Ohio Senate passes bill to designate a memorial highway in honor of Pickerington veteran
COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 145 this week to designate a portion of Refugee Road in Fairfield County as the “Corporal David A. Johnston Memorial Highway.”
Corporal Johnston was a 1967 graduate of Pickerington High School and was killed in action in South Vietnam on March 3, 1969.
The bill was sponsored by State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster).
"There is a reason Corporal Johnston was awarded the Bronze Star after his death in combat," Schaffer said in a news release. "His acts of valor under the most trying circumstances imaginable make him the true definition of a hometown hero. Even though it has been 55 years, it is important to honor Corporal Johnston so that generations to come will know of his selfless sacrifice."
Corporal Johnston served in the United States Marine Corps as a member of Mike Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Regiment, First Marine Division.
He was Pickerington High School’s only casualty during the Vietnam War and is the namesake of American Legion Post 283 in Pickerington.
"The stretch of highway stated in Senate Bill 145 fronts our Post home and is important to not only our members, but to the only living immediate family members, a sister and brother, of David A. Johnston," according to David England of the American Legion Post 283. "It would be a great sense of pride to the veterans of the Post who honorably served our country and most certainly his sister and brother."
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Bill passes to designate a memorial highway in honor of Pickerington veteran
