{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/johnnie-johnson-gets-congressional-gold-medal", "Johnnie Johnson Gets Congressional Gold Medal", "2016-11-28", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Johnnie Johnson Gets Congressional Gold Medal \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Monday, November 28, 2016\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Kevin Killeen\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            ST. LOUIS (KMOX) \u2013 He was the inventive, key-pounding piano player behind Chuck Berry\u2019s sound, but before that, Johnnie Johnson was a Marine.\r\nJohnson, who died 11 years ago, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously for his service in a 1940s black Marine outfit that helped pave the way for desegregation of the Armed Forces.\r\nFrances Johnson, widow of the late jazz and blues pianist Johnnie Johnson, holds the Congressional Gold Medal following a ceremony honoring Johnson, at the National Blues Museum in St. Louis on November 28, 2016. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI\r\nIn a ceremony at the National Blues Museum in downtown St. Louis, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill noted that the success of the Montford Point Marines moved President Harry Truman to let blacks and whites serve together in the military.\r\nMcCaskill sponsored the legislation to give the award to Johnson and all the members of the Montford Point Marines.\r\nA letter of congratulations from President Barack Obama was read to a roomful of Johnson\u2019s family, friends and fans.\r\n\u201cI\u2019ve been in a few beautiful situations with him, but I think this kind of trumps everything,\u201d said Johnson\u2019s widow, Francis Johnson.\r\nAsked what the piano player known for his humility would think of all the fuss, Francis Johnson smiled.\r\n\u201cHe\u2019d be the coolest thing in the house,\u201d she said. \u201cTypical man thing, taller than ever, act like a Marine for a few minutes, and I\u2019d get him home and bring him back to reality.\u201d\r\nJohnson\u2019s former drummer Richard Hunt also attended the ceremony.\r\n\u201cJohnny has always been an inspiration, not only to myself, but to an awful lot of people,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cFrom the point in time when he was a young man in the Montford Point Marines, to the point where Johnny has strived to create and help format the shape of American music.\u201d\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/johnnie-johnson-gets-congressional-gold-medal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.542951911687851, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}