Ralph's two-year wait for death finally ended.

Ralph M. Johnson was born on October 10, 1946. His mother's name was Charlotte Johnson. A sister, Adele, joined him in the family. During his formative years, Ralph lived in Santa Cruz County where he attended Live Oak and Santa Cruz schools. After leaving Santa Cruz, he is believed to have lived briefly in Sunnyvale, California, where his stepbrothers, Robert and William Antonelli, resided. In the early 1960s, Johnson was living in San Francisco.

Ralph Johnson enlisted in the US Marine Corps about 1964 and received his basic and school-of-infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California. By 1968 he had risen in rank to become a non-commissioned officer, had married Nancy and established a residence in Millbrae.

Shortly after their marriage, Johnson was assigned to Vietnam. He was participating in the post Tet New Year Offensive operations in the summer of 1968 when a piece of shrapnel struck him. He was evacuated in an unconscious state and taken to Oakland Veterans Hospital where he remained in a coma until his death on August 24, 1970. The location of Ralph Johnson's gravesite has not been identified.

(VVMW; SCSn August 26, 1970, August 26, 1970)