Shoshana Nyree Johnson was born in the Republic of Panama to Panamanian parents Claude and Eunice Johnson. Johnson lives in El Paso, Texas near her family.

Johnson was a JROTC cadet in 1991, and an Andress High School graduate. She attended the University of Texas at El Paso, and later joined the US Army in September 1998. She completed the US Army Basic Training Course at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, and the Advance Individual Training, at Ft. Lee, Virginia.

A second-generation Army Veteran, Johnson’s first military assignment was at Ft. Carson, Colorado. In February, 2003, at her second military assignment at Ft. Bliss, Texas, Johnson received orders to deploy to Iraq and to carry through her duties as a Food Service Specialist, (92G) with the 507th Maintenance Company, 5/52 Battalion 11th Brigade.

On March 23, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Johnson was in a convoy that was ambushed in the city of an-Nasiriyah. Johnson received a bullet wound to her ankle, causing injuries to both legs. She and 5 other members of the 507th Maintenance Company were captured and taken Prisoners of War. The ambush and its aftermath made world news headlines.

House raids conducted by US Marines in the city of Samarra, Iraq, resulted in the successful rescue of seven POWs on the morning of April 13. Later, Johnson, together with six former POWs, came back to a heroes welcome in the US.