U.S. and Missouri flags at government buildings are lowered to half-staff today (March 21) in honor of Spc. Jackson D. Johnson, 20, of Hillsboro, who was killed March 5 in a two-vehicle accident in Kuwait, Gov. Mike Parson announced.
“Spc. Johnson decided at an early age that he wanted to defend the United States and was courageously serving far from home to protect our nation,” Parson said in a written statement. “We are grateful for Spc. Johnson’s service and pray for his family and friends as they mourn his loss.”
Johnson, a 2017 Hillsboro High School graduate, was scheduled to be buried at 11 p.m. today in the National Cemetery at Jefferson Barracks, according to a Facebook post from his mother, April Johnson.
Jackson Johnson and Sgt. Holli R. Bolinski, 37, of Pinckneyville, Ill., died from injuries sustained in the accident. A third U.S. soldier was injured in the accident. All three were in a military vehicle that collided with a civilian commercial truck in northern Kuwait, a U.S. Army report said.
The soldiers were flown by helicopter to the U.S. Military Hospital-Kuwait at Camp Arifjan. Bolinski was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, and Johnson died later at the hospital, the Army reported.
On March 8, Maj. Andy Thaggard of the 184th Sustainment Command in Kuwait said the commercial vehicle was a water truck and the incident is under investigation. He said he believes the investigation will take “about a month.”
All three soldiers were assigned to the 657th Transportation Detachment, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Mount Vernon, Ill., and were stationed at Camp Arifjan as part of Operation Spartan Shield.