Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

8:14 p.m. • 5-23-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Fri: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 74° F
  • Sat: Clear.
    • Hi: 72° F
  • Sun: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 75° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Published: 2012-10-13 21:06:00
Updated: 2012-10-13 23:13:15

Raeford sergeant laid to rest


Raeford military funeral
Raeford military funeral
print friendly

Two weeks after she was killed in the line of duty, Sergeant Donna Johnson of the North Carolina National Guard was laid to rest in her hometown of Raeford Saturday.

Hers was the third North Carolina funeral to stem from a single attack Oct. 1 in Khost, Afghanistan. Johnson and  two other members of the Winterville-based 514th Military Police Company died when a Taliban suicide bomber rammed a motorcycle packed with explosives into a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol.

Sgt. Jeremy Hardison of Browns Summit was buried Thursday. Sgt. Thomas Butler IV of Leland was buried Friday

Johnson, 29, joined the National Guard in 2006. On Saturday, her family, friends, neighbors and dozens of members of the Patriot Guard, an organization of motorcyclists who attend funerals to honor fallen U.S. military personnel, lined the streets of Raeford in her honor.

"The sense of pride for our fellow Americans and Sgt. Johnson is overwhelming," said Sabrina Valentine, a member of the Patriot Guard.

Valentine and many others who didn't know Sgt. Johnson were on hand Saturday because they felt a sense of duty to attend her funeral, she said.

Sgt Johnson was a highly decorated soldier. She was a military police officer and had worked in bomb training at Fort Bragg and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Her family said in a statement they want to remember Johnson "as a mission focused professional who gave her life serving her country and performing a job that she loved and excelled at."

She "was a reserved and private person who had a close group of friends" and four dogs. She is survived by her spouse, Tracy Dice.

 


8 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 8 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
RIP DONNA, THANK you for your Service, Prayers for your family. I have been there, know what it feels like. A loss u never get over. Thanks to the Patriot Guards for all the work they do for these soldiers

RIP Donna! I am so proud to be from Raeford! The Westboro people did show up, but Hoke County showed up more and her family was shielded from them!

Semper Fi young Lady.

A true hero!!

R.I.P. Sarg!

Also, I'm glad the Westboro people did not show up.

View Comments VIEW ALL 8 COMMENTS