Connie Johnson

Connie Johnson enlisted into the Army in June 2002, going in as a military police officer as part of the 101st Military Police, a combat MP company.

Then-PFC Johnson was sent overseas, first to Kuwait and later, to Iraq.

In January of 2004, then-PFC Johnson’s unit’s missions were largely comprised of security runs, accompanying officers during their travels. On one such mission near Mosul, Johnson was serving as a rear gunner when her Humvee encountered an IED (improvised explosive device). She had been struck in the side of the neck with shrapnel, leaving a gaping, fist-sized wound which just missed a major artery – she was only 19 years old at the time.

Today, Johnson works as the Coordinator of Veteran Affairs at South Dakota State University. She is South Dakota’s only registered female Purple Heart recipient.