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Johnson Martin McAfee Jr. was a United States Marine who was killed in action during the Korean War on November 27, 1950. His remains were returned to US custody during Operation GLORY and were identified on September 25, 2017.

Biography[]

Johnson McAfee Jr. was born on July 14, 1923 to Johnson and Sara Patton McAfee in Tucson, Arizona. A member of the Pima tribe, Johnson was affectionately nicknamed "Escuela" and grew up with one sister, Lovella, who died in 1936 and one brother, Rodney. He attended Tucson Indian Training School and graduated in the spring of 1942. He eventually married and had two children.

At 23 years old, Johnson joined the United States Marine Corps. He joined the USMC because they were tough and in his enlistment application he wrote "A Pima boy was killed recently in the South Pacific and I want to take his place." At the time of his death, he was a Sergeant in Company Fox, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. The 7th Marine Regiment was reactivated following the start of the Korean War and landed at Inchon, South Korea on September 21, 1950.

On November 27, 1950, 218 Marines of Company Fox reached Fox Hill which they were tasked to hold as it was next to the only road, Toktong Pass, which was essential as a supply route. The temperature was 25 degrees below zero with snow and wind coming from the nearby Chosin Reservoir. On the morning of November 28, 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacked the outpost and would continue with several more attacks between then and December 3. At the end of the battle, 26 Marines were killed, 89 were wounded, and 3 were reported missing in action while hundreds of Chinese soldiers were killed or wounded. During the first attack, Johnson was reported to have been bayoneted to death. Alongside the other Marines killed, he was buried at the base of Fox Hill before it was evacuated. Fox Company's defense of Taktong Pass became known as the "Last Stand of Fox Company" and their victory ensured US forces could escape south from the Chosin Reservoir.

Aftermath[]

Johnson was memorialized at the National Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the following: the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

After the end of the Korean War on July 27, 1953, Operation GLORY took place. Between September 1 and October 30, 1954, North Korea turned over 4,200 remains, nearly 3,000 of which were determined to be American. Johnson's remains were among them but could not be identified as his. His and 847 other unidentified remains would be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 16, 1956.

Identification[]

In the mid-to-late 2010s, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency initiated the Korean War Identification Project which included the exhumation of unidentified Korean War soldiers buried at the Punchbowl. In 2016, Johnson's remains were exhumed and thanks to advances in forensic technology, were identified on September 21, 2017. The DPAA identification was announced on October 5, 2017. By the time of his identification, at least one daughter, Laverne, and his brother, Rodney, were still alive to learn the news.

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