AUSTIN – Following his father into the wild blue yonder, Phil Johnson planned a career as an Air Force pilot.
“That was my goal in life, to fly airplanes. Well I did that. I went through Vietnam,” says Johnson, who served as a pilot from 1965 until 1972.
Having taken a career turn that led to law school, a West Texas litigation practice and the state’s highest court, Johnson’s military service has been recognized by fellow jurist Eva Guzman. She made a contribution in his honor to the Remembering Our Heroes campaign that raises funds for veterans’ legal services.
Both justices were at the annual Texas Access to Justice Foundation luncheon Thursday to kick off this year’s Pro Bono Week. Guzman spoke about the heroes campaign, as attendees watched slides of those who had been honored, including Johnson and Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, who served in the U.S. Navy Reserve JAG Corps.
Since its launch one year ago, the Remembering Our Heroes campaign has help raise funds for the Joe Jamail Endowment for Veteran Legal Services. The endowment stands at $699,000 and is expected to begin generating funds for legal services sometime next year.
That money will increase the amount available to help Texas veterans who cannot afford a lawyer. The Access to Justice Commission recently granted $1.87 million from other sources to 14 providers of legal services to veterans for the 2018-19 grant year.
After the luncheon, Johnson talked with The Texas Lawbook about the challenges facing today’s veterans, challenges that are in some ways greater than those faced by veterans in the turbulent Vietnam era.
“When you’ve been in a combat zone, you have a lot of different pressures that you get under,” he said. “You see a lot of different parts of life and have a lot of experiences that you really don’t talk about because the other people around you don’t understand.
“Veterans internalize those things. Eventually they come out in the way you have your family relationships. They come out later in life.”
Johnson said veterans of his era might have had two or at the most three tours of duty. Now, it’s not unusual for a service member to be sent to a war zone six or seven times.
“It’s just devastating on families and on them personally. There is just not any way it can’t be,” he said.
He believes the stress of such frequent deployments have prevented many veterans from putting in their 20 years for military retirement.
“Now they stay eight or 10 years but they just can’t stay until retirement because there are so few of them and so many needs,” he said.
Texas has the second-highest population of veterans in the nation. Obtaining access to free legal services can help veterans get benefits and support. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, legal issues account for five of the top 10 unmet needs of homeless veterans.
“Some of these young people have had tough times, but we can help get them back on track, make them into good citizens and salvage their lives and their families,” said Johnson. “There’s not a better way to pay them back.”
Johnson honored his father and father-in-law with contributions to the heroes campaign. Guzman has done the same for her father-in-law, Alfredo N. Guzman, who served in the U.S. Army. Justices Jeff Brown and Paul Green honored members of their family who were included in the slide show. The slide show is featured on the Facebook page of the Justice Foundation.
Houston’s Richard Mithoff created the Jamail Endowment in May 2017 to honor his protégé, a proud Marine and access to justice supporter. Contributions may be made here.
The luncheon honored Rep. Oscar Longoria, D-Mission, with the Legislative Hero Award. Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, presented a special recognition to longtime legal services lawyer Randy Chapman.