Publisher Description
Amid ferocious fighting that many times nearly took his life, Sergeant Dillard "C. J." Johnson and his crew are recognized by Pentagon reports to have accounted for astonishing enemy KIA totals while battling inside and out of the "Carnivore," the Bradley Fighting Vehicle Johnson commanded during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After miraculously beating stage-three cancer (caused by radiation exposure from firing armor-piercing depleted-uranium rounds during combat), he returned to his platoon in Baghdad for a second tour, often serving as a sniper protecting his fellow troops. Today, Johnson and his men's story is the stuff of legend—earning them a cover story in Soldier of Fortune and a display in the Fort Stewart Museum. But only now is Johnson telling his full story: reviewed and approved for publication by the Department of Defense, Carnivore is the gripping and unflinchingly honest autobiography of a remarkable American warrior.
"The estimated enemy KIAs for Staff Sergeant Johnson’s BIFV [Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle] during this fight [22 March, 2003] was 488. The informal estimate from the troop was that Johnson and his crew killed at least 1,000 Iraqis on 23 March. Later in the move north, Johnson engaged and destroyed 20 trucks and tallied 314 KIAs in the vicinity of An Najaf. At Objective FLOYD, Johnson’s platoon fought yet another bitter fight against what they claim was a thousand paramilitary troops. … Events were corroborated by separate interviews with the remainder of C/3-7 CAV, to include the troop commander." —On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the official study of the 2003 invasion commissioned by the U.S. Army Chief of Staff
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About the Authors
Sergeant First Class Dillard Johnson, US Army (Ret.), earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, four Purple Hearts, a Presidential Unit Citation, a Meritorious Service Medal, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, six Army Commendation Medals, seven Army Achievement Medals, and numerous other awards during his twenty years of service. Johnson’s uniform and sniper logbook are on display at the Fort Stewart Museum in Georgia. He is featured in On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Pentagon’s exhaustively reported study of the 2003 invasion. He has appeared on Fox News and Good Morning America. Born and raised in rural Kentucky, he lives in Florida with his wife and family.
James Tarr is a contributing editor for both Handguns and Rifle Shooter magazines. He regularly appears on Guns & Ammo TV and the Sportsman Channel’s Personal Defense TV. A former police officer and nationally ranked competitive shooter, Tarr worked as a private investigator for seventeen years.
About John Pruden
John Pruden is an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. His exposure to many people, places, and experiences throughout his life provides a deep creative well from which he draws his narrative and vocal characterizations. His narration of The Killing of Crazy Horse by Thomas Powers was chosen by the Washington Post as a Best Audiobook of 2010.