wfn.org | Hickory (N.C.) Man Loses Leg, but Saves Sailor's Life

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

6-October-1999 
99329 
 
    Hickory (N.C.) Man Loses Leg, but Saves Sailor's Life 
 
    Naval Officer Upbeat After Accident on USS Blue Ridge 
 
    by Erica Beshears 
    The Charlotte Observer 
    Reprinted with permission 
 
HICKORY, N.C.-A U.S. naval officer and Presbyterian from Hickory who lost 
both legs below the knee saving the life of another sailor Aug. 23 
continues to recover in an Army hospital in Seoul, South Korea. 
 
    Ensign Daniel Johnson, 23, cracked a few jokes and spoke optimistically 
about his recovery during a brief telephone interview.  "I'm actually in 
pretty good sprits," he said.  "I'm pretty confident I'll bounce back. 
I'll be back on my new feet." 
 
    Because the accident aboard the command ship USS Blue Ridge is under 
investigation, the Navy offered few details about the mishap that seriously 
injured Johnson and a seaman, Navy Cmdr. Matt Brown said 
 
    But Johnson and his parents, the Rev. Wallace and Sallie Johnson of 
Hickory, gave this account: 
 
    On the morning of Aug. 23, the USS Blue Ridge sat in the South Korean 
port of Pusan.  On deck, the seamen commanded by Johnson scurried to get 
the ship ready to leave, working with the large, strong cables connecting 
the ship to the tugboat that pulls it out of port. 
 
    "The tug started backing down," Daniel Johnson recalled.  "He was 
pulling the line out too fast." 
 
    Johnson's seamen scattered when the line began moving, but one of them, 
Steven Wright of Arkansas, became tangled in the cable.  The tugboat pulled 
him toward a small hole in the ship's side. 
 
    Wright likely would have died if he had hit the hole, Johnson's 
commanding officer told his parents.  But Johnson jumped in to free Wright, 
not thinking that he had placed himself in danger. 
 
    "I just ran over there," he said.  "It was just kind of instinct.  I 
tried to loosen his leg.  Right after it got loose from his leg, my leg got 
caught.  It was a pretty painful few minutes." 
 
    Both men survived, but both paid a price: Johnson lost both legs and 
his left pinkie finger.  Wright lost one foot and four fingers. 
 
    In Hickory, Wallace (who is pastor of First Presbyterian Church) and 
Sallie Johnson's sadness has been consoled by the realization that their 
son was hurt helping another person. 
 
    "We're just so proud of him, Sallie Johnson said, her eyes filling with 
tears.  "There just aren't a lot of heroes around.  And it's not just his 
mom saying that." 
 
    "We all think Daniel is a hero," the ship's chaplain, John Wohlrabe, 
wrote Johnson's parents in an e-mail. 
 
    Wohlrabe also forwarded the Johnsons this e-mail, written by a member 
of Daniel's division: 
 
    "Our division just would like to let you know that Mr. Johnson took 
very courageous acts today to help save Seaman Wright.  He put his life on 
the line to help this young man.  His sacrifice was truly heroic and we are 
in awe as to how he selflessly sacrificed so much to help him." 
 
    Johnson said he didn't consider what he did to be heroism.  Instead, 
the Hickory High and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill graduate 
said, it was just his job.  His parents say that's just like him to say 
that. 
 
    "When we talked to him the first time that he was lucid, he asked about 
his men first thing," said Wallace Johnson. 
 
    Johnson and his parents realize he has a long road ahead, but they're 
optimistic. 
 
    Daniel Johnson was recently transferred from the hospital in Korea to 
Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where he is undergoing 
extensive physical therapy. 
 
    He isn't thinking too far beyond the hard work that awaits him, but he 
might head back to school.  "I don't think the Olympics are in my future," 
he joked.  "I'll have to use my mind rather than my body." 
 
Editor's note: In an Oct. 5 interview, Wallace Johnson said that Daniel's 
spirits continue to be high.  He will go home to Hickory at the end of 
October for about a month of continued healing, then will return to Walter 
Reed for further therapy and for the fitting of prosthetic limbs.  In about 
a year, Wallace Johnson said, Daniel will be medically retired from the 
U.S. Navy.  As early as next spring, Daniel Johnson is hoping, his father 
said, to begin graduate school. - Jerry L. Van Marter  

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