World War II veteran, motorcycle champion turns 102

Jul. 29—Dorrance Johnson was one of the Quad-Cities leading motorcyclists in his day, winning six Canadian and one American hill climbing championships.

A longtime member of the Tri-City Motorcycle Club, Johnson also racked up wins in numerous local, regional and state competitions through the 1950s and 1960s. Stories of him abound in the pages of the Moline Dispatch.

"My favorite motorcycle is Harley-Davidson," he said. "I don't know why I got into it. But I enjoyed it."

Johnson loves to talk about his days on the motorcycle. He was still doing some motorcycle riding well into his 80s, but by then he also was taking on RAGBRAI. "I was in the RAGBRAI 19 times," he said.

He even competed in the Senior Olympics for 20 years, earning in 2015 the Quad Cities Senior Olympics Hall of Fame Award.

Ask him about his Army service in World War II, however, and he acts like most veterans of that era. He mentions that he served, and then it's back to his motorcycles and RAGBRAI and the Senior Olympics.

"He never really talked to us about his service during World War II," said his son Darryl Johnson, who often would ride in motorcycle competitions with his father.

"He is like many of the veterans of that era who say they went and did their part," Darryl Johnson said. "We didn't learn much about his service until later in life."

Johnson seemed to like to seek out challenges for both his mind and body.

"He's always been like that," his eldest daughter, Janice Golz, said. "He enjoyed the speed and the challenge. He had a crash that put him in the hospital for a while when mom (Betty) was pregnant with me. He talked about what he was going to do on a motorcycle when he got well."

Golz said her mother wondered if her dad would ever learn.

Dorrance Johnson turned 102 Sunday. His family and friends celebrated with a luncheon at Fresh Kitchen Restaurant in East Moline.

To help celebrate the milestone, and his service to the country, Johnson was honored at the Rock Island County Board meeting on July 16.

From the Rock Island Arsenal, Col. Joe Parker, Command Master Sgt. James Brown, and Command Master Sgt. Jorge Escobedo attended to present Johnson with a "Piece of the Rock," a chunk of limestone used in the Arsenal's building thanking him for his service.

Escobedo also presented Johnson with a medallion that reads, "Presented for Excellence: Delivering readiness to the warfighter at the tactical point of need."

"His is the greatest generation," Escobedo said. "His generation went through hard times during the Depression, and the majority of them went to serve in the military to fight in World War II, to serve this great country and the world."

Many of Johnson's generation died fighting for freedom, Escobedo said. "His generation shaped this world, the world that we live in. We as soldiers continue to learn from everything thing that generation provided to us, that is the greatest generation that this United States and the world has seen."

County Board Chair Richard Brunk declared July 28 Sgt. Dorrence R. Johnson Day in Rock Island County.

After the ceremony, when asked if he wanted his picture taken, Johnson said, "no," but that happened anyway.

"At 102, Mr. Johnson remains a force to be reckoned with. We are honored to recognize him for his service to our nation, and on reaching such a tremendous milestone" Brunk said. "We are truly proud to call him one of our own here in Rock Island County. "

Born July 28, 1922, in Toulon, Illinois, Johnson was 20 years old when he was inducted into the Army on Sept. 23, 1942.

Johnson wasn't sure if he was working for John Deere or the railroad in 1941 at the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

"I remember FDR saying, 'Our boys will never fight on foreign soil,'" he said. "And then Pearl Harbor changed that. I knew we were going to war after that. I was stationed in England."

Dorrance said he went into the military after his older brother, Clayton, joined.

Three of Johnson's four children — Janice Golz, the oldest, Georgette Dacon, and Darryl Johnson. Another daughter, Marilyn King, who lives in California, could not make it to the board meeting.

Dacon said that her father wanted to be a pilot. "But they put him in a pressure chamber, and it popped his eardrum, so he could no longer be a pilot."

On Feb. 13, 1943, Private Dorrance Johnson completed a course in radio mechanics from the Army Air Forces Training Command while he was stationed at Truax Field in Wisconsin.

On March 27, 1943, a promoted Cpl. Dorrance Johnson completed another course in radio mechanics while he was stationed at Boca Raton Field in Florida.

From there it was off to England.

While Johnson kept numerous scrapbooks over the years detailing some of his travels in the Army, he has even more scrap books that tell of his competition in motorcycle events.

After the war, Dorrance Johnson worked at Deere & Co., beginning his tenure at the John Deere Wagon Works. He eventually became a welder and used that skill on both his motorcycles and to create artwork for his family and friends.

"He rode a motorcycle up until the time he was 87," Darryl Johnson said, adding that he wondered if his father had been a pilot in World War II if he'd have been a pilot in civilian life as a profession.

"Many that came out of the war, like my dad, had that need for speed," Darryl Johnson said. "I think that's why he got into motorcycles. He had no fear. He lived his life wide open."

___

(c)2024 Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, Ill.

Visit Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, Ill. at www.trib.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.