Spc. Jason M. Johnston,
24, of Albion,
N.Y.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg,
N.C.; died Dec. 26 in Arghandab, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained
when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive
device.
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Spc. Jason M. Johnston, of Albion, New York,
was the third of four children born to his parents, Brad and
Jenny, and their only son. Raised in the small community of
Albion, in a family of firefighters, Jason touched every life
he came in contact with and was loved by everyone who knew him.
Jason was an active member of the Explorer’s Post but never
became a member because he joined the service after school.
During high school he fell into a group of not so favorable
guys. At the age of 19, he decided to change his life. So he
earned his GED and enlisted. He said of himself, “I’m that kind
of person that will go way out of my way for my friends. My
best friends are family, and I would do anything for them. That’s
part of the reason I joined the army. I believe in telling the
truth.” Based in North Carolina, he had adopted a Southern twang,
wore boot-cut jeans and rode horses. He also was happy to be
able to say he had been to Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Turkey,
Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Even though he didn’t get to see
much of any of them but Afghanistan, he said he was just happy
to be able to say he stepped foot in them. Jason had served
a 13-month tour of duty in Afghanistan and was scheduled to
have a tour in Iraq. The United States’ change of Afghanistan
strategy sent Jason instead to Afghanistan again, deploying
in October 2009 assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division,
based at Fort Bragg, N.C. Jason died December 26 in Arghandab,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his
unit with an improvised explosive device. He had just turned
24 two weeks earlier.
Burial in Mt. Albion Cemetery, Albion, NY
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