<SANITIZED>EDWARD JOHNSON

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06903489
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: July 11, 2023
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2022
• Case Number: F-2015-02404

Approved for Release: 2022/01/13 C06903489
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Edward Johnson (1923 - 1965)
Fast Facts:
Directorate served:
Directorate of Plans (now
the Directorate of
Operations)
Position title:
Operations Officer
Grade:
GS-10
Award date:
1974
1,81 Edward Johnson drowned when a helicopter in
which he was a passenger crashed in August 1965
into the Mekong River.
,(21 Ed Johnson served in the Marine Corps for six
years and was honorably discharged in 1949 as a
staff sergeant. He then attended business school
part-time for nearly five years, studying accounting
and business law while working as a shipping clerk,
messenger, and insurance agent. While still
studying business, Johnson went to work in 1950 for
the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
He worked for Commerce for five years with a brief
interruption in 1951, when he was recalled to active
duty with the Marine Corps.
,(KEd Johnson joined the CIA in February 1955 as a
clerk working in the Deputy Directorate for Plans
(forerunner to today's Directorate of Operations), in
the Far East Division's Cable Secretariat. His strong
interest and his determination to become involved
more in operations, along with his willingness to
serve wherever needed, resulted in his first
assignment overseas in 1957; he was sent to
as an administrative assistant and courier
covering the East Asian area. After returning to
Headquarters in 1959, he served a temporary tour of
duty in Guatemala as an intelligence assistant
_ r vi it intill rne of support
He also received some
operational training in preparation for his return to the
field.
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(S) Ed was assigned to Vientiane, Laos, in late 1961. This was his first full
operational field assignment. It involved planning and directing operations to
collect Order of Battle information on enemy units. He was also responsible for
selecting and training road-watch teams and intelligence operatives throughout
his military region.
(S) In 1962, Johnson as an operations officer,
serving as chief of the intelligence section at a stay-behind command post. In
this position he was responsible for four projects in a countrywide paramilita
r7arlam. A key element was to provide, in concert with the chief of base at
intelligence guidance to leaders under his
direction. He also provided paramilitary training to selected groups, and
he supervised national intelligence analysts, interpreters, and translators.
(S) Steadily increasing his scope of responsibility, Johnson was assigned in July
1963 to Udom Base as an operations officer, advisor, and project leader for a
large third country group. The scale of this endeavor was quite large, consisting
of a country-wide intelligence collection operation in a paramilitary program that
involved more than 25,000 armed men from four ethnic groups.
(S) In 1965, while on one of his frequent missions to survey the region, and make
stops at area villages to visit tribal leaders, the helicopter carrying Edward
Johnson and his friend and fellow operations officer, Louis O'Jibway, crashed
into the Mekong River during a heavy rainstorm. Ed and Louis died in the crash.
At the time of his death Ed Johnson was 43 years old. He was posthumously
awarded the Agency's Intelligence Medal of Merit.
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Approved for Release: 2022/01/13 C06903489