• 1st Lieutenant
    Gerald W. Johnston

    1st Lt. Gerald W. Johnston’s B-17 was shot down by German fighters on January 14, 1945. He was last seen at the controls of the plane, having told the rest of the crew to bail out.

  • 1st Lt. Gerald W. Johnston and crew of the Boeing B-17 Mississippi Mission, 390th Bomb Group, England.

    Five of the crew were able to parachute to safety because Johnston kept the plane in the air. They were captured and spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp. One of the men later recounted that the German officer who interrogated him told him that the pilot of his plane had been found dead in the cockpit of the crashed B-17.

  • Wayne Johnston with his mother and father. Courtesy of Wayne Johnston
    Wayne Johnston with his mother and father. Courtesy of Wayne Johnston
    Wayne Johnston with his mother and father. Courtesy of Wayne Johnston
    Gerald and Wayne Johnston. Courtesy of Wayne Johnston
    Gerald and Wayne Johnston. Courtesy of Wayne Johnston

    1st Lt. Gerald W. Johnston was only 22 years old. He left behind a wife and young son. For his sacrifice, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart posthumously.

    Wayne Johnston was just 16 months old when his father was killed. He spoke with The National WWII Museum about his father.

  • In 2012, Gerald Johnston's son, Wayne Johnston spoke with The National WWII Museum.
    "I was different … I didn’t have a daddy."

This Memorial Day, Honor 1st Lieutenant Gerald W. Johnston

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