Crime & Safety
'Herbie's Post Office' One Step Closer To Becoming Reality
Bill to rename Mt. Greenwood post office after fallen Chicago firefighter, CFD Capt. Herbert Johnson, goes before U.S. House for full vote later this year.
A congressional bill to rename the Mt. Greenwood post office after a fallen Chicago firefighter is one step closer to becoming a reality.
Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) has announced that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has approved the Herbie Johnson Post Office bill, HR 3085. The bill would rename the post office in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community after longtime Chicago Fire Captain Herbert “Herbie” Johnson. The 54-year-old died on Nov. 2, 2012 while fighting a house fire on the city’s South Side.
“Captain Johnson heroically served area residents for over 32 years, paying the ultimate price protecting the neighborhoods he loved,” Lipinski said. “This bill not only honors him, but all first responders who bravely put their lives on the line every day for people they don’t even know. This bill ensures that Johnson, his family and the sacrifices of all first responders will not be forgotten by future generations.”
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Over the years, Johnson taught over 1,000 recruits as an instructor at the Robert J. Quinn Fire Academy. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, he volunteered with the rescue efforts in New York City. In 2007, he received the state’s highest award for firefighters, the Illinois Medal of Honor, for rescuing several children from a burning apartment.
Johnson was known as an outgoing, caring and dedicated public servant, who was popular and well-liked throughout the Mount Greenwood, Beverly, and Morgan Park communities on Chicago’s Southwest Side. Almost every year he drove the fire truck down Western Avenue for the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
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“Herbie was an ordinary man who loved doing his job. He had an extraordinary personality that will never be forgotten," his widow, Susan Johnson said in 2013. "Every day, when we get our mail from ‘Herbie’s post office,’ this will remind us that his spirit lives on and that he continues to be a hero.”
Congressman Lipinski’s bill would designate the Mount Greenwood Post Office, at 3349 West 111th Street in Chicago, the “Captain Herbert Johnson Memorial Post Office Building.”
HR 3085 is expected to go before the House for a full vote later this year.
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