L.D. Johnston

B.S. ’70 – Economics, Air Force ROTC

Retired U.S. Air Force Major General L.D. Johnston’s Oklahoma heritage goes back more than a century. His great-grandfather participated in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 and homesteaded in what is now Choctaw. L.D.’s wife of 53 years, Sherri, is also from Choctaw and attended Oklahoma State University like her husband. This year their son Richard purchased what remains of the 1889 homestead, and his 3-year-old son, Wyatt, will be the sixth generation Johnston to live on it over the last 134 years.

   
L.D. graduated from Choctaw High School and received a commission through the Air Force ROTC program at OSU in 1970. He completed pilot training at Vance Air Force Base and then flew a combat tour in Vietnam in the F-4 “Phantom” fighter. When he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over North Vietnam, he was rescued by a Navy helicopter manned by another Choctaw High graduate. L.D. later flew F-4s in California, Georgia, Spain and Germany.

For 20 years, L.D. flew the F-16 “Falcon” fighter, with duties as the commander of a squadron, the Air Force’s TOP GUN, two combat-coded Fighter Wings, and the Air Force’s first Air Expeditionary Force deployed for combat over Iraq. His last command was the Air Force Weapons Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, including responsibility for 20,000 personnel, the “Thunderbirds,” the Air Force TOP GUN and Area 51.