Northwestern High honors a graduate’s acts of bravery in war
By Eric D. Lawrence Free Press Staff Writer
Ron Scott remembers Dwight Johnson as the kid nobody wanted to pick for football.
Johnson, a 1966 Northwestern High School graduate, was too nice.
“We did not want to pick Skip because everybody knew Skip wouldn’t hit anybody hard enough,” said Scott, a Detroit activist and Northwestern alumnus, referencing Johnson’s nickname. Those games took place on the lawn of the Jeffries Projects, now the site of the Woodbridge Estates.
When they learned of the actions that garnered Johnson the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1968, Johnson’s friends were shocked. They did not expect to hear that Johnson, whose final military rank was as a sergeant, had not only survived an attack during the Vietnam War but that he also faced the enemy head-on in a display of selfless bravery.
On Monday, Scott and other Northwestern High School alumni honored Johnson in the auditorium of the school in Detroit. The event included state Rep. Fred Durhal Jr., D-Detroit, presenting a member of John-son’s family, brother-in-law Darryl May of Detroit, with a framed certificate commemorating Johnson’s service.
With the honor, the school’s alumni association is doing its part to make a case for the relevance of Northwestern ahead of its 100-year anniversary date in 2014.
Johnson’s story did not end well, and those who knew him said he did not receive the support he needed from the Army. He struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and died in 1971 when he was shot during what Scott termed an alleged store robbery.
In a 1982 interview with the Free Press, Johnson’s widow said she considered her husband’s death a form of suicide related to survivor’s guilt.
“Dwight Johnson did not die in Vietnam. Dwight Johnson was killed in the city of Detroit because of the senseless violence we have in our city,” said Durhal, who was in the honor guard at Johnson’s funeral.
In Vietnam, Johnson was armed only with a pistol when he climbed out of the tank he was driving when it became immobilized , according to the Medal of Honor citation. Under heavy fire, Johnson killed a number of enemy soldiers. He also pulled a wounded crew member from a tank and carried him to an armored personnel carrier.
Scott said Johnson’s actions were about saving lives, and he told the students Monday they might be called on to save someone on the streets of Detroit.
“There’s nothing more precious that preserving life, and that’s what Dwight Johnson was doing that day,” Scott said.
• CONTACT ERIC D. LAWRENCE:
ELAWRENCE@FREEPRESS.COM
REGINA H. BOONE/DETROIT FREE PRESS
Sgt. Dwight Johnson earned a Congressional Medal of Honor. His relative Darryl May received the school tribute Monday.
