City to honor fallen Vietnam War soldier with rail trail dedication

More than 50 years after his family was promised he would be honored, the city is naming a section of Kingston’s rail trail in memory of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Charles W. Johnson.

During a virtual meeting Tuesday, the Common Council unanimously adopted a resolution to name a section of the trail that runs between Delaware Avenue, alongside Murray Street and in front of the Rondout Gardens apartment complex, in honor of Johnson, who was the first Kingston resident to die in the Vietnam War.

A dedication ceremony is scheduled to take place beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, Alderman Tony Davis, D-Ward 6, said. He said he hoped members of the council and the public would come out to honor Johnson “and the sacrifice that he gave for his country.”

The dedication will be on

Murray Street at the intersection of Rondout Drive.

The request to name the section of the trail for Johnson came from state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston.

“Sergeant Johnson grew up on Murray Street in the city of Kingston and was a varsity athlete in both basketball and football at Kingston High School,” Cahill wrote in a letter to Common Council President Andrea Shaut. “His family instilled in him a strong belief in military duty, as he followed the path of his older brother and enlisted in the Army. After 12 years of distinguished service, Sergeant Johnson had the grave misfortune of being the first casualty in Vietnam from Kingston on Jan. 12, 1967.”

Michael Tierney, a representative for Cahill, previously told the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission that, in 1967, thenMayor Raymond Garraghan promised Johnson’s family that something would be named after the fallen soldier.