Dewey Johnston '34
Date of birth: January 20, 1910
Date of death: October 31, 1941
Age: 31
Lucky Bag
From the 1934 Lucky Bag:
DEWEY GEORGE JOHNSTON
Amber, Oklahoma
"Dewey" "Johnny" "Frankie"
HE said, "write me a biography, neither slapstick nor eulogy."
Dewey is a rare combination of common sense, understanding and tact, tolerant (as he must have been living with me) yet, possessing withal a tenacity of purpose instilled fighting the "acs." He is the politician of the family obtaining with his understanding of people things that words beget not. He has never made an enemy and his genuine interest in people is the kind of flattery devoid of hypocrisy.
His drags are legend — and a legend "What, you didn't like her? Her dad's got lots of money!"
The same fight with academics has made it difficult for Dewey to show what a hundred and seventy pounds of dynamite and speed can do, but this Lewis Firpo of the ring always manages to cinch a seat on the training table with an occasional Sunday workout. Each Spring Dewey can be seen showing up two hundred pound visitors in the shot put, until Johnston, Navy five points have blended into one. But he is in his own element when he takes to the water. "Johnston, step up and swim a width. Now watch carefully, everybody." And the whole room is proud of the "ah's" and "oh's" he receives as he churns up the water.
Few people have seen the Academy in its many phases as has Dewey — and fewer still have left it with more genuine friends. "Hey, Collie, have you seen my slipstick? No, it's not in the wastebasket. How about your laundry bag?"
Track 4, 3, 2, 1. Sub Squad 4, 3, 2. Boxing 3, 1. 2 P.O.
Loss
Dewey was lost when USS Reuben James (DD 245) sunk by a torpedo attack from German submarine U-552 near Iceland on October 31, 1941. He was survived by his parents, Albert and Mary.
Obituary
From Find A Grave:
11/1/1941- The Daily Oklahoman
Lieut. Dewey G. Johnston, 31 year old son of Mr & Mrs Albert Johnston, Amber, Grady County, who was listed among the officers of the torpedoed destroyer Reuben James, still missing Friday night, had been on the Reuben James more than 3 years, his mother said. He had been in Iceland in September and October. The last letter the Johnstons received, however, was postmarked Portland, Maine. Johnston, listed by the navy department as one of the seven officers on the ship, was a native of Newcastle.
He attended high school in Amber and was appointed to the naval academy in Annapolis in 1929, being graduated in 1934. Before his service on the Reuben James, he had been assigned to the cruiser Chicago and the battleship Arkansas. He also attended the U.S. Naval finance and supply school in Philadelphia before joining the staff of the destroyer.
Related Articles
James M. Belden '36, John J. Daub, Jr. '36, Heywood L. Edwards '26, Benjamin Ghetzler '31, and Craig Spowers '41 were also lost when the Reuben James sunk.
Class of 1934
Dewey is one of 41 members of the Class of 1934 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
