Aiken veteran helps etch military memories in stone via Korean War memorial in Washington, D.C.

Nov. 11—Richard Johnson, serving in the U.S. Army, saw plenty of Korea during the early 1950s, and over the past couple of years, the Barnwell County native has focused much of his attention on helping honor the memory of his warriors who lost their lives in and around such locales as Seoul, Osan, Chonui, Chochiwon and the Chosin Reservoir, in the effort to repel North Korean and Chinese troops.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial, in Washington, D.C., now includes a feature to make it more personal for the tens of thousands of American and Korean families who lost a member in the 1950-53 conflict.

Johnson was the primary local fundraiser for that effort, helping bring in "a little less than $9,000," he said.

The memorial in Washington, D.C., was rededicated this year, and the July 27 event had a spotlight on a new feature: "a 'Wall of Remembrance' that features the names — etched in stone — of the more than 43,000 U.S. service members and Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army who were killed during the war," as described on a Department of Defense website.

"My mission was $16,000, but we reached our goal before I got to that," Johnson said, noting that the amount to be raised statewide was $200,000, and that mission was accomplished, with a final haul of $230,000 to support the names effort. Funding was split evenly between the South Korean government and Johnson's group, the Korean War Veterans Association.

The memorial's rededication date, Johnson noted, was to coincide with the 69th anniversary of the of the Korean Armistice Agreement's signing (July 27, 1953).

The new creation is "huge," in his assessment. "It has 36,574 Americans' names on the wall, and it has 7,200 Korean augmentees. These are Korean soldiers that assisted American soldiers with interpretation and so forth."

Johnson's list of Aiken County residents who died while serving in Korea included Harold F. Adkinson, Bonnie E. Bell, Freddie Lee Bradshaw, Kinney Bryant, Harold Carter, Edwin D. Chavous, David S. Muns, Stanley T. O'Banion, Wesley H. Johnson, Ross H. Davis, Ernest Little Sr., Rudolph C. Garland, Robert E. Hatch, Carol B. Ross, Elvin A. Rutland, Jack D. Whittle, Eugene Williamson, Jack W. Yon and Roy Robinson (one of Johnson's classmates from Four Mile High School, in the town on Dunbarton, the residents of which were relocated to make way for what is now the Savannah River Site).

Johnson's coverage area for the fundraising effort supporting the wall of remembrance included several other counties: Allendale, with its memorial names including Hansel Bunton Jr., Samie Capers, Willie L. Johns, Julius E. O'Neal and Richard B. Ready; Barnwell, with its memorial names including Jack McDonald, Elijah Odom, Jerry A. Ratliff Jr. and Melburn H. Eldridge; Edgefield, with its memorial names including Johnnie J. Mathis, Memminger A. Nicholson, Isaac Andrew, Joseph W. Hamilton and Clifton H. Watson; McCormick, with its memorial names including Henry P. Agnew and John T. Harris; and Saluda, with its memorial names including Solomon Emanuel, Gilbert Bryant Jr., Artis Abney Jr., Thomas M. Maffet and John G. Miller.

Another name on the wall, Johnson noted, is that of his "bunk buddy," Prince Sims, from Miami.

Johnson noted that his experience in Korea was highly unusual in terms of his situation on the home front. When he left home, in January of 1951, he departed from Dunbarton, and when he returned, in 1953, his home was gone, as a casualty of the mass exodus and relocation that took place to make way for the massive nuclear reservation.

Johnson's family had moved from Barnwell County to Allendale County, and Johnson wound up working at SRS for 40 years. His background also included serving his fellow veterans over the course of 12 years as a volunteer helping with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He did not return to his home site until 2020, when an SRS representative located the property that belonged to Johnson's family and took him to visit the site of the 240-acre family farm.

Johnson's military focus was on combat engineering, "and what we did was build roads, build bridges and ... demolition," he said. "My favorite was ... building the pontoon bridge. It's been over 70 years ago, and I could do it right now. If I got orders to put a bridge over the Savannah River, to Augusta, I could get my team together and supplies, and I could go and do it right now."

He also shared some thoughts on leadership, noting that his years in the Army included President Harry Truman at the start and President Dwight Eisenhower at the end.

"Knowing what I know now, then I was fortunate to serve under those two commanders. I know now that they were good commanders-in-chief."