COLUMBIA, S.C. – At age 96, Joe Johnson is still first in line when the bloodmobile arrives at his South Carolina retirement home. He’s always eager to save lives and keep up the habit he started during his Army career.
“I’m sure I’ve given gallons,” says the retired master sergeant. “I don’t see any reason to stop.”
Johnson, who has lived at the Morningside retirement center in Greenwood, S.C., for about 10 years, is a regular donor, said Katherine Amerson, executive director at the home.
“He’s just great. He’s always out there, trying to get everyone to donate. `It’s your duty,’ he tells everybody,” Amerson said in a telephone interview.
Johnson said in the same phone call that he began donating after he joined the Army in Tennessee at age 21 and kept it up after moving to Florida, and then later South Carolina. The former infantry soldier said he served in Europe — though not in combat — and back in the United States, training National Guard forces.
“They’d say to us, `Line up and give blood’ and maybe out of 200 or so in the company, maybe 40 or 50 guys would do it. Some people would just walk away, but I never
Read More from the Article Source: Full Article
