Bill would rename portion of Refugee Road in honor of Marine killed in Vietnam

COLUMBUS - State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) introduced Senate Bill 145, which would name a portion of Refugee Road in Fairfield County as the "Cpl. David A. Johnston Memorial Highway."

Johnston was killed in action during Operation Taylor Common in South Vietnam. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, and American Legion Post 283 in Pickerington bears his name in remembrance today.

"The stretch of highway stated in Senate Bill 145 fronts our Post home and is important to not only our members, but to the only living immediate family members, a sister and brother, of David A. Johnston," according to David England of the American Legion. "It would be a great sense of pride to the veterans of the Post who honorably served our country and most certainly his sister and brother."

"Corporal Johnston was a remarkable Marine who sacrificed his life serving our nation in the Vietnam War," Schaffer said. "This son of Fairfield County deserves to be remembered for his courage and selfless service."

According to the Eagle-Gazette archives, Johnson was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in Vietnam from March 31, 1968, to March 1969.

The citation read in part: "Throughout this period, Cpl. Johnston performed his duties in an exemplary and highly professional manner. He was initially assigned as a rifleman and reassigned as a fire team leader."

He was fatally wounded on March 3, 1969. He was a member of Company M. Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division. He was on an operation 20 miles southwest of An-Hona in Quan Nam Province when killed.

Johnston was a 1967 graduate of Pickerington High School. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl H. Johnston.

In 2022, a portion of Ohio 158 between Ginder Road and Carroll-Eastern Road was renamed as the Sgt. Joseph P. Collette Memorial Highway. Ohio Rep. Jeff LaRe, R-Violet Township, introduced a bill in 2021 to honor Collette, a Lancaster native, who was killed in March 2019 during a combat mission in Afghanistan's Kunduz province.

Senate Bill 145 must now be referred to committee.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Part of Refugee Road could become Cpl. David A. Johnston Memorial Highway