Dateline: March 25, 2004

Johnston

Funeral services for Henry Randolph Johnston were held at 3:00 p.m. on February 27, 2004, at the Fort Myer Chapel.  Graveside services were held at Arlington Cemetery.

Mr. Johnston, a retired Air Force Colonel, passed away at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia, on January 24, 2004, of congestive heart failure.  He was a Texan, a native of Clarendon, a graduate of the University of New Mexico and of Georgetown School of International Relations. 

At the beginning of World War II, he was commissioned through the US Army Cadet program at Luke Field, Arizona, and assigned the mission of delivering military aircraft world wide in support of the war effort.  He flew over forty different type aircraft and retired in the CBI Theater as deputy commander of the US Army Air Base at Tzegaon in Dacca, India.

When the war ended, he returned to Asia as instructor pilot for the Chinese National Aviation Corporation, owned jointly by Pan American Airlines and the Chinese Nationalist government.  Subsequent to the communists overrunning China, he was recalled to active duty into the newly activated US Air Force, and a career in a variety of command and staff assignments and as a politico-military affairs officer followed.

From Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts, he led the 11th Air Transport Squadron, MATS, on the Resolute Bay Project to establish weather stations on Prince Patrick and Isachsen Islands above the Arctic Circle.  He was Executive Officer of the Berlin Airlift Task Force headquarter, and he also flew ninety airlift missions.  During the Korean War, he was Chief, Ferrying Division, Operations Directorate, MATS.  Later, he represented the Air Force on the staff of the Defense Advisor to NATO in Paris with specific responsibility for advising on Middle East and Baghdad Pact affairs.

After retirement he remained active in military and civilian affairs.  He organized the Wilmington Warrior Association and was a member of the Hump Pilots Association, the Air Force Association, and the Army Navy Country Club.  He traveled extensively and wrote of his experiences.

A command pilot, his honors include the Special Breast Order of Yun Hui from the National Government of the Republic of China, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Medal, and the Joint Services Commendation Medal.