ADA SOLDIER IS VICTIM OF LAND MINE IN VIETNAM
A young Ada soldier, Pfc. Dennis Van Johnson, 19, was killed by a land mine during action in Vietnam on April 1, 1968.
Parents of the war victim, Mr. and Mrs. James A. King, 1438 N. Oak, were notified of the death Sunday in an Army telegram.
King said no details were given on the circumstances of the death and the family has not been notified when the body will be returned for burial. Criswell Funeral Home is in charge of tentative arrangements.
Pfc. Johnson, who attended school in Latta, went into the Army last August and had been in Vietnam for only a month before his death.
He was born Jan 7, 1951, in Torrance, Calif., and moved to Ada about 1963 when he entered Latta Junior High.
In addition to his parents the war victim is survived an older brother, Lonnie, who recently completed a tour of duty in Vietnam before being discharged from the Army. Lonnie Johnson now resides in California and was in Ada for a visit when news came of his brothers death.
Other survivors include two sisters, Stephanie King Wolenberger, Torrance, Calif., and Joyce King, of the home, and another brother James M. King, also of the home.
Johnson is the sixth Ada resident to die in the Vietnam War.