Philip Andrew Johnson, Jr. – Chief Warrant Officer, United States Army

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No. 017-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan 09, 2004

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of four soldiers who were killed when their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed January 8, 2004, near Fallujah, Iraq. The soldiers were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Killed were:

Staff Sergeant Craig Davis, 37, of Opelousas, Louisiana. Davis was assigned to the 603rd Transportation Company, 142nd Corps Support Battalion, Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Chief Warrant Officer Philip A. Johnson, Jr., 31, of Alabama. Johnson was assigned to the 571st Medical Company (Air Ambulance), Fort Carson, Colorado.

Chief Warrant Officer Ian D. Manuel, 23, of Florida. Manuel was assigned to the 571st Medical Company (Air Ambulance), Fort Carson, Colorado.

Chief Warrant Officer Aaron A. Weaver, 32, of Florida. Weaver was assigned to C Troop, 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The names of four other soldiers killed in this crash of this UH-60 were released previously today.  The name of one soldier has not been released at this time, but will be released when authorized.

The incident is under investigation.

Four Soldiers from the 571st Medical Company, 4th Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Division were honored in a memorial service February 5, 2005, at Butts Army Airfield.

Chief Warrant Officers Philip Andrew Johnson Jr. and Ian Desmond Manuel, and Sergeants Michael Anthony DiRaimondo and Christopher Allen Golby were killed when their helicopter was shot down outside Fallujah, Iraq, while on a medical activities mission.

Johnson is survived by his wife Melissa, his parents Barbara and Philip and his brothers Peter and Matthew.

A Black Hawk pilot who moved from Chicago in 1985 and attended high school and a university in Mobile was one of nine soldiers killed Thursday in a medivac helicopter crash in Iraq.

Army officials notified the parents of Army Chief Warrant Officer Philip A. Johnson Jr., 31, Thursday evening.

The military said the cause of the crash was not known, but a witness said he saw a rocket strike the helicopter's tail.

Johnson's father said each Black Hawk has two pilots, but he did not know if his son was the pilot in charge of the flight.

“There will be an investigation of the crash, and we will get a full report of it,” Philip A. Johnson Sr. told the Mobile Register for Saturday editions. “Nothing is known at this point.”

The Black Hawk went down about four miles south of Fallujah, a stronghold of anti-American insurgency.

“He was very committed. He was doing what he wanted to do, and he felt he was doing the right thing,” Johnson said, adding he is very proud of his son.

He said his son attended the University of South Alabama in Mobile for three years before joining the Marine Corps. After four years in the Marines, Philip A. Johnson Jr. served in the Army for six years.

The officer was a member of the 501st Medivac Unit attached to the 4th Infantry Division, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His wife Melissa Johnson, 28, is in the Air Force and lives in Colorado Springs.

He was born in Davenport, Iowa and grew up in Chicago, before his family moved to Mobile in 1985.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete Saturday as the family decides whether burial would be in Mobile or Colorado.

JOHNSON, PHILIP ANDREW JR
CW2   US ARMY
CPL   US MARINE CORPS

  • DATE OF BIRTH: 06/21/1972
  • DATE OF DEATH: 01/08/2004
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 8204
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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