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'Herbie' Johnson's Badge Added to Fire Department Honor Wall

By Howard Ludwig | March 24, 2015 7:57am
 Fire Capt. Herbert T. Johnson, of Morgan Park, died while fighting a house fire on Nov. 2, 2012. His badge was added to the honor wall on Saturday at the Robert J. Quinn Chicago Fire Academy on the Near West Side.
Fire Capt. Herbert T. Johnson, of Morgan Park, died while fighting a house fire on Nov. 2, 2012. His badge was added to the honor wall on Saturday at the Robert J. Quinn Chicago Fire Academy on the Near West Side.
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MORGAN PARK — Capt. Herbert T. Johnson died while fighting an extra-alarm house fire on Nov. 2, 2012, in Gage Park.

His badge was added to the honor wall on Saturday at the Robert J. Quinn Chicago Fire Academy on the Near West Side.

Johnson was affectionately known as "Herbie" among friends and neighbors in Morgan Park, and his badge will be displayed beside 566 others belonging to Chicago firefighters and paramedics killed in the line of duty.

“We will always remember his service, his humor and his smile. We have truly lost a piece of our family,” Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said.

After the ceremony, a paver brick was dedicated to Johnson at the Fallen Firefighter/Paramedic Memorial Park along the lakefront at 2300 S. Ft. Dearborn Drive.

The park is laden with paver bricks engraved with the names of those killed in the line of duty since 1857.

Herbie's brother, Ted Johnson of Mount Greenwood attended the ceremonies with family and friends from throughout the neighborhood. There were so many people that Herbie's widow rented a bus.

"He was just that fun, outgoing guy. He was the life of the party," Ted Johnson said.

Ted Johnson, a 16-year veteran of with the Chicago Fire Department, followed his older brother into a career in fire protection. He even worked in the same battalion as Herbie.

In the years since his passing, firemen still approach Ted Johnson and share stories about his brother.

"Everybody has a Herbie story," the brother said.

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