Biography of shoshana johnson

She lauded the VA staffers who have treated her long enough to reach out when they sense something is off with her. She is content with her schedule that includes speaking engagements — up to five during a busy month — that ramp up around Veterans Day in November and Black History Month in February.

Biography of shoshana johnson

She has become more selective about her speaking engagements and favors those where she can make a difference, such as presentations at academic institutions and to groups interested about veterans and their needs. While she appears comfortable speaking in front of crowds, she admits that these engagements still make her nervous, but they also are cathartic.

Sometimes she wonders why she survived the Iraqi ordeal while many in her company did not, and the best answer is so she can share her experiences and perspectives as a POW, a military veteran and a female soldier. Sometimes I think that is why I came home. Maybe my purpose is to enlighten and influence how they go on with their lives.

She remembered a chance meeting with a woman after a speech she gave in Florida prior to the pandemic. The woman, possibly a high school student in , watched on television as Johnson returned injured from Iraq, and that made the woman more aware of all the other wounded soldiers. As a result, the woman became a nurse. As a volunteer, she has served on various Veterans Affairs advisory committees at the national level, helped service organizations provide morning refreshments at the local VA, and assisted the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which supports Purple Heart Elementary School in the Socorro Independent School District.

She also accommodates area schools that request her as a speaker. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, she has earned two associate degrees from El Paso Community College, including one in culinary arts in She mostly uses those skills at home, especially to make her special brownies for family, friends and church socials. She also will whip up fancier fare such as croquembouche a pyramid of cream puffs topped with caramelized sugar for special occasions.

When not baking or cooking, she fills her leisure time with romance novels by Twyla Turner and Christine Gray to get away from the crime, conflict and drama that the media usually covers, she said. The two continue to organize and refine the recipes and their backstories. Her more immediate plans include going on a religious pilgrimage to Greece, Turkey and Italy later this year.

Despite the difficulty of her ordeal and her recovery, Johnson said she is eternally grateful to El Pasoans who have helped her during the past 20 years. What Johnson and the other members of the th experienced in Nasiriyah did not surprise some Army officers, according to an April 1, , article in Government Executive magazine. If anything, they were surprised that such incidents did not happen more often during the conflict.

There was agreement that the system needed to be upgraded … and fast. Army officials blamed the th ambush on inadequate training, insufficient equipment, exhaustion and human error. Peter Schoomaker out of retirement in summer to oversee an enhanced standard training guide for all soldiers. The changes included equipping every soldier with the best body armor, weapons and communication equipment.

After the Nasiriyah ambush, combat and support units with deployment orders to Iraq received more physical training to build muscle and endurance, and tactical training on how to use their weapons, land navigation, map reading, first-aid training and nuclear, biological and chemical training. Twice their cell walls shook because of bombs dropped nearby.

She was not sexually harassed or assaulted because of her gender, but did tell Byrd in the Essence interview that "in one prison the guards kept commenting that I should stay and marry an Iraqi man. At first I thought it was a joke, but after they kept saying it, I started to think they were going to keep me. Johnson and her fellow captives were worried that they might be killed when prison officials fed them an unusually rich meal one evening.

By then she was in the city of Samarra, being guarded by ordinary Iraqi police officers who had even taken up a collection amongst themselves in order to buy the prisoners necessary food and medicine. Telling everyone to stand up if they were American, the Marines at first did not believe that the still-injured Johnson was an American, but her fellow captives vouched that she was one of them.

The Marines instructed them to run for their vehicle when they gave the signal, and "I started crying," she told Byrd. Johnson and the others were shuttled to safety, treated, and debriefed. They were then flown home and reunited with their families days later. No longer able to serve because of her injured feet, she retired from the Army with a pension in early , not long after helping New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg press the button that dropped the famous ball over Times Square at midnight on December Army sergeant and Eunice Johnson; children: Janelle.

Military Service: U. Army, Career: th Maintenance Company, U. Despite such honors, Johnson did not receive the level of publicity attached to another female American soldier who had been captured, eighteen-year-old Jessica Lynch. The West Virginian received a book deal and was even the subject of a made-for-television movie, and was granted higher disability payments than Johnson as a result of injuries suffered.

Johnson appealed the military's decision and won a pension that amounted to 50 percent of her salary during the time she served. She dismissed any hints that she was a hero. Who knows what they could have walked into? It could have been a trap. But just the thought of getting us out was enough. They took a chance, and because they did, I'm here.

Independent London, England , April 15, , p. New York Times, March 28, , p. Attached to the th Maintenance Company, which fixes the diesel tankers, generators, and Patriot missile batteries for infantry divisions, Johnson was dismayed to learn that she was being sent overseas once U. By then, in early , she was the single mother of a two-year-old daughter, Janelle, and was forced to leave her daughter in the care of her parents.

Johnson's th Maintenance Company unit was attached to the Third Infantry Division, which moved into Iraq during the week of March 20 after landing in nearby Kuwait. On March 23, Johnson was part of a convoy heading toward Baghdad on Highway 1, Iraq's main north-south artery. Her convoy made a wrong turn and was left alone and defenseless when Iraqi troops ambushed it near Nasiriya.

The truck in which she was riding rolled over in the melee, and she and another specialist hid under it to return fire. Then I felt a burning sensation in my legs. Eleven American soldiers were killed in the firefight before the ranking officer in Johnson's group, a sergeant, came out to surrender. Johnson had been shot in both feet, and the Iraqis ordered her and the others to come forward.

The Iraqi soldiers began beating the American soldiers with rifle butts, but when her helmet was knocked off and her cornrows became visible, they realized she was a woman and separated her from others. There was blood coming out of my boots. Johnson's wounds were treated by an Iraqi doctor, and she was offered a painkiller. The captured Americans—who by now included two Apache helicopter pilots—were videotaped by Iraqi military officials, and the footage was sent to the media.

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous.

Operation Iraqi Freedom. Life and career [ edit ]. Controversy [ edit ]. Book deal [ edit ]. Awards and decorations [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. This article includes a list of general references , but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. May Learn how and when to remove this message.

February 29, Soldiers Magazine.