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Help the Johnson family; Update: Corrected info for memorial fund
By Michelle Malkin  •  October 21, 2007 08:53 PM Update: If you want to donate to the Johnson family fund, here’s the corrected information:

The correct name of the account is the “Ashley and Logan Johnson Memorial Fund.” People who wish to contribute can go into any Bank of America banking center in the United States and make a contribution. They will also need to tell the bank associate that the account is domiciled in Texas.

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(http://www.dentonrc.com/shared.....rfamily.33911c5.html)
The Dallas Morning News reports today on a terrible tragedy that has fallen an Iraq war veteran:

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Army Spc. John Austin Johnson seemed to have a gift for evading tragedy.

During two years in Iraq, the soldier from Fort Bliss, in West Texas, survived five improvised explosive device blasts and several grenade attacks.

“A lot of people go through one IED and don’t survive,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Schmidt.

But Spc. Johnson’s luck began to turn with the last IED blast, which left him with a traumatic brain injury. Back in Texas for care at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, he was eagerly awaiting a visit by his wife and three children last weekend.

But the children never arrived.

“I went up to his room and told him there was a problem,” said Sgt. Schmidt, an Army medic who has grown close to the family over the last week. “I told him there was an accident and two of his children were deceased.
How to Help

“He said, ‘Two of my children are dead?’ And we started crying.”

Local charities and volunteers have pulled together to help the family:

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As word of the family’s loss spread, support from the military, businesses and strangers poured in. One anonymous donor provided five burial plots in the veterans’ section of Pinecrest Memorial Park in Alexander, Ark., where Spc. Johnson’s grandfather is buried. Another purchased markers for Logan and Ashley.

American Airlines provided seven roundtrip tickets to the funeral, set for Tuesday in Alexander, Ark., and groups such as Soldiers’ Angels, Warrior & Family Support Center and Operation Provide Comfort took care of hotel accommodations, food and travel expenses between West Texas and Dallas.

“It’s been a pleasure and an honor to help them,” Mrs. White-Brunner said.

The Johnsons have been amazed by the flood of support.

“They’re really overwhelmed with gratitude from everybody,” Sgt. Schmidt said. “They’re very humble people. Everyone’s coming together.”

You can help:

Donations to help the family cover expenses can be made to the John A. and Monalisa Johnson Fund at any Bank of America.

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Johnson family update: Car crash claims third child of wounded Iraq veteran
By Michelle Malkin  •  November 5, 2007 01:49 PM Two weeks ago, I mentioned charitable efforts to help the Johnson family. Army Spc. John Austin Johnson was wounded in an IED attack in Iraq and recovering from traumatic brain injury in Texas. His wife and three children were traveling to visit him when their car rolled over in a blast of wind. Spc. Johnson’s two daughters died at the scene. The third child, 9-year-old son Tyler, clung to life until Saturday:

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A wounded Iraq veteran and his wife have lost a third child from injuries the boy suffered in a car accident on the way to visit his father in the hospital.

Three weeks after his siblings died in an Oct. 13 accident on the gusty West Texas plains, 9-year-old Tyler Johnson died Saturday at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Army Spc. John Austin Johnson was waiting for his wife, Lisa, and their three kids to visit him at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio when the deadly crash occurred on Interstate 10 about 12 miles east of Ozona.

Lisa Johnson overcorrected the steering in her sport utility vehicle after encountering a blast of wind on the drive from El Paso, causing the car to roll at least four times, officials have said.

The couple’s youngest children, 2-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Ashley, died at the scene. Tyler Johnson suffered massive head injuries.

Lisa Johnson was driving at the speed limit, traffic investigators have said, but they blamed the accident on a combination of high speed, drowsiness and powerful winds.

Donations continue to pour in:

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Visitation for Tyler is set for Wednesday and a funeral for Thursday at Roller-Ballard Funeral Home in Benton, Ark., the family’s hometown.

Numerous donations have helped the family deal with immediate expenses.

The Professional Golfers’ Association raised $95,000 to pay for a new car and other expenses.

American Airlines donated plane tickets for family members to travel to the children’s funerals last month and the pending funeral this week.

Schmidt said the Johnsons plan to take a month off to rest and decide what to do next.

“Right now, they’ve kind of had a mission, so to speak going to hospital every day, checking on their son, burying two others,” he said. “When this calms down, they’re going to realize it’s just them two.”

You can donate to the family through any Bank of America branch. The account is the “Ashley and Logan Johnson Memorial Fund.” Tell the bank associate that the account is domiciled in Texas.

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