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By Donna Bumgarner
Contributing Writer
When Lefty Johnson was a young man beginning his teaching career as a coach, he taught in Winnsboro, S.C., where his mother grew up. Little did he know that the events in his life then and those of his mother would be instrumental in the actions of Major Oliver R. Johnson, Jr., also known as Bubba.
The connection with the family began long before Bubba was born, when Lefty’s mother attended the church in Winnsboro where Bubba’s great-grandfather was the pastor. Later, when Lefty was a first - year coach, he worked with both Bubba’s dad, Oliver, Sr. and his uncle, John, both of whom were retired military men. The other connection with Major Oliver R. Johnson, Jr, was his uncle, Ellis, who was also a coach. Lefty and Ellis became good friends while both were coaches.
When John and Oliver Sr. retired, they would get together often for lunch or a game of golf, and they kept in touch with each other. Through the friendship between his dad and his uncles, Bubba got to know the Johnsons well.
After Oliver Jr. graduated from VMI, he went into the Air Force and flew many different types of planes. During his overseas tours and his time in the service over the years, he has kept in touch with Kitcy and Lefty via e-mail whenever he could. One day while he was on maneuvers, he flew over the golf course because he knew that Lefty and his fellow golfers would be there.
While he was on his last tour in Iraq as part of the Unites States Special Operations Command, the nation’s leading task force, Missions Pilot “Pirate 82” and his men went on a mission on February 14th, 2009, targeting Al-qaeda targets and successfully eliminating and detaining terrorist forces threatening the United States and the world. As is the custom, when a mission is successful, the command often flies the flag in honor of someone, and Bubba chose to honor the Johnson family.
When he returned home, he took the picture of him holding the flag and the certificate of authenticity that it flew over a battlefield and had them framed. He also had the flag encased in a display case. Major Johnson then presented it to Kitcy and Lefty.
Kitcy said, “I just think it’s special that he’s over there serving his country and protecting it, and thought of us. Sometimes people don’t appreciate enough what our servicemen do for us and the sacrifices they make. I think it really touched me and Lefty that during a time when he and his men were in danger that he thought of us back home (while we were thinking of him). It just made that sacrifice and their bravery come home….I think we all ought to stop and think about what they’re doing-particularly now. Nobody has to go into the military.”
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