Ft. Bliss Soldier's Children Laid to Rest

by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn

A soldier wounded, his family then involved in a car accident. A tragic story, one that makes your heart go out to the survivors. More on this from Albuquerque News:

Army Spc. John Austin Johnson, a Fort Bliss cavalry soldier who has survived five IED attacks in Iraq, and his wife Monalisa were at funeral services in Arkansas Tuesday for their two youngest children, killed Oct. 13 in a single-vehicle rollover on Interstate 10, the El Paso Times reported.

The couple's oldest child, 9-year-old Tyler Johnson, suffered severe head injuries in the accident and remains in critical but stable condition at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, the Times reported. The mother received minor injuries in the crash, the paper has said.

The family had been on their way to visit Johnson at Brooke Army Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he was recovering from wounds he received in his latest brush with an improvised explosive device, the Times has said.

Johnson is a member of Fort Bliss' 4-1 Cavalry and has survived five brushes with improvised explosive devices during his two years in combat in Iraq, Army Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Schmidt told the Dallas Morning News.

His latest brush with an IED left him with a traumatic brain injury that has him speaking with a stutter, Schmidt said.

"He said, `Two of my children are dead?'" said Schmidt, who broke the news to Johnson. "And we started crying."

According to Schmidt, Johnson's wife Lisa overcorrected her sports utility vehicle after getting hit with a gust of wind on the drive from El Paso.

The youngest children -- 2-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Ashley -- died at the scene, and 9-year-old Tyler Johnson suffered massive head injuries and was on life support at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, the Times reported.

An account to help Johnson, who is with Fort Bliss' 4-1 Cavalry, and his family has been set up at FirstLight Federal Credit Union, which has seven branches in El Paso and Las Cruces, the Times reported.

Contributions to the Johnson Family Memorial Fund may be made by calling 1-800-351-1670.

Regardless of whatever god you pray to, a family to include in your prayers.

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