fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident on August 2, 1964.

He was subsequently promoted to four-star rank and became Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet.

Admiral Johnson assumed duty as Commander-in-Chief, United States Seventh Fleet in mid-June 1964 and held that assignment during Gulf of Tonkin incident in August that year, when the United States entered the Vietnam War.

USS Salisbury Sound (AV-13) from his Fleet became the first U.S. Navy ship to conduct operations inside Vietnam coastal waters.