Edward Dale Johnson

World War II
-
MIA
Fallen

New Rockford, ND


County:
Eddy

Date of Loss:

Recovered:
Remains recovered

Branch of Service:
Navy

Rank:
Fireman 1c

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent:
USS Oklahoma

Listed on/in the:
Other

Major Battle/Theatre:
Asiatic

Engagements/Battles:
Pearl Harbor
Engagement:
Pearl Harbor

Circumstances:

Died while in MIA status. Crew member aboard the USS Oklahoma, killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor along with 428 fellow crewmen. Edward Dale Johnson died along with USS Oklahoma crewman from North Dakota.

Died while in MIA status. Crew member aboard the USS Oklahoma, killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor along with 428 fellow crewmen.

North Dakotans lost on the Oklahoma:

  • Radioman Second Class Walter H. Backman of Wilton, Burleigh County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 7/17/2017.
  • Fireman First Class Charles R. Casto of North Dakota. Remains accounted for 11/21/2016
  • Fireman First Class Lawrence H. Fecho of Upham, McHenry County North Dakota. Remains accounted for 2/21/2017.
  • Fireman First Class Edward D. Johnson of New Rockford, Eddy County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 9/29/2020.
  • Seaman Second Class Charles H. Johannes of Foxholm, Ward County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 10/18/2021.
  • Gunners Mate First Class Arthur C. Neuenschwander of Fessenden, Wells County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 11/8/2017.
  • Seaman Second Class Calvin H. Palmer (Brother to Wilferd D. Palmer) of Minot, Ward County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 3/19/2019.
  • Seaman Second Class Wilferd D. Palmer (Brother to Calvin H. Palmer) of Minot, Ward County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 3/19/2019.
  • SFC Everett I. Severinson of Reynolds, Grand Forks County, North Dakota. 

UPDATE: Remains recovered September 9, 2020, by DPAA. Buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu Hawaii on October 25, 2024 (family resided in Vermillion South Dakota at time of burial). 

Biography:

Born: Hurdsfield, Wells County, North Dakota. Resided in New Rockford, Eddy County, North Dakota then moved to 1938 and in 1939 he enlisted in Navy listing New Rockford, Eddy County, North Dakota as his home. Promoted 5 times to rank of Fireman 1st Class (F1c).

Johnson received numerous awards and decorations including:

  • Purple Heart Medal
  • Combat Action Ribbon OVER
  • Good Conduct Medal
  • American Defense Service Medal (Fleet Clasp)
  • Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal (with Bronze Star)
  • American Campaign Medal
  • World War II Victory Medal
  • Rifle Marksman

Memorialized at the USS Oklahoma Memorial.

2024.9 Minot Daily Newspaper:

A North Dakota man who was killed during World War II and accounted for on Sept. 29, 2020, will be buried on Friday, Oct. 25, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
Navy Fireman 1st Class Edward Dale Johnson, 24, who was born at Hurdsfield and listed New Rockford as his hometown, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The ship sustained multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Johnson.
The remains of the deceased crew were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu cemeteries. Johnson’s remains and the remains of others who could not be identified during a Defense Department effort in 1947 were exhumed in 2015 for DNA analysis, with the goal of returning identified remains to their families. Scientists were able to identify the remains, according to DPAA information.
Johnson lived in North Dakota until moving to Linn County, Oregon, in 1938. He enlisted in December 1939, in Portland, Oregon.

Sources: KVLY TV, Minto Daily Newspaper, KELO Sioux Falls SD, DPAA