Johnnie David Hutchins

JOHNNIE DAVID HUTCHINS (1922 ~ 1943). Medal of Honor Recipient Johnnie David Hutchins was born in Weimar, Texas, on August 4, 1922. Hutchins attended Eagle Lake High School before enlisting in the Naval Reserve in Houston in November 1942.

He was a Seaman First Class onboard a landing ship, the USS LST 473, during the landing at Lae, New Guinea, on September 4, 1943. During the landing, his ship took heavy fire from land, sea, and air. Two bombs from an enemy plane struck an ammunition magazine in front of the pilothouse, dislodging the helmsman, wounding Hutchins, and setting the pilothouse on fire. At the very same moment, an enemy torpedo was seen bearing down on the ship. Remaining in the burning pilothouse, Hutchins used his remaining strength to seize the helm and steer the ship out of the path of the torpedo. Hutchins thought only of the safety of his crew members and his ship in his final moments, and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

His medal was presented to his mother on September 15, 1944, at Sam Huston Coliseum in Houston. Johnnie Hutchins was originally buried near Morobe Bay, New Guinea, with seven other crew members, but after the war he was buried in his family's plot at Lakeside Cemetery in Eagle Lake, Texas.

In May 1944, the USS Johnnie Hutchins, a destroyer escort, was launched. On September 4, 2000, former crew members from LST 473 held a graveside ceremony in honor of Johnnie Hutchins with over 300 people in attendance. Johnnie Hutchins' Medal of Honor was donated to the National D-Day Museum by his family in 2001 and remains on display there.

Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: The Medal of Honor in Texas," Capitol Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Department of the Navy, http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/j4/johnnie_hutchins.htm, October 14, 2005. Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/HH/fhuyx.html, September 26, 2005. LST 473 Association, http://lst473.freeyellow.com/Hutchins_Medal_of_Honor.html, October 14, 2005.