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Locked on 10/22/2007 10:35:25 AM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
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Posted on 10/22/2007 9:16:22 AM PDT by TheMom
DALLAS — Two children of a Fort Bliss soldier flown back from Iraq with combat injuries are dead and a third is on life support after a car accident on the way to visit their father in the hospital, Army officials said.
Army Spc. John Austin Johnson was waiting for his wife and three kids to visit him at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Oct. 13 when another soldier told him his family's car had rolled over four times on Interstate 10 about 12 miles east of Ozona on the gusty West Texas plains.
"He said, 'Two of my children are dead?'" Army Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Schmidt told the Dallas Morning News. "And we started crying."
Schmidt said Johnson's wife, Lisa, overcorrected the steering in her sport utility vehicle after encountering a blast of wind on the drive from El Paso. The couple's youngest children, 2-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Ashley, died at the scene.
Tyler Johnson, 9, suffered massive head injuries and remains on life support at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.
"He's a fighter. Even the doctors are amazed he's still alive," said Schmidt, who says the family is too grief-stricken to speak publicly. "We're praying."
Tyler remained at the hospital Saturday while their parents left for their children's visitation in Benton, Ark., the family's hometown. An anonymous donor provided five burial plots in the veteran's section of Pinecrest Memorial Park in Alexander, Ark., where Spc. Johnson's grandfather is buried.
Another donor purchased markers for Logan and Ashley, whose funeral is set for Tuesday in Alexander. American Airlines provided the family seven roundtrip tickets, and other groups are helping the family take care of expenses.
"It's been a pleasure and an honor to help them," said Rehnda White-Brunner, director of United Services Organizations of Dallas/Fort Worth.
Schmidt said Johnson has survived five brushes with improvised explosive device blasts during two years in Iraq. The latest left him with a traumatic brain injury, and he speaks with a severe stutter.
"They're really overwhelmed with gratitude from everybody," Schmidt said. "They're very humble people. Everyone's coming together."
Depressing ping.
Yes it is heartbreaking, but its been posted 4 times already.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=children
You have said everything that needs to be said. My prayers are with them.
Thanks for minimizing the significance.
I can’t even begin to imagine. Prayers up!
I heard this story this morning on my radio but was not sure where it happened. Extremely sad.
heartbreaking blurry screen ping.
Am so sorry to hear of this tragedy. Prayers for the family.
thank YOU for the post.
That's sure what it felt like when I read that particular post.
{{Grammar, spelling and posting police indeed}}
This is the first time that I have seen it.
So thanks for the ping theMom.
Did I miss it or does it say what happened to his wife?
Dear Lord, this is one of the saddest things I’ve heard in a long time. Prayers for the whole family.
You did not miss it, it was not in the article. I bit of research said, “Mrs. Johnson suffered bruises but was released from a hospital to join her husband in Dallas.”
I would like to help this family. Do you know if anyone has set up a local fund?
I hate this world.
Donations to help the family cover expenses can be made to the John A. and Monalisa Johnson Fund at any Bank of America.
Ping!
I cannot even believe I opened this and read it. My word, how awful and sad. My heart is broken.
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