SFC Dillard Johnson; the deadliest soldier

A couple of you have sent links to the New York Post article Sgt. 1st Class Dillard Johnson is the deadliest US soldier on record – with 2,746 kills, so I guess that if I don’t write something, my inbox is going to fill up about him. There was an SFC Dillard J. Johnson in C 3/7 Cav by a similar name. According to the DoD website, he did indeed (or someone with that name) earn a Silver Star. The name at the DoD’s website is “SSG Dillard (No Middle Name) Johnson”, though. I’ve already written the author of the article, Mr. Buiso, how he confirmed the number of “kills” SFC Johnson has;

With 2,746 confirmed kills, Sgt. 1st Class Dillard Johnson is the deadliest American soldier on record — and maybe the most humble.

As a commander of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle nicknamed “Carnivore,” Johnson, 48, helped lead the ground assault during Operation Iraqi Freedom, overwhelming the enemy with a relentless show of military might that left a trail of dead in his wake.

Johnson was obliged to report confirmed kills to his superiors, cataloging the dead in a green journal that revealed the astonishing tally — which only began to come light as he and co-writer James Tarr were researching his exploits for his memoir, also titled “Carnivore.”

I’m not trashing anyone, or calling anyone a liar in the absence of evidence to the contrary, but I’d sure like to see this “green journal”. I’ve never heard of a tally of “kills” cataloged in the name of individual soldiers and I can’t imagine that anyone would participate in such a grisly practice.

He counted the dead by tallying rifles — and human heads — among the mangled or charred wreckage left behind by the Carnivore.

In his second tour, in 2005, he took up sniping, logging 121 kills, his longest from 821 yards, a skill that was honed hunting in Kentucky. His total is second only to the late Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL who had 160 kills.

It might be true, who am I to question it – I wasn’t there, but members of a sister unit are questioning it in my emails, so…I have to think there’s something weak in the story. But, let’s sit and wait this one out and see what we can shake loose in the public forum.

Category: Who knows