Among the many stars in the U.S. military, Harold Keith "Johnny" Johnson is a relatively legendary one. Born on February 22, 1912, died September 24, 1983, he was a U.S. Army general, and served as chief of staff of the U.S. Army from 1964 to 1968, and the tactic of "discovering, controlling, and annihilating major forces" pioneered in the Vietnam War was highly questioned.
Born in Bowsmont, North Dakota, Harold graduated from high school in 1929 and was admitted to West Point, where he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant in infantry in June 1933 and assigned to the Old Guard of the 3rd Infantry Regiment in Snellingborg. In 1938, Harold entered the Fort Benning Infantry School, and after graduation was assigned to the 28th Infantry Regiment of Fort Niagara, and in 1940 deployed to the 57th Infantry Regiment of the Philippines.
In April 1942, Harold was captured by the Japanese during the Battle of Bataan, experienced a Bataan death march, and was held in O'Donell, Cabanatang, and Billy Bide prisons. In December 1944, the Japanese planned to transfer Harold and 1,600 other prisoners of war out of the Philippines, and on December 14, American fighter jets sank the Japanese warship Yalu Maru, killing 300 prisoners by mistake. Harold survived and was eventually transferred to Japan. Japan refused to hand over American prisoners of war to the Allies and transferred them to Korea, where Harold was rescued by the 7th Infantry Division on September 7, 1945.
Harold returned to the United States and served at the Ground Forces School, where he served as a faculty member for two years at the Fort Leavenworth Command and Staff College in August 1946, then at the Norfolk U.S. Military Staff College, and after graduating in 1949 as a battalion commander in the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment in Fort Devons. Harold formed the provisional 1st Infantry Battalion in 1950 and deployed to Korea in August as the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, responsible for the defense around Busan. He was later promoted to regimental commander of the 5th and 8th Infantry Regiments. In February 1951 he became Assistant Chief of Staff of the 1st Army. After returning to the United States, Johnson served as chief of staff of the U.S. Army Field Forces. After graduating, he continued to serve as assistant chief of staff of the 1st Army, responsible for the Joint Operations Planning Division, and later as the deputy chief of staff of the Army Command.
In January 1956, Harold became deputy commander of the 8th Infantry Division, deployed to West Germany with the 8th Infantry Division at the end of the year, and thereafter served as chief of staff of the 7th Army. In 1959, Harold served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Command in Europe, and in December 1960 he became Chief of Staff of the CSKA Group at NATO Command, commanding French, German, and American forces in Central Europe.
Upon his return to the United States, Harold served as dean of the Command staff college. In February 1963, Harold became Assistant to the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff, responsible for operations and planning. On July 3, 1964, harold defeated many senior opponents and was promoted to the 24th chief of staff of the Army due to his name as a tactical expert in the back, and his prisoner-of-war status did not affect his promotion in any way, which was a miracle in the East but common in the American army.