Johnson, Donna Rae

Donna Rae Johnson was a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps. She was assigned to the 514th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, part of Task Force Gauntlet, and had deployed to Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa during her service.

On October 1, 2012, Johnson was on a foot patrol with Afghan police and other U.S. soldiers in Khost City, the capital of Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest near the patrol. Johnson and two other U.S. soldiers, Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Babilonia and Specialist Brittany B. Gordon, were killed in the blast. Several Afghan police officers were also reportedly wounded.

The attack occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001. By 2012, a surge of U.S. forces had been drawn down, and the Taliban remained active, conducting frequent attacks against Afghan and international forces, particularly in the volatile eastern provinces.

Johnson's body was returned to her home state of North Carolina. She was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Meritorious Service Medal. Her funeral was held in Raeford, where she was remembered by family and fellow soldiers.

Johnson is memorialized on a monument at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her name is also inscribed on Panel 40W, Line 37 of the Afghanistan War Memorial at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia.

Johnson was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.

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