At 18, he decided the best way for him to escape was through the Army. He got to go to Korea for two years, where he learned the language. He liked his job so much that he recently re-enlisted for another three years. Seattle PI -- When Robert Johnson graduated from high school, he wanted to leave his small hometown of Seaside, Calif., and see the world.
At 18, he decided the best way for him to escape was through the Army. He got to go to Korea for two years, where he learned the language. He liked his job so much that he recently re-enlisted for another three years.
When he learned he was being sent to Iraq, he told his family he wanted to go.
"He loves his country and he wanted to protect it, and that was the way of him saying, 'Hey, to all of you, my friends, my family, I'm going there for you,' " said his father, Peter Johnson, of Castro Valley, Calif.
The elder Johnson recalled how his son, usually quiet and serious, loved to dance to hip-hop and drive a fiery-red, customized truck. He said his son was athletic, liked to dress in neatly pressed pants and chose his friends carefully.
He was so serious about his military service that when his father, who has never been in the armed services, saluted him at the airport, he told him not to do that.
"I'll tell you, he was a man of peace," Peter Johnson said. "Before he was in the service, I never taught him how to handle a gun. He didn't own a BB gun or a water pistol or anything destructive.
"He'll be sorely missed," he added. "He was a good soldier, and I was proud of him. We're proud of him."
Robert Johnson, a chemical operations specialist in the Stryker Brigade, is also survived by his mother and grandmother, both named Mina Schrock, of Seaside, Calif.; his aunt, Chris Sullivan, of Monterey, Calif.; his stepmother Judy Johnson, of Castro Valley; and his half-sister Rachel Johnson, of Morgan Hill, Calif.