Spc. Jason M. Johnston, 24, of Albion, N.Y.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Dec. 26 in Arghandab, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

   Spc. Jason M. Johnston, of Albion, New York, was the third of four children born to his parents, Brad and Jenny, and their only son. Raised in the small community of Albion, in a family of firefighters, Jason touched every life he came in contact with and was loved by everyone who knew him. Jason was an active member of the Explorer’s Post but never became a member because he joined the service after school. During high school he fell into a group of not so favorable guys. At the age of 19, he decided to change his life. So he earned his GED and enlisted. He said of himself, “I’m that kind of person that will go way out of my way for my friends. My best friends are family, and I would do anything for them. That’s part of the reason I joined the army. I believe in telling the truth.” Based in North Carolina, he had adopted a Southern twang, wore boot-cut jeans and rode horses. He also was happy to be able to say he had been to Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Even though he didn’t get to see much of any of them but Afghanistan, he said he was just happy to be able to say he stepped foot in them. Jason had served a 13-month tour of duty in Afghanistan and was scheduled to have a tour in Iraq. The United States’ change of Afghanistan strategy sent Jason instead to Afghanistan again, deploying in October 2009 assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C. Jason died December 26 in Arghandab, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He had just turned 24 two weeks earlier.

Burial in Mt. Albion Cemetery, Albion, NY