In Memoriam: Sam Johnson

Mr. Johnson was a GW alumnus, onetime prisoner of war and a long-serving member of Congress.

May 29, 2020

Sam Johnson

Sam Johnson, a George Washington University alumnus and military pilot who spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam before serving more than two decades in Congress, died Wednesday in Texas. He was 89.

His former spokesperson, Ray Sullivan, announced that Mr. Johnson, who was born in San Antonio, died in a Plano, Texas, hospital of natural causes unrelated to coronavirus.

Mr. Johnson, M.A. ’74, grew up in Dallas and married Shirley Lee Melton in 1950. He graduated from his hometown’s Southern Methodist University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration the next year.

He enlisted in the military at the age of 20 and served in the U.S. Air Force, where he flew nearly 100 missions in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

A highly-experienced fighter pilot, he flew 62 missions during the Korean War and shot down one enemy plane in combat. He was a member of the Thunderbirds, an elite aerobatic team and later directed what is now the Air Force Weapons School. 

In 1966, while flying his 25th mission during the Vietnam War in his F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber, he was shot down over Vietnam and wounded. He was captured and imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hoa Lo, better known to U.S. prisoners as the Hanoi Hilton, for nearly seven years.

Mr. Johnson was part of a group of 11 U.S. military prisoners known as the Alcatraz Gang, a group of prisoners separated from other captives and held in a special facility one mile from the prison because of their resistance to their captors.

An autobiography, “Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW’s Story,” recounted Mr. Johnson’s experience as a prisoner of war.

He was released from the prison war camp in 1973.

Mr. Johnson earned a master’s in international affairs from GW in 1974 as part of an off-campus program taught at the war colleges to help military officers get advanced degrees.

In 1979, he retired from the military as a colonel after a 29-year career in the Air Force. A decorated combat veteran, Mr. Johnson received two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, one Bronze Star with Valor, two Purple Hearts, four Air Medals and three outstanding unit awards.

A Republican, Mr. Johnson was elected to the Texas legislature in 1984. In a special election in 1991, he was elected to Congress, where he represented Plano and other northern suburbs of Dallas. He served in the House for 28 years and was the oldest member when he stepped down in 2019 at age 88.

While in Congress, Mr. Johnson was considered to be one the most conservative members of the House. He helped found the Conservative Action Team and was known for his work on veterans’ affairs and efforts to support the Social Security program.