District three Congressman Keith Self introduced legislation earlier this week to rename the Plano and Frisco portion of U.S. Highway 75 to “U.S. Congressman and Prisoner of War Sam Johnson Memorial Highway.”
Johnson represented the district from 1991 to 2019, retiring shortly before he died in 2020. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in East Dallas in 1947 and went into the Air Force while in college. According to Congress’ website, Johnson was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and received several awards: two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star with Valor, two Purple Hearts, four Air Medals and three outstanding unit awards.
“Sam Johnson was a hero long before he ever served in Congress,” Rep. Self said. “From surviving nearly seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam to serving three decades in the House of Representatives, Sam Johnson’s life exemplified courage, sacrifice and service.”
Following military service, he got his master’s degree and served in the Texas State House of Representatives from 1985-1991. He died in Plano in 2020.
The bill would designate the portion of U.S. Highway 75 between George Bush Turnpike and U.S. Highway 380 as ‘U.S. Congressman and Prisoner of War Sam Johnson Memorial Highway.’
“In renaming this stretch of highway, we honor not only Sam Johnson’s name, but the values he represented – duty, resilience and a devotion to country,” Self said.
