Royal C. Johnson

Who was Royal C. Johnson?

Royal Cleaves Johnson was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota and a highly decorated veteran of World War I. He was born in Cherokee, Iowa in 1882.

He moved with his parents to Highmore, South Dakota in 1883, and attended the public schools. He graduated from the law department of the University of South Dakota in 1906, and was admitted to the bar that same year. He started his practice in Highmore. He became the assistant state's attorney for Hyde County in 1906, and State's Attorney in 1908 and 1909. In 1910, he became the Attorney General of South Dakota. In 1913, he moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota and returned to private practice. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1915, serving through the end of the Seventy-Second Congress in 1932. He was the chairman for the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War, and the Committee on World War Veteran's Legislation. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1932.

In 1918, even though he had on Apr. 5, 1917, voted against declaring war on Germany, he absented himself from the House and enlisted in the United States Army to fight in World War I. He served in the 313th Infantry as a private, Sergeant, second lieutenant, and first lieutenant. In Montfaucon, France, on the 26th and 27 September 1918, he was involved in a combat situation wherein he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire and was wounded by an exploding shell. Although severely wounded, he accompanied two of his fellow soldiers to the rear and refused space in an ambulance until his comrades were cared for. For this, he received the Distinguished Service Cross from the United States government. He also received the Croix de Guerre with gold star from the Republic of France.