They were particularly effective in delivering napalm bombs which devastated enemy installations, which made an invasion of the Luzon unnecessary. On November 11, he downed two more Zeros over Ormoc Bay, and on December 7, the third anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he shot down three Oscars and one Nakajima Ki-49 "Helen" bomber over Cebu, for which he received his second Distinguished Service Cross. These victories brought him to a total of 21 aerial victories, a quadruple ace, and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He became Deputy Commander of the 49th Fighter Group until March 1945. Johnson served as 49th FG commander from March to July 1945, making him one of the youngest colonel in the USAAF. He scored his last aerial victory on April 2, when he shot down a Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo", during a fighter sweep over Hong Kong. During World War II, Johnson flew a total of 265 combat missions. He was credited with the destruction of 22 enemy aircraft in aerial combat plus 2 probables and 1 damaged, which includes 20 in P-38 Lightning and 2 in P-47 Thunderbolt. A few weeks after World War II ended, Johnson was assigned as commander of Atsugi Air Base, Japan. On 7 October 1945, Johnson was flying a B-25 Mitchell from Ie Shima Airfield to Astugi AB, when it flew into a typhoon and was hopelessly lost in the black skies. He ordered everyone to bail out, but one person neglected to bring a parachute. Johnson gave up his parachute to allow the other crew members to bail out of the aircraft, while he and the co-pilot 2nd Lt. James B. Noland attempted to guide the aircraft back to the airfield. Both men were killed when the B-25 crashed on approach to Irumagawa Airfield. The four crew members who bailed out, were successfully rescued. Johnson posthumously received the Soldier's Medal for his heroism. His remains have never been located and he is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. General George C. Kenney, commander of the Fifth Air Force during World War II, told Johnson's father, "You are the father of the bravest man I ever knew and the bravest thing he ever did was the last thing, when he did not need to be brave." The Irumagawa Airfield, which is located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan, was renamed Johnson Air Base, in honor of him.