MIAMI GARDENS, FL
U.S.ARMY
SGT, 88MO-3RD SFG(AIRBORNE) 1ST BN, 3RD SFG, FORT BRAGG, NC
10/04/2017, TILLABERI, NIGER
SGT La David Johnson was born January 2, 1992 in Miami, FL. Samara Johnson, La David’s mother died when he was five. He was just starting elementary school. He attended Dade County Public Schools. There he met Myeshia Manuel, the little girl who grew up to become his wife and the mother of his children.
La David remained a happy and helpful soul, stayed in school and out of trouble. In 2010 he graduated from Miami Carol City Senior High School. He went to work at Walmart.
His faith was strong: “Church was great…See God good now I’m getting morning shifts… and 40 hours… do right by God He do right by you! It’s true”
But he made clear he was not becoming a holy roller. “I jus feel like doing the right thing…”
La David wrote of his ambitions. “I KNO I’M NOT PERFECT BUT ALL I WANNA DO IS MAKE THE BEST OF LYFE… SEE ME EVERYDAY I WAKE UP TO SEE WAT I DID TO MAKE TODAY BETTER THAN YESTERDAY.”
He posted a summary of his young existence so far. “Small resume bout me. I don’t drink nor smoke, never got arrested, gotta job.”
La David continued his quest to make the best of life, and at the start of 2014, his resume included his enlistment in the Army.
On October 4, 2017 while deployed to Niger, his unit was ambushed. SGT Johnson did not survive the attack.
A soldier friend posted a Facebook message: La David had been a hero in life as well as in the Army, a hero of the heart:
“You were always in such high spirits, you talked of the love for you family and how everything you were doing and planned to do was for them. You see things on the news all the time of soldiers passing and you often wonder what that person may of been like, well I know what type of person you were and I know you left your mark on so many people. The Army may have lost a soldier but the world and the people you touched lost so much more than that. I do hope your family and friends find peace and comfort as quickly as they can. Rest easy.”
At another gathering, La David Johnson was honored as a hero of another kind who sought and maintained balance in the most elemental sense through his whole young life. He is as an example for all of us to follow in these chaotic times.