Folke Leon Johnson was born on April 18, 1920 in Virginia. He was the son of Richard Johnson and Agnes Oberg Johnson. He resided in Norfolk County, Virginia prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on April 8, 1942 at Langley Field, Virginia. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Actor and also as Single, without dependents. Folke served as a First Lieutenant and Pilot on B-24J #44-40826, 425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

B-24J #44-40826 took off, with a crew of 11, from Kunming, China on a sea sweep mission over the China Sea and the Formosa Straits. After takeoff they were not heard from nor seen again and are believed to have crashed at sea on December 18, 1944. Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until December 19, 1945, 1 year and 1 day after he went missing as was the custom. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph located in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.

He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China but hid middle name's initial is inscribed as W.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov