MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A fallen hero from South Florida was honored Monday, nearly six years after he made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
Army Sgt. La David Johnson, a Miami Gardens native, was killed in an ambush attack in Niger on Oct. 4, 2017. He was 25 years old.
The city of Miami Gardens remembered its fallen men and women at the Sgt. La David Johnson Memorial Day Breakfast Monday.
As they have done for the past six years, Johnson’s family, as well as other Gold Star families, were honored in a heartfelt way.
Retired Army and Air Force veteran Maxine Reyes was the keynote speaker and sang a song that spoke to the sacrifices our brave men and women made — a reminder of what the day truly means.
“It’s nothing to celebrate like that,” Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, said. “When I leave here, I’m going to my son’s grave to fix it up and put his flowers on there because it’s a memory. It’s something that we are supposed to remember, not at the beach eating hot dogs.”
Johnson’s mother says she is still angry over what happened to her son. He was serving in Niger when he and three other soldiers were killed by an ISIS-led ambush.
She said his death could have been prevented.
“He wasn’t properly trained when he went out there on that mission. He wasn’t,” Jones-Johnson said. “So now that I see other soldiers going out there and coming back home, it makes me feel so much better.”
It’s a gentle reminder for her that her son is still remembered today and every day, as he also lives on through his wife and three children, now ages 11, 8 and 5.