Vietnam Vet Gets Best Friend His Long-Overdue Purple Heart
WASHINGTON (CN) — Talk about a surprise party. Forty-seven years after Fred Rivera saw his best friend die in his arms during a firefight in Vietnam — then found out only recently that Herman Johnson is alive — Fred saw Herman get his long-overdue Purple Heart in an emotional reunion at the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Sunday.
The weekend held multiple surprises for Johnson, 68, of Warren, Mich.
His congressman, Sander Levin, was there. A three-star general, Lt. Gen. Guy C. Swan III, Ret., pinned the Purple Heart onto his breast in a ceremony at the Three Soldiers monument by The Wall.
"We're going to correct that record here today and make sure that Mr. Johnson gets his award that is 47 years overdue," Swan said.
Sgt. John Marek, who enlisted other veterans to track Herman down and united him with Fred, conducted the ceremony.
"This is to certify the President of the United States of America has awarded the Purple Heart, established by Gen. George Washington, at Newburgh, N.Y., Aug. 7, 1782 to Private First Class Herman Johnson," Marek said.
Gentle sounds of weeping filled the air.
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