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
How does one go about getting a kill “confirmed”? I mean beyond an after action report. Who keeps track? Who does the actuall confirming?
@52.
The media when posers relay their stories.
I admit that I was skeptical at the total kills when I first came across the NYP article. I’m withholding judgment until I learn more.
However, I will point out I did some rudimentary checks on Dillard Johnson and there’s been plenty written about him before his book was mentioned. Apparently four pages of the book “Takedown” about the Third ID’s march into Baghdad were written solely about his exploits. You can read them here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=H8dhIVewvPEC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=dillard+johnson+takedown&source=bl&ots=uOTN3LSJhn&sig=cio9oBTmlpa8E7205rfzfg3FLZg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mZvHUcmDFcfK4AP3poDoBw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=dillard%20johnson%20takedown&f=false
Also, Johnson apparently was his unit’s Designated Marksman, not a “sniper.” Don’t blame him for this error. Blame the press reports.
Apparently he used an M14 EBR to make the 800 yard shot.
According to one account I saw, his green notebook and a lot of his other mementos are in the Third ID’s museum.
I have not seen this myself, so I can’t verify it.
I wasn’t in Baghdad with the Third ID, so I can’t verify his exploits.
BUT, there’s quite a bit out there on the Interweb that indicates this guy might be a legit badass.
That being said, my personal opinion is that personally claiming to have killed 2,000+ Iraqi soldiers sounds insane, especially if you’re in a Bradley and you’re claiming you “counted rifles” and “heads.”
Like I said, I’m reserving judgment until I learn more.
OK, fess up: who knows the code to unlock the BFV on Call of Duty? That’s obviously where this turd burglar racked up his massive kill totals
The more I think about it, Obama should consult SCOTUS (if needed) and push a vote through Congress to have a Poser recognition month. Maybe November? Sagittarius’s (myself) have no skills or talent; we are usually drunk and stoned; we just rely on luck and chance. Good odds, though.
I mean, we honor everything else (with great respect; as we should), but why not push the envelope like many of those groups have?
Scream about the Bill of Rights; only if it is applicable to their personal gain.
Poser month. Its cool. SCOTUS protects you. If you are swatted, then you can claim hate crimes, etc.
Time to switch to the brown stuff.
I have to teach tomorrow on a subject I know jack shit about.
College is great!
Gotta love that Infantry training.
First , I was the driver of his vehicle and this man is no joke. The leadership qualities he holds are beyond any man I have ever met. He had the “THIS IS SPARTA” attitude for sure. We were the first bradley to break the berm into Iraq, the first to come into contact with the Iraqi enemy and SFC Johnson was the first out of the Bradley every time, never did he put our lives before his own. So before all of you embellish in your jealousy of a soldier who has been there done that and probably did it better don’t try to debunk him. He was a mentor to us all and he deserves his HONOR. So if any of you REMFs have anything else to say, back the fuck up and regroup.
Are we sure we are all talking about the same guy?
2200+ bodies to one guy? 1. I wasn’t army but have seen Bradleys. think there are more than one person driving/operating them. Seriously WFT? Do people even do background on people? If he said 220 I might not call bullshit.
I was Light.
Targets pop up.
No door to open and dismount.
Minus that “MAD FUCKING” 25mm Coaixail.
Light shooting is much different that mechanized (if that is still the term).
Never heard of such count.
Scouts out.
@56 I will say yeah the guy was there, he saw combat ( as far as I know) 2,700 kills on his own? Either he was misquoted or full of shit.
@56 Allow me to ask, did you not find it a bit weird the fact that he got out of the vehicle and actually COUNTED the heads and guns? (note that he might be counting double as one can have a head AND a rifle but either way…)
Did you raise a concern about it? because keeping a journal of how many people you killed specially to the point of going over 2000 kills is something that not only requires dedication but some heavy obsession, as his driver could you confirm he did kill 2,000+ and confirmed?
And for the record, most of the people here (and I will not include myself in that group) have been where shots were fired in anger, went to hell and have been there and done that as you say.
Thanks in advance for your answers.
@56 I saw your Facebook page, and I call BS on you and your imaginary friend.
Talk to your doctor, fellow. You need your meds adjusted. It’s for your own good.
#56.. I dont doubt his vigor for battle…i was 2-7 inf and we did some serious knocking dicks in the dirt during the invasion…but seriously 2700 kills on one guy was he calling for jdam strikes everywhere? Shit not even the gun bunnies say they have that high of a death toll and when their rounds strike they shake the ground for miles around. He apparently did some shit to earn a bsm or silver star…forget what the article noted…but fuck 2700 kills…bro even rambo sleeps….cmon
While, I wasn’t there the first go around. There is a lot… and I mean A LOT of people that were who say it’s mostly BS. I was there for his 2nd go around and there are definitely some things that don’t add up. I was crazyhorse from 2003-06. I can testify that I believe there was a .50 cal barrett on his track, but no one was qualified as a sniper within the whole troop. Two soldiers, however, were sent to advanced marksmanship training (not sniper school) prior to OIF III. And, from the testimony of his own crew members, that thing was barely pulled out but to take pop shots at pigeons. We were mostly in a support role that whole deployment to a CJSOTF and didn’t have a whole lot of action aside from maybe 2 or 3 times. I can also confirm that he was kicked out of ANCOC for wearing awards he was not authorized. So, take it as you will.
It really sounds like the writer was crediting one individual with EVERY Iraqi that was offed within a kilometer of him. Reading the account he more than likely was a good leader and a certified bad ass. The probabilty that he ALONE wacked all those guys is not feasible, You had other Bradleys a tank and supporting arms raining on them.
Don’t forget to give at least 1/2 kill to the bull they mentioned.
Also during the invasion #56 you would know it was a mad fucking dash to get to baghdad because we didnt want the marines to have that honor….how the fuck exactly was he keeping count….i remember everytime we made contact that we had to dismount it was a cluster fuck of get out shoot shit up …get the fuck back in most rikki tick because again…div cdr sidnt want the marines getting the glory of taking the city. Shit i remember our bc commander ssg knowles told us as we dismounted ….dont miss the fucki g bus its a long walk to baghdad.
I doubt the number. Body counts were inflated in Vietnam by counting dead dogs, dead goats, and dead chickens — anything that was dead was fair game. Rules of engagement were different. No PC stuff. Move the decimal point to the left. Then I’ll listen to you.
I’m not an expert but something doesn’t seem right here. I’m thinking if he actually did log those 2200+ KIA’s in his green book, it’d only make sense if there is the supporting paperwork to back those numbers up. I can’t feature doing that and not having official paperwork on file. Reckon we shall see…
Maybe the
cancer treatment f##cked up his mind wouldn’t be the first time.
@62, What about my facebook page? My imaginary friend? I am Jason Sperry, I was a 19 Delta in the military from 2001-2004, I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, was initially put in for a Silver Star but it was downgraded probably due to rank, was a specialist at the time. I need to speak to a doctor for protecting my Bradley Commanders honor? I need to have my meds adjusted? Nice ad hominem, attacking the arguer instead of attacking argument. I served my country, I was honorably discharged and I get attacked like that for sticking up for someone? How childish can we get?
#56 also neither the infantry NOR the scouts had the honor of crossing first into iraq…. our marching orders had 3-69 armor crossing first out of the numerous locations we crossed from…. side note i just turned into a fucking ninja walking into a hellacious spiderweb across my front door.. fuck i hate spiders
I can see it is pointless to argue with you people since you are just jealous of the mans achievements and nothing will satisfy your hunger to debunk a mans honor. He is and was a BADASS, he killed a lot of soldiers, i didnt keep count but it was more than I could keep track over 8 months.
again im not taking anything away from his RECORDED achievements. He did something to earn the BSM or SS.. but i was also there with the awards and dd214 to prove it… i just dont remember ANYONE stopping in that clusterfuck to count bodies… that would be akin to me taking body counts just because i made a call for fire.
I should of clarified about the first in, I know my track RED 2 was the first in for the entire Regiment of 3/7th CAV
Maybe you guys should buy this fine soldiers book, read his entire career story and get to know the man before judging a 5 paragraph article you found on the internet, if it was up to me , i would of awarded the man a MEDAL OF HONOR for his actions that i have seen first hand. http://www.facebook.com/CarnivoreBFV?fref=ts
go to the link above to find out how to purchase it.
umm yeah receiving the MOH is a tad bit more than what he said to some reporter. Now youre just being facetious.
if your bc should get the MOH then my old master gunner ssg Colella now 1SG Robert S. Colella should have one for the shit storm that rained on them in baqubah
well now hes retired top… but either way…
@71.
You think being wet, hungry, stinking, bored and horny is an HONOR?
Low crawl, bitch.
Eyes on.
79 lol it is an honor in a way… its embracing the suck… and i did plenty of low crawling lol it sucks.. i embraced it.. still sucks
@71 11M, yep, my company B 3/7INF Cottonbalers was attached to 3/69AR Speed and Power, TF 3/69 lead 1 BDE, and 1BDE led the DIV. Only time I remember seeing 3/7 Cav was when they passed through our position after the battle of OBJ Peach just before the final push for the Airport. I honestly laughed my ass off when they roared by with the cargo hatches on their Brads in full open with their loaders/dismounts standing in the hatch. wtf indeed.
@64, he was kicked out of ANCOC? when I read that my jaw dropped. When I went to BNCOC (11B) I was shocked at how true the claims of “BeerNCOC” were. Paid 2 month vacation to Benning. The friends I had in the 11 series ANCOC were even bigger party animals. The form they give you when you complete a NCOPD course, the form number escapes me, how would they right that up? “Dropped from course for being a dumbass.”?
81 lmfao i rememeber that shit hahahahahaahahahahaha… we were waiting for resupply and fuel… my plt sgt was like… wtf was that.. did that just happen
#75 No thanks, we prefer to read official documents around here. They’re less expensive and tend to trump cries of “I was there, no shit!” You still haven’t answered one of the primary questions asked of you. Why were you stopping to count body parts when Franks, Wallace, and Blount were screaming at everyone to drive north as fast as possible? We bypassed whole towns and units to get to Baghdad. If every vehicle crew killed a quarter of the people Johnson takes credit for, the death toll would have been in the millions.
@81 and 82,That must have been a different troop than Crazyhorse, I never drove by 3/7 inf or 3/69.
@83, I didnt tally, I did what was asked of me being a lower ranking soldier. Why so bitter?
Now I know who left all those corpses for our support platoon to pick up. While 3/187 was sitting on our asses at FARP Shell and then moseying up to Baghdad on LMTVs, SFC Johnson personally destroyed the entirety of the Iraqi forces that dared to resist “Carnivore”.
We need to pull him out of retirement and bring him over here. I’m getting tired of all these rocket attacks.
Not buying it. LAV-25 crewman here, gunner. There simply wasn’t enough time to “count coup” during the rush to reach Baghdad (and who does that?). Too much going on, too much to keep track of (ie. bounding overwatch, call for fire, etc) And Vehicle Commanders don’t dismount with Scouts, they have to stay on comms and coord with scout leaders, platoon vehicles and higher.
Sure, you do BDA and report that in, but its only estimates. There’s not time to walk over to each kill zone and count rifles and skulls (lol, what an ass). The scouts I know would use that kind of time to catch 15 mins of sleep.
As for the “sniper” qual, I call bullshit too. My time as a PMI at Pendleton taught me that the boots who grew up shooting squirrels in “backwwods kentucky” had the hardest time because they had developed all sorts of bad muscle memory they had to unlearn.
And I call bullshit on “His Driver”. Identify yourself. I say odds are better that you are this poser. What’s next? His Tailor? His Mechanic? His Publicist? Who the frack identifies themselves that way (other than Glenn Greenwald)
So I call bullshit. This is about selling some book.
“I can also confirm that he was kicked out of ANCOC for wearing awards he was not authorized”
Sensing a pattern here…
@85 Not bitter in the slightest. We all have a common question. You showed up here to defend him but can’t answer it. You said he’s a badass and killed lots of people, but can’t say any more than you were his driver and followed orders.
as for his driver… his FB shows a BSM aswell.. i dont doubt the driver unless he knew someone at div who pencil whipped a bsm…. i think its more loyalty to someone he looked upto
I think we might have another Paul K. Wickre in the making. Looks like “His Driver” is just here to defend “his friend” against us “blue collar miscreants”. This could get good!
(wish I knew how to bold and italicize words so I didn’t have to use so many dang quote signs)
Hey its Chuck. Yes, Chuck Norris. This guy is legit. He even triples up as VC/Scout Leader/Sniper. Hell, I don’t know why we even bothered sending a platoon in when he had it covered.
I met him once at one of Bill Clinton’s orgies. Even got to shake his hand. I was so intimidated by his badassery that my dick shrunk 3 inches. Permanently.
Chuck out. I’m retiring.
I worked with this guy overseas as a Contractor. I wouldn’t follow him across the street. Brown-noser extraordinaire, he’d make his team run missions solely to go pick up the company’s management fast food at Victory Base Complex. Initially showed up on the contract telling everyone he was CAG, then quickly backed off because there actually were those types around, then flipped a HMMWV over trying to do a J-Turn to impress people out at Crossed Swords in the IZ. The whole time he’d tell ridiculous stories and submit them to Soldier of Fiction… err… Fortune in his downtime. He may have those documents on his record, and I can’t speak for his military service, but I would bet money those citations were pushed through or initiated under shady circumstances (read ‘brown-noser’ above).
I’ve HEARD, and the rumor-mill is dangerous, that his SS citation reads like an Army Achievement you’d give to the Supply Officer for not issuing anything. Anyone want to confirm that?
Can we move on to this Daniel Somers guy who claims he was “forced” to commit war crimes in Iraq?
His suicide letter reads more like agitprop for the moonbats. And of course, since he committed suicide he has moral authority or something.
Its going viral and his bs will become “conventional wisdom” by the time the truth finally comes out.
http://gawker.com/i-am-sorry-that-it-has-come-to-this-a-soldiers-last-534538357
He was demoted from E7 to E6 when he showed up to ANCOC for refusing to remove a CIB he did not earn. He was then moved from Apache troop to C troop.
He then made SFC on the very next list. He was my Psg in Apache troop. Worst nco I have ever met in 12 years of service.
@94-Weird, I emailed “admin” here about that today. I reckon Jonn will take a look at it.
@94-Although this is the story that concerned me because he’s being used as “Occupy….” propaganda:
http://occupyamerica.crooksandliars.com/taxonomy/term/45474
95 … wait he went to ancoc with a CIB.. when the FUCK are scouts allowe to wear a CIB.. FUCKING NEVER…. i EARNED my CIB as an infantryman and this POS decided to wear one for fashion to school? Hes seriously not that far away from me.. im in orlando… hes in daytona… im going to look him up and just speak to him about this CIB bullshit my next weekend off. Im not about to lose my career over this piece of shit… but i will talk to him… what happened from there is on him… this shit really pisses me off.
Most Snipers are E4 and E5 the E6 is the SSL who is usually in an ORP sitting on a radio or remains at the TOC on the radio coordinating CAS or other various duties. Just saying. Also most shots taken in Iraq from snipers were 300-400 meters due to the Urban enviroment.
Reference: USASS Class 02-12, OIF and OEF.