Walter F. Johnson III touts prayer, education, work

Growing up in the Gadsden Green public housing complex on Charleston's West Side, Wally Johnson learned that, in addition to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, he needed a second trinity in this life.

His father taught him this one: Trust in the Lord and the power of prayer. Stay in school, and get an education. Work hard, work hard, work hard. No, one "work hard" wouldn't get you by.

Speaking Thursday morning at the Black Expo's Business Opportunity Summit at the Gaillard Auditorium, Johnson said, "That's been with me right to this day."

Referring to himself as "the boy from the project," retired Army Brig. Gen. Walter F. Johnson III looked sharp in a black suit with a pale pink tie as he told the group how he found success first in the military, then in the private sector and again as an entrepreneur.

A Georgetown resident these days, Johnson served with the elite 82nd Airborne Division and advanced in the ranks to chief of the Army's Medical

Service Corps. He transitioned to civilian work with a job at the American Hospital Association, and after becoming an executive, saw how few minorities and women ever reach that level.

So he started an institute to help change that.

Then, at age 56, the "boy from the project" wanted to start his own business and, knowing his limitations, took classes to prepare.

With no capital and bad credit, the retired general thought he could use his military record to get money, but after more than 30 rejections, he realized he had to find it himself.

Lying on his boat in Georgetown, looking up at the sky and praying, he wondered about his decision to leave that $200,000-a-year hospital job.

"Then it hit me," Johnson remembered. "You're sitting on some money."

He sold the boat, sold a home his parents left him and sold his home in Atlanta.

With that money he started his business, a defense contractor called Eagle Group International, and he and his wife made do with a ratty motel room when they commuted to Atlanta.

When doctors told Johnson he had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, he told them, "Well, I'm a black man. That's a natural thing."

When the next year they told him he had cancer, he got to praying again.

Just days after a successful surgery, he landed a 14-year contract in the Middle East. But his primary contractor started owing him money early on, and shortly thereafter the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks happened.

In 2008, when presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain talked about cutting defense-contractor spending, Johnson knew it was time to close his third career. He sold Eagle Group to Lockheed Martin Corp. and divided the money with his six children, all of whom worked for him.

He joked that he had no choice. "How would you like 24 people sitting next to you at Thanksgiving dinner and all thinking, 'When is he gonna die?' " he said.

Now truly retired, Johnson wrote a book called "I Can Do That!" published by Evening Post Books, a division of The Post and Courier's parent company.

For the successes he chronicles in its pages, Johnson credits the trinity his father preached.

If you go

The annual Black Expo will be held 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday at the Charleston Area Convention Center.

Admission is $12, and $6 for children under 12. Adult ticket buyers can get $2 off by bringing four nonperishable food items for the Lowcountry Food Bank. Admission is free with participation in any of the sponsored seminars, but seating is limited.

The expo will feature a health fair, vendor booths and entertainment. Celebrities scheduled to appear are Wendy Raquel Robinson and Hosea Chanchez, both of the former CW TV series "The Game," as well as performers David and Tamela Mann.

Go to www.blackexposout.com for more information.