Austin Leroy Johnson was born to Roland C. Johnson and Mrs. Johnson on June 23, 1923.  At the time, the family resided in Chesterville Pennsylvania, a town close by to Avondale, Pennsylvania.  The Johnson family later moved to Avondale, Pennsylvania, where Austin attended Avondale Elementary School.  

In his adolescent years, Johnson attended and graduated from Avon Grove High School.  On March 8, 1943, at the age of twenty, he was drafted into the army.  He attended basic training at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; Fort McClellan, Alabama; North and South Camp Hood, Texas; and Shreveport, Louisiana.  

When his training was completed, Austin Johnson attained the rank of T/5 and was assigned to the 614th Tank Battalion, Field Artillery.  This unit was part of the 7th Army under General Alexander M. Patch.  Johnson fought in the European theatre, specifically in England, France, and southern Germany.  

Johnson was promoted to the rank of Corporal in April 1945.  On May 2, 1945, Austin Johnson was killed in action in an enemy ambush while on an important reconnaissance mission in western Austria.  He would have been twenty-two on the Sunday after his death.  He received the Purple Heart.

Johnson's body arrived in the United States on November 15, 1948 aboard the Carroll Victory, and he was later buried at the Church of Christ, in Ercildoun, Pennsylvania. The funeral was held on Friday, December 10, 1948 at two o'clock in the afternoon.  Corporal Austin Johnson, serial number 33588825, was given full military honors by the American Legion Post of Kennett Square and the Charter-Miller-Johnson VFW Post No. 8984.  The funeral was closed with the firing of the three-gun salute and the playing of taps.  

Johnson was survived by his parents, four brothers: Abner W., who served in the U.S. Navy for two years as a Stewart's Mate 1/c., Wayne R., Ralph E., and Morton, five sisters: Mrs. Dorothy R. Craft of Jennersville, Pennsylvania, Lorraine, Sara, Irene, and Madeline at home, and paternal grandparents Mr. and Mrs. William H. Johnson of Chesterville, Pennsylvania.