Editing Sam Johnson (section)

== Military career ==
[[File:Sam Johnson in flight school.jpg|thumb|left|Johnson in flight school in 1951]]
[[File:Sam Johnson as first lieutenant.jpg|thumb|left|Johnson as a [[first lieutenant]] in 1957]]
Johnson had a 29-year career in the [[United States Air Force]], where he served as director of the [[United States Air Force Weapons School|Air Force Fighter Weapons School]] and flew the [[F-100 Super Sabre]] with the [[Thunderbirds (squadron)|Air Force Thunderbirds]] precision flying demonstration team. He commanded the [[31st Fighter Wing|31st Tactical Fighter Wing]] at [[Homestead AFB]], [[Florida]], and an air division at [[Holloman AFB]], [[New Mexico]], retiring as a [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]. One of his classmates in flight school was future astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]]. The two remained lifelong friends.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2016/September%202016/0916buzz.pdf |title=BUZZ |publisher=AIR FORCE Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.samjohnson.house.gov/Biography/ |title=U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson : Serving the 3rd District of Texas |publisher=Samjohnson.house.gov |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=September 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923061440/http://samjohnson.house.gov/Biography/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He was a combat veteran of both the [[Korean War|Korean]] and [[Vietnam War]]s as a [[fighter pilot]]. During the Korean War, he flew 62 [[Aerial warfare|combat missions]] in the [[F-86 Sabre]] and shot down one [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15]]. During the Vietnam War, Johnson flew the [[F-4 Phantom II]].<ref name=AP/>

===POW===
On April 16, 1966, while flying his 25th combat mission in [[Vietnam]], he was shot down over [[North Vietnam]] and suffered a broken right arm and broken back. He was a [[prisoner of war]] for nearly seven years, including 42 months in solitary confinement. During this period, he was repeatedly [[torture]]d.<ref name=AP/><ref name=Swartsell/>

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]], notably nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton". Johnson, like the others, was kept in solitary confinement, locked nightly in [[legcuffs]] in a windowless 3-by-9-foot concrete cell with the light on around the clock.<ref>Adams, Lorraine. [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920331/1483968/perots-interim-partner-spent-7-12-years-as-pow "Perot's Interim Partner Spent 7{{frac|1|2}} Years As Pow"], ''[[Dallas Morning News]]'', March 11, 1992. Accessed July 2, 2008. "He was one of the ''Alcatraz Gang'' – a group of 11 prisoners of war who were separated because they were leaders of the prisoners' resistance."</ref><ref name=HonorBound>[[Stuart Rochester|Rochester, Stuart]]; and Kiley, Frederick. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IGemFZmcn_AC&dq=%22alcatraz+gang%22+coker&pg=PA326 "Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973"], 2007, [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]]; {{ISBN|1-59114-738-7}}, via [[Google Books]], p. 326. Retrieved July 8, 2008.</ref><ref>[[James Stockdale|Stockdale, James B.]] "George Coker for Beach Schools", letter to ''[[The Virginian-Pilot]]'', March 26, 1996.</ref><ref name=" NYT19741208">{{cite news |last = Johnston |first=Laurie|title=Notes on People, Mao Meets Mobutu in China|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/18/archives/mao-meets-mobut-in-china-notes-on-people.html|date=December 18, 1974|access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref><ref name="VeteransDayPOW">{{cite news|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/our-pows-locked-6-years-he-unlocked-spirit-inside|title=Our POWs: Locked up for 6 years, he unlocked a spirit inside|last=Kimberlin|first=Joanne|date=November 11, 2008|work=The Virginian Pilot|publisher=Landmark Communications|pages=12–13|access-date=November 11, 2008|archive-date=November 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125071114/http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/our-pows-locked-6-years-he-unlocked-spirit-inside|url-status=dead}}</ref> Johnson was released on February 12, 1973, during [[Operation Homecoming]]. He recounted the details of his [[POW]] experience in his [[autobiography]], ''Captive Warriors''.<ref name=AP/><ref name=Swartsell/> By the time of his release, he weighed only 120 pounds. His right hand was permanently disabled, and he was left with a noticeable limp for the rest of his life.<ref name=WaPoObit/>

In 2018, Johnson donated objects related to his imprisonment to the collection of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of American History]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsdesk.si.edu/events/advisory-smithsonian-accepts-congressman-sam-johnson-s-pow-possessions-tin-cup-toothpaste-vie|title=Advisory: Smithsonian Accepts Congressman Sam Johnson's POW Possessions; Tin Cup, Toothpaste From Vietnam War Join National Museum of American History's Collections|website=newsdesk.si.edu|access-date=February 12, 2018}}</ref>[[File:Defense.gov News Photo 020920-D-9880W-153.jpg|thumb|326x326px|Congressman Sam Johnson with [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]] and [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] General [[Richard Myers|Richard B. Myers]] watch the troops pass in review during the [[National POW/MIA Recognition Day]] ceremony at [[The Pentagon]] on September 20, 2002.]]