Geraldine Kiernan Johnson (1925- ) was born in Norfolk, Virginia, but moved soon after to the Washington, D.C. area. As her father (James Eugene Kiernan) was a member of Governor General Frank Murphy's staff, the family lived in the Philippines from 1933-1936. Kiernan was transferred to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1940 after spending a few years at the Camden Navy Yard. In 1941 the family moved to join Kiernan in Brooklyn Navy Yard housing on Flushing Avenue. Geraldine Johnson attended the Packer Collegiate Institute. Richard Johnson (1919- ) grew up in Leominster, Massachusetts and Newark, New Jersey where he attended the Newark College of Engineering where he signed up to be an engineer for the Navy. He graduated in 1941. After college, Johnson went to the Navy Post-Graduate School in Annapolis, Maryland and then began work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a naval engineer and assistant hull superintendent. Geraldine and Richard Johnson were married in 1944 at the Officer's Club at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, after which they spent a few years in San Diego. At the time of the interview, the Johnsons were living in Connecticut.