Iraq Veteran Chris Johnson remembered after Susquehanna River death

Family, friends warmly remember Iraq veteran

But when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand, that an angel came and called my name, and took me by the hand;
She said my place was ready, in heaven far above, and that I'd have to leave behind all those I dearly love.
— Erica Shea Liupaeter, read by Chris Johnson's fiancée, Kristy Callahan.

Ashley Johnson said her brother, Chris, was someone on whom she could always rely.

He was a loving and loyal sibling who once drove several hours to see his baby sister off to her first homecoming dance and meet her first boyfriend.

He was the kind of brother anybody would be lucky to have.

And then there was that teeny-tiny baby-sitting incident.

"The first time our parents let him baby-sit me, he drew a circle on the floor and told me I had to sit in the circle the entire time or else Mom and Dad wouldn't come home," she said.

"Well, Mom and Dad did come home, and sure enough, there I was sitting in the circle."

Ashley recounted the memory for about 400 people who packed into West Willow United Methodist Church Tuesday to remember Chris Johnson, the Penn Manor graduate and Iraq War veteran who died in a boating accident on the Susquehanna River.

Johnson's bass boat was still running when it was found May 21 near the York County shoreline, just south of Long Level. His Labrador retriever puppy, Bubba, was on the boat, along with fishing gear and personal items. Police believe Johnson, 24, fell overboard. His body was found May 28 after a weeklong search that included 45 rescue organizations.


Johnson, a former U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal, was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and received the Purple Heart. He lost his right arm after it was injured during a June 2004 firefight near Fallujah.
go here for more
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/222517