Jeremy Christopher Johnson, age 34, died December 26, 2013 in his home at Jacksonville, FL. Jeremy completed 12 years of service as a Master at Arms, Force Protection Canine Handler, MA2, and achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer. He was deployed to Iceland and later completed 2 tours in Iraq and 1 in Djibouti, Africa. Jeremy incurred physical conditions from his tours of duty, but the PTSD he dealt with produced the greater pain and suffering. He was discharged under the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy in May of 2007. On September 22, 2011, Johnson became one of the first DADT dischargees in the nation to publicly reenlist in the military, joining the U.S. Navy Reserves at the same rank and position he left. Jeremy volunteered with The 6th Branch in Baltimore City, MD, as a board member and primary team member on “Operation: Oliver”, a veteran-sponsored community revitalization project. Jeremy Johnson joined the United States Navy in December of 1996 at the age of 19. After attending boot camp, he attended career training at Fort Meade, MD for training as a military journalist. Upon graduating in 1997, he went on to serve as a regional reporter in Japan for the military’s “Pacific Report” In 1999, he transferred to Italy to work for the Sixth Fleet Public Affairs staff aboard USS LaSalle. In 2001, Johnson was chosen to return to Fort Meade to teach television broadcasting to new troops at the military’s Defense Information School. He taught more than 400 Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force personnel how to report from the frontlines though video, writing and editing. Johnson returned to duty overseas in 2004 with an assignment as program director at the U.S. Navy’s Odyssey 107.3FM in Crete, Greece. After 13 months there, Johnson moved to an assignment in Guam aboard submarine tender USS Frank Cable where he served as the assistant Public Affairs Officer for a crew of 1,200. While there, he actively brought the crew’s concerns to senior leadership and helped coordinate international coverage of the first multilateral submarine talks between Australia, Malaysia and the United States in Kuala Lumpur. In March of 2007, after 10 ½ years of service, Johnson revealed his sexual identity to his commanding officer and received an honorable discharge. He worked for Leon County Sheriffs Department in Tallahassee upon completion of his active duty in the Navy. He continued to serve his country in the Navy Reserves at Kings Bay, GA. During his Navy career, Jeremy Johnson rose to the rank of Petty Officer First Class (E6), and earned three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, a Joint Commendation Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, a National Defense Medal, a Rifle Marksmanship (Silver E) Medal, an Air Force Unit Excellence Award, a Battle “E” Ribbon, an Overseas Service Ribbon (1 silver star), a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (2 bronze stars), and a Good Conduct medal with 2 bronze stars. He lived in Maryland and worked as a speech writer for US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington DC. Jeremy is preceded in death by his Iraq war dog Amber. The family wants to support other soldiers like Jeremy that are suffering from the same post war conditions, this will be done by donating to the Wounded Warriors Project (CSRP) or Combat Stress Recovery Program.
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