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---
title: U.S. Army Sgt. David T. Johnson&#x27;s Remains Received By Widow
description: The widow of U.S. Army Sgt. David T. Johnson received his remains after President Trump said &quot;he knew what he signed up for.&quot;
canonical: https://time.com/4987321/sgt-la-david-t-johnson-remains/
author: Alana Abramson
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2017-10-18T16:27:16.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:54:33.119Z
article:section: Politics
og:title: See the Heartbreaking Moment Sgt. La David T. Johnson&#x27;s Widow Received His Remains
og:description: After President Trump said &quot;he knew what he signed up for
og:url: https://time.com/4987321/sgt-la-david-t-johnson-remains/
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twitter:title: See the Heartbreaking Moment Sgt. La David T. Johnson&#x27;s Widow Received His Remains
twitter:description: After President Trump said &quot;he knew what he signed up for
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt359890e298477efb/6988e268bc6cfc74933e393f/la-david-johnson-gofundme.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=640&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt359890e298477efb/6988e268bc6cfc74933e393f/la-david-johnson-gofundme.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# See the Heartbreaking Moment Sgt. La David T. Johnson's Widow Received His Remains


![Alana Abramson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841db4fb6fb33ac8/698a1380656a3f7bb2bda9e7/alana-abramson-2020-headshot.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)


![Alana Abramson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841db4fb6fb33ac8/698a1380656a3f7bb2bda9e7/alana-abramson-2020-headshot.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Alana Abramson


Oct 18, 2017 4:27 PM UTC

![Army Sergeant La David T. Johnson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt359890e298477efb/6988e268bc6cfc74933e393f/la-david-johnson-gofundme.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Army Sergeant La David T. Johnson

Army Sergeant La David T. JohnsonPhoto courtesy of Myeshia Johnson/GoFundMe

![Alana Abramson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841db4fb6fb33ac8/698a1380656a3f7bb2bda9e7/alana-abramson-2020-headshot.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)


![Alana Abramson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841db4fb6fb33ac8/698a1380656a3f7bb2bda9e7/alana-abramson-2020-headshot.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Alana Abramson


Oct 18, 2017 4:27 PM UTC

Myeshia Johnson, the widow of U.S. Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, has found herself unexpectedly thrust into the national spotlight following a controversial phone call from President Donald Trump.

Sgt. Johnson, 25, was one of four [soldiers killed in Niger earlier this month](http://time.com/4986918/us-military-niger-soldier-deaths-investigaton/). The White House said Tuesday evening that President Trump called the families of those killed in the incident, including Myeshia Johnson.

Later Tuesday evening, Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson told a Florida news station that, during his call with Sgt. Johnson’s widow, Trump said that Sgt. Johnson “knew what he signed up for.”

“To me, that is something that you can say in a conversation, but you shouldn’t say that to a grieving widow . . . that’s so insensitive,” Wilson [told WPLG.](https://www.local10.com/news/politics/trump-speaks-to-widow-of-sgt-la-david-johnson) Wilson said that she overheard the call while driving with Myeshia Johnson on the way to Miami International Airport to receive Sgt. Johnson’s remains.

President Trump has [denied Wilson’s claims](http://time.com/4987094/donald-trump-david-johnson-james-comey/), calling them “totally fabricated.” But Rep. Wilson [stands by her account,](https://twitter.com/RepWilson/status/920643495953649665?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4987094%2Fdonald-trump-david-johnson-james-comey%2F) saying that others also overheard the call.

The Associated Press released footage showing Johnson, accompanied by her six-her-old daughter, sobbing and draping herself over her husband’s coffin when it landed in Miami. The pair had two children together, [according to the Miami _Herald,_ ](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-gardens/article179356376.html)and Johnson is pregnant with a third.

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