Skip to content

Today in History – April 5, 1962 – 1962 Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 54,600m

Neil Armstrong and the X-15 by Bob van der Linden, Posted on Tue, July 23, 2019, Aeronautics Department, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum “Released from duty in mid-1952, Armstrong returned to Purdue where he earned his degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. His love of flight and engineering drew him to the National Advisory

Read More »
Join The SSS
Update My Bio
Main Menu
  • Home
  • History
    • About The SSS
    • Headed West
    • Biographies
    • Today in F-100 History
    • SSS Caterpillar
    • Wall of Honor
    • F-100 Information
    • Friends of the Super Sabre
    • N. American F-100 Super Sabre
  • Galleries
  • The Intake
    • About The Intake: Journal
    • The Intake: Journal of the Super Sabre Society – Archives
  • What’s New
  • Contact

Johnson, Samuel R.

  • Home
  • Biography
  • Biographies
  • Johnson, Samuel R.

Samuel R. Johnson

Preferred Name: Sam
Nickname/Call Sign: Tiger
Date of Birth: September 13, 1930
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Dallas, TX
Headed West Date: May 27, 2020
Biography
Pilot Information
Headed West
POW
Album
Video
Books

Congressman Sam Johnson, COL. USAF, Retired

Sam Johnson is a native Texan and beloved public servant frequently hailed for his patriotism, commitment to our republic and strong conservative values, and efforts on behalf of the North Texas constituents he served.

A graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, Sam earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and a Master’s degree in Industrial Administration from George Washington University.

Sam is also a decorated war hero who ranked among the few Members of Congress to fight in combat.

During his 29-year career in the U.S. Air Force, Representative Johnson served as the director of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School (“Top Gun”) and was one of two authors of the air tactics manual revolutionizing military air dominance by incorporating three-dimensional flight – a manual that is still used today. One of his classmates in flight school was future astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Sam flew combat missions in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During the Korean War, Sam flew 62 combat missions in his F-86, stationed just 25 miles from the front lines. In his plane – Shirley’s Texas Tornado named after his wife – he scored one MiG fighter kill, one probable, and one damaged.

He served as director of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School and flew solo and slot positions in the F-100 Super Sabre with the Air Force Thunderbirds precision flying demonstration team.

In the Vietnam War during his first tour of duty, Sam worked at the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam headquarters in Saigon where he helped coordinate the first B-52 strikes under General Westmoreland. During his second tour, he flew F-4 Phantom II combat missions with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in Thailand. It was during his 25th combat mission of his second tour in 1966 that Sam was shot down.

Sam endured nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, including 42 months in solitary confinement after his captors labeled him a “die-hard.”  He spent 72 days in leg stocks, 2 ½ years in leg irons, and experienced severe starvation and torture.

Sam chronicles his POW experience in solitary confinement in his autobiography, Captive Warriors. The book details the stories of the self-named “Alcatraz Gang,” including great American patriots, such as Jeremiah Denton and Jim Stockdale.

Sam returned home to Texas in February 1973 as part of “Operation Homecoming.”

He was decorated with the following military awards: Silver Star with 1 oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with 2 oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster, Purple Heart with 1 oak leaf cluster, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, Combat Readiness Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, Korea Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon with 5 oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster, Vietnam Service Medal with 8 oak leaf clusters, Korean Presidential Unit Citation Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Device, Vietnam (RVN) Campaign Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with 4 oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor device.

Following his distinguished military career, Sam established a home-building business in North Dallas from scratch and served in the Texas State legislature before running for the United States House of Representatives in 1991 during a special election.

Sam held a House leadership role as a Deputy Whip. Prior to retirement, he was a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means where he has served as the Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee since 2011. He also sat on the Health Subcommittee.

A fiscal hawk and constitutional conservative who advocated for lower taxes and smaller government, Sam has proved himself as a respected leader with a rock-solid record.  He is one of four founding members who established the Conservative Action Team, known today as the Republican Study Committee.

A few of his recent landmark legislative accomplishments include:

  • Removed penalties for American seniors who want to work by passing a law in 2000 that eliminated the Retirement Earnings Test (RET) for folks who are at or above their retirement age.
  • Repealing the Wright Amendment to allow Dallas’ Love Field Airport the ability to offer direct flights, increasing competition, and saving North Texans’ time and money (H.R. 2646, The Right to Fly Act).
  • Protecting Americans’ identity by passing a law to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards (H.R. 380).
  • Securing the approval for two new local Veterans Health Clinics in Plano – a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) that opened in September of 2016 as well as a Specialty Clinic that will also be located in Plano. These clinics, which allow veterans to receive proper health care closer to home, provide an alternative to the Dallas VA (a long commute).
  • Honoring Korean War veterans by passing a law to allow for the construction of a Wall of Remembrance to be added to the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Wall will list the names of all members of the U.S. Armed Forces who gave their lives in support of Freedom during the Korean War.  It will also list the total number of all American POWs and MIAs from the Korean War.
  • Working to ensure North Texas does not experience a water shortage in 2021 due to the community’s population boom. He had an amendment signed into law in 2016 (S. 612) to expedite the permitting process for the Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir, which was issued in 2018.  Groundbreaking for the lake occurred on May 25, 2018.

In 2009, Sam’s peers recognized him as the “most admired” Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, in 2009 the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor Society bestowed Sam their highest civilian accolade, the National Patriot Award, for his tireless work on behalf of the troops, veterans, and freedom.

In 2011, Sam accepted the “Freedom of Flight” award at the Living Legends of Aviation Awards, dubbed the Oscars of aviation, from renowned air show pilot Bob Hoover.

Also in 2011, the renowned bipartisan publication, National Journal, named Sam the most conservative Member of Congress based solely on his voting record.

In 2016, the Bipartisan Policy Center awarded U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (TX-03) with its first Congressional Patriot Award.  The biennial award recognizes “two Members of Congress – one Democrat and one Republican – who have performed patriotic deeds worthy of remembrance.”  Johnson shared the award stage with Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), the iconic civil rights activist and first Democrat recipient of the award.

In addition to representing the 3rd District, Sam served as a Regent for the world-famous Smithsonian Institution, where he represented the Board of Regents on the Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum. His tin cup, smuggled out of Vietnam from his time in captivity, is on display in the Smithsonian Institute American History Museum.

In 2017 the Social Security conference room in the Rayburn Building of the Capitol complex was named the Sam Johnson Room and his portrait hangs there today.  Texas Tech University announced the naming of the largest archival of Vietnam records the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive.

In 2018 Plano, Texas named the Sam Johnson Recreation Center, while Prosper Independent School District announced a new elementary school to be called the Sam Johnson Elementary located in Celina, Texas.

His papers and artifacts are held by Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Both SMU and Dallas Baptist University offer scholarships in his name

Sam Johnson was married 65 years to the love of his life, the late Shirley L. Melton of Dallas who passed away December 3, 2015.  They have three children, ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Source: Bio provided by Sam’s daughter, Beverly.

 

Units Assigned

  • 5/1951 Commissioned Air Force ROTC Program
  • 8/1952 UPT, Combat Crew Training (F-86)
  • 1952-1953 16h Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Suwon AB, South Korea (F-86)
  • 1953-1957 IP, Nellis AFB, NV (F-86)
  • 3/1957-10/1958 USAF Thunderbirds Aerial Demonstration Team (F-100)
  • 1/1959-1/1960 493rd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Chaumont AB, France
  • 1/1960-4/1960 493rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, England
  • 4/1960-2/1962 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, Chief of Weapons, Lakenheath, England
  • 2/1962-2/1964 4525th Student Squadron, Air Operations Officer/Director of Operations and Training, Nellis AFB, NV
  • 2/1964-7/1964 Counterinsurgency Indoctrination
  • 7/1964-2/1966 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing, Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Nellis AFB, NV
  • 2/1966-4/16/1966 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, Ubon AB, Thailand (F-4)
  • 4/16/1966 Forced to eject over North Vietnam, P.O.W. for 2,494 days (42 months in solitary confinement)
  • 2/12/1973 Released during Operation Homecoming, (hospitalized for several months)
  • 1973-1974 National War College
  • 1974-1976 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, Deputy Commander for Operations/Wing Inspector, Seymour Johnson AFB, NC
  • 1976-1979 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, Commander, Homestead AFB, FL (F-15)
  • 4/30/1979 Retired USAF, Holloman AFB, NM (F-15)

Awards & Decorations

Silver Star
Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster
Legion Of Merit
Legion of Merit with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star
Bronze Star with Valor Device
Meritorious Service Award
Meritorious Service Medal
Air Medal
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Purple Heart
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Small Arms Marksmanship Ribbon (SAEMR)
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Combat Readiness Medal
Combat Readiness Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Republic Of Korea Korean War Service Medal
Korea Service Medal
Air Force Longevity Service Award (AFLSA)
Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters
National Defense Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal with 8 Oak Leaf Clusters
Republic Of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Korean Presidential Unit Citation Medal
United Nations Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
RVN Gallantry Cross With Palm
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
AF Outstanding Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters
AF Outstanding Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device
Freedom of Flight Award
National Patriot Award
Congressional Patriot Award

Flight Info

F-86
F-100
F-4
F-15

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education

  • Counterinsurgency Indoctrination
  • National War College

Civilian Education

  • BBA, Southern Methodist University
  • MS, George Washington University

Samuel Robert Johnson (Colonel USAF, Ret) “Headed West” May 27, 2020

Sam Johnson is a native Texan and beloved public servant frequently hailed for his patriotism, commitment to our republic and strong conservative values, and efforts on behalf of the North Texas constituents he served.

Sam is also a decorated war hero who ranked among the few Members of Congress to fight in combat.

During his 29-year career in the U.S. Air Force, Representative Johnson served as the director of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School (“Top Gun”) and was one of two authors of the air tactics manual revolutionizing military air dominance by incorporating three-dimensional flight – a manual that is still used today. One of his classmates in flight school was future astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Sam flew combat missions in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During the Korean War, Sam flew 62 combat missions in his F-86, stationed just 25 miles from the front lines. In his plane – Shirley’s Texas Tornado named after his wife – he scored one MiG fighter kill, one probable, and one damaged.

He served as director of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School and flew solo and slot positions in the F-100 Super Sabre with the Air Force Thunderbirds precision flying demonstration team.

Johnson was a Prisoner of War and subjected to brutal treatment after being shot down while flying his Phantom II over North Vietnam in 1966. Sam returned home to Texas in February 1973 as part of “Operation Homecoming.”

He was decorated with the following military awards: Silver Star with 1 oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with 2 oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster, Purple Heart with 1 oak leaf cluster, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, Combat Readiness Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, Korea Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon with 5 oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster, Vietnam Service Medal with 8 oak leaf clusters, Korean Presidential Unit Citation Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Device, Vietnam (RVN) Campaign Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with 4 oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device.

Following his distinguished military career, Sam established a home-building business in North Dallas from scratch and served in the Texas State legislature before running for the United States House of Representatives in 1991 during a special election.

Sam Johnson received numerous awards and recognitions during his illustrious career, including being recognized in 2009 as the “most admired” Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, in 2009 the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor Society bestowed Sam their highest civilian accolade, the National Patriot Award, for his tireless work on behalf of the troops, veterans, and freedom.

In 2011, Sam accepted the “Freedom of Flight” award at the Living Legends of Aviation Awards, dubbed the Oscars of aviation, from renowned air show pilot Bob Hoover.

Also, in 2011, the renowned bipartisan publication, National Journal, named Sam the most conservative Member of Congress based solely on his voting record.

In 2016, the Bipartisan Policy Center awarded U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (TX-03) with its first Congressional Patriot Award.  The biennial award recognizes “two Members of Congress – one Democrat and one Republican – who have performed patriotic deeds worthy of remembrance.”  Johnson shared the award stage with Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), the iconic civil rights activist and first Democrat recipient of the award.

In addition to representing the 3rd District, Sam served as a Regent for the world-famous Smithsonian Institution, where he represented the Board of Regents on the Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum. His tin cup, smuggled out of Vietnam from his time in captivity, is on display in the Smithsonian Institute American History Museum.

In 2017 the Social Security conference room in the Rayburn Building of the Capitol complex was named the Sam Johnson Room and his portrait hangs there today.  Texas Tech University announced the naming of the largest archival of Vietnam records the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive.

In 2018 Plano, Texas named the Sam Johnson Recreation Center, while Prosper Independent School District announced a new elementary school to be called the Sam Johnson Elementary located in Celina, Texas.

Sam Johnson was married 65 years to the love of his life, the late Shirley L. Melton of Dallas who passed away December 3, 2015.  They have three children, ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

P.O.W. Story

On April 16, 1966, while flying his 25th combat mission in Vietnam, he was shot down over North Vietnam and suffered a broken arm and back. Sam endured nearly seven years including 42 months in solitary confinement as a Prisoner of War in the infamous Hanoi Hilton after his captors labeled him a “die-hard.”

Johnson was part of a group of eleven U.S. military prisoners known as the “Alcatraz Gang”, a group of prisoners separated from other captives for their resistance to their captors. They were held in “Alcatraz”, a special facility about one mile away from the Hỏa Lò Prison, (“Hanoi Hilton”). Johnson, like the others, was kept in solitary confinement, in a windowless 3-by-9-foot concrete cell with the light on around the clock. He spent 72 days in leg stocks, 2 ½ years in leg irons, and experienced severe starvation and torture.

Johnson was released on February 12, 1973, during Operation Homecoming. He chronicles his POW experience in solitary confinement in his autobiography, Captive Warriors. The book details the stories of the self-named “Alcatraz Gang,” including great American patriots, such as Jeremiah Denton and Jim Stockdale.

In 2018, Sam Johnson donated objects related to his imprisonment to the collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

Album Slideshow
Slideshow
Click To View

Wall of Honor Location

Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW’s Story
by Sam Johnson, (Author), Jan Winebrenner (Author), Rod Keitz (Illustrator) 

“If hell is here on earth, it is located on an oddly shaped city block in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam,” writes Sam Johnson, (COL. USAF, Retired) who lived in that hell for seven years.

Captive Warriors is the story of Alcatraz, where courage and humor thrived amid the madness. It is the story of Colonel Johnson’s seven-year battle for his life, limbs, and sanity. It is the story of the hundreds of captured warriors–American POWs–whose lives lay in the hands of angry and vengeful North Vietnamese captors. More than a story, Captive Warriors is a tribute to all the American prisoners of war who, without benefit of the conventional weapons of war, waged daily battles against an insidious enemy disdainful of the requirements of the Geneva Conventions and who, in the end, became the final pawn in the peace settlement that ended the longest war in American history.

Our Mission

The mission of the Super Sabre Society is to preserve the history of the F-100 Super Sabre and the men who flew the aircraft.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2025 Super Sabre Society
Website by: Heart and Soul Web Design
Scroll to Top