Soldier, Wife Start Anew After Tragic Crash

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
El Paso Times
January 4, 2008 Operation Homefront
By Brandi Grissom, Austin Bureau
CIBOLO, Texas -- A former Fort Bliss soldier and his wife on Thursday opened the bright red door to a new home and what they hope will be a fresh start after a tragic car accident claimed the lives of their three children.
"It's just more than I could have ever imagined," Lisa Johnson said, smiling, as she and her husband, Army Spc. John Austin Johnson, toured the couple's first home.
With the help of Operation Homefront, the PGA Tour and KB Homes, the Johnsons purchased the 2,400-square-foot home and moved from Fort Bliss to a small San Antonio suburb.
"For them, this is really more than they've ever had in their lives," said Amy Palmer, a co-founder of Operation Homefront, which helps wounded warriors returning from battle.
In October, Lisa Johnson was traveling from the family's home in El Paso to San Antonio with their three children. They were going to visit their father at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was being treated for a traumatic brain injury he received during his second yearlong tour and fifth roadside bomb attack in Iraq.
As Lisa Johnson drove on Interstate 10, she lost control of the car. It rolled over, killing Logan, 2, and Ashley, 5. The couple's oldest child, Tyler, 9, died later from injuries he received in the crash.
In addition to the heartbreak of losing their children and the stress of Austin Johnson's rehabilitation, Palmer said, the couple also had to cope with the financial uncertainty that many wounded soldiers face.
It takes many months for injured soldiers to work through the bureaucratic system and get registered for military benefits, she said. In the meantime, their monthly income can vary drastically, and some veterans end up in dire financial straits and even homeless.
"They just never know," Palmer said.
Injuries from Austin Johnson's two tours and the five explosions left the family in debt and led to bankruptcy, she said.
Operation Homefront raised $140,000 to help the Johnsons pay off their debt, complete their bankruptcy proceedings, buy a car, finance their home and move them from El Paso to San Antonio. The PGA tour raised $78,000, while KB Homes furnished the home.
Contributions paid for about half the cost of the $154,000 home. With the organization's help, the couple secured an affordable $600 monthly mortgage payment for the remainder, Palmer said.
The Johnsons have more help, too, from generous donors in the El Paso area who contributed to an account that FirstLight Federal Credit Union established for the family.
The account closed Thursday with more than $86,000 in donations that came in over about two months, said Charles Morris, the credit union's vice president of marketing.
"It could never fill the void or make up for the emotional damages and the trauma this couple has gone through, but it certainly will help," Morris said.
Along with the financial generosity from El Pasoans, the Johnsons' new home will have a long-lived reminder of their two years at Fort Bliss.
Travis Elementary School, which Ashley and Tyler attended, dedicated an evergreen tree to the children and sent it to the Johnsons.
Austin Johnson quietly dug a hole in a sunny spot of their new backyard Thursday, and Lisa Johnson placed the small tree in its new home.
The school also dedicated a tree on its campus and a bench as a memorial to the children.
"It's just that symbolism," said Don Smelser, Travis Elementary principal. "People can kind of look at it and remind themselves that their spirit is still living every day within us."
Austin and Lisa Johnson, who met in high school and have been married six years, said they are taking life one day at a time right now.
At age 27, Austin Johnson takes 10 medications a day. He is still receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center, working to rehabilitate from his injuries, dealing with a severe stutter and short-term memory loss. One day, he said, he hopes to find a good job and work again.
Lisa Johnson, 26, said she plans to go back to school and become a pediatric nurse.
The new home will be a fresh start for the couple, but still one filled with pictures and thoughts of the smiling little faces that used to grace their days.
"I worked my whole life for those babies," Austin Johnson said, patting his chest, hand over his heart. "It's almost like a dedication to them."
 
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