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JOHNSTON, Richard L. (b. 1917)

Oral Histories

OH 1351

His experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. His education in western Pennsylvania; enrollment in the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-34; employment with Edgewater Steel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1937-42; enlistment in the Army and assignment to the Engineer Corps, 1942; Officer Candidate School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 1942; assignment to the 382nd Engineer Battalion (Separate) at Fort Knox, Kentucky, 1942; training of and working with African-American troops; assignment to India, June 1, 1943; construction of the Ledo Road, 1943-44; road maintenance; his battalion’s role in the construction of the 20th Air Force headquarters at Kharagpur, India, 1944; his transfer to assist in the construction of the Tata Steel Mill in India, 1944-45; his wound inflicted by a Japanese grenade and evacuation to the United States, August, 1945.