| David A. Johnston |
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David A. Johnston ( December 18 , 1949 – May 18 , 1980 ) was a 30-year-old Volcanologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). He was manning an observation post about 10 km (6 miles) from the volcano Mount St. Helens on the morning of May 18, 1980 when the volcano erupted. He was the first to report the eruption, by transmitting the famous message ''" Vancouver ! Vancouver! This is it!"'', before being swept away by the pyroclastic flow created by the erupting mountain. His body was never recovered. On that day, the post was actually supposed to be manned by Harry Glicken , another volcanologist, but Glicken had to leave the site the day before to attend an interview at a college in California and Johnston took his place. David Johnston was born in Illinois , and studied Geology at the University Of Illinois in Urbana . He completed his Ph.D. in 1978 at the University of Washington, Seattle, a study of the Mount Augustine Volcano in Alaska before starting working with the USGS. In 1997, the area known as Coldwater Ridge was renamed after him. On the ridge is located the Johnston Ridge Observatory , a visitor center and observation post, part of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument . EXTERNAL LINKS
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