Did you know Lyndon B. Johnson’s life was saved by a toilet break during World War II?
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Congressman and future President Lyndon B. Johnson shortly before the mission where he missed his plane and cheated death (Photo: LBJ Library)
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Tiny decisions can sometimes have life-or-death consequences; a fact future President Lyndon B. Johnson could have told us a lot about. Sent by President F.D. Roosevelt on a fact-finding mission to the Southwest Pacific in World War II, a fortunately timed toilet break ended up saving Johnson’s life.
Congressman Johnson was serving in the Naval Reserve at the rank of lieutenant commander, and was called up for service three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was first given instructions and training, then sent on an inspection tour of shipyards in Texas and the West Coast. In the spring of 1942, however, Roosevelt sent him, a trusted political ally, to the Southwest Pacific to find out about the conditions surrounding the troops and the problems that went unreported through official channels.
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Jonhson, second from right, arriving to the Pacific
(Photo: LBJ Library)
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On June 9, LBJ volunteered to accompany a B-26 crew (The B-26 Marauder) as an observer on a bomb raid over New Guinea. He was to ride aboard the bomber named Wabash Cannonball. The flight was delayed, so LBJ left the plane for a bathroom break. While he was away, his friend and fellow investigator Lt. Colonel Francis R. Stevens took his place, forcing LBJ to board another plane, the Heckling Hare, on his return.
To last-minute shuffle saved BJ’s life, as Wabash Cannonball was shot down on the mission and all crewmen were killed, likely leaving LBJ counting his blessings.
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Johnson with Lt. Colonel Stevens, the man who ended up taking his place and dying in his stead, photographed on the day of the mission (Photo: LBJ Library)
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The story, however, takes a less dramatic and more morally ambiguous turn. The official version of events claims that LBJ’s new ride developed an electrical problem on the way and had to turn around. While flying back to base, it came under heavy attack by Japanese Zero fighters and the bomber was, in the words of a crewman, “virtually shot to ribbons.” The plane still made it home to Australia where it made a rough but safe landing, and General Douglas MacArthur (Douglas MacArthur – Part I) later decorated Johnson with the Silver Star for his brave and calm conduct during the mission.
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A B-26 Marauder (not Johnson’s) with extensive flak damage over Europe
(Photo: U.S. Air Force)
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Some documents and crew testimonies, however, tell a different story. According to this other version, the plane never encountered opposition on the way home, and the story of the Zero attack was fabricated to justify the Silver Cross. It’s been speculated that the ploy was MacArthur’s, who wanted to curry favor with the Congressman.
Whatever the truth, the one thing that’s certain is that none of the crewmen of the Heckling Hare got a Silver Star even though they supposedly survived the same attack as Johnson.
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