Lee Edward Johnson, GMIc, was born August 8, 1913 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was the second child of seven children born to James Edward Johnson and Bertha Bell Boatman Johnson. Lee Edward Johnson grew up in Memphis, Tennessee near the old Mid-South Fairgrounds. Each fall his family opened their home to carnival individuals during the Mid-South Fair period. The family was provided with free admission tickets from the guests. Lee Edward loved going to the fair and riding the Zippin Pippin. It was told that he loved to stand during the Pippin ride. When Lee Edward was a teenager his family moved to Hornsby, Tennessee where his father began farming.
Lee Edward was an outgoing friendly young man who enjoyed being with people in addition to hunting and fishing. Still under 18, he wanted to enlist in the Navy. However, his parents would not sign for him. He was employed as an orderly with the Wallace Sanitarium in Memphis and worked there until he could go into the Navy.
Lee Edward's body was never recovered. The War Department sent a marker to his family in Hornsby, Tn. The marker was placed in the family plot at Little Hatchie Cemetery, located near Hornsby, Tennessee.
