2nd Lieutenant Joseph Johnson was born in 1922 in Chicago. His parents moved to Downer Grove a few years later. He graduated from St Josephs parochial school and Downers Grove High School. He was a National Honor Society Member and a member the America Technical Society. He was extremely involved in St Joseph’s church.
He was tragically killed piloting a P-47D Thunderbolt #43-25372 in a mid-air collision and crashed ten miles north of Harding Field, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is buried at St Mary’s Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL
2LT Joseph Johnson’s name is engraved on the plaque at Memorial Park in Downers Grove honoring local servicemen who never returned home from World War II.
Source: Find a Grave, Downers Grove Reporter June 1, 1944, Downers Grove Community High School Yearbook Class of 1941
