Long Thought Dead, Vietnam Vet Finally Gets Purple Heart

Washington, DC — As far as anyone who read a book written by a Vietnam veteran living in California knew, Herman Johnson, of Warren, died in the author's arms after he was injured in a firefight.

The California man, Fred Rivera, had believed for almost half a century that his buddy died in the 1969 battle.

“He was full of blood. He took a head wound. He still carries shrapnel,” Rivera told The Detroit News.

• NEWSLETTER & REAL-TIME NEWS ALERTS: Get the Top Michigan Headlines from Patch Editor Beth Dalbey

“I mourned him,” he said. “We had a memorial for him.”

The truth came out after Rivera’s book, “Raw Man,” was published

Army Sgt. John Marek read “Raw Man,” liked it and decided to take an etching of Johnson’s name from the thousands of others on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. When Marek didn’t find the soldier’s name, he began poring over military casualty records, where Johnson also wasn’t listed.

Not only was Johnson not dead — he was alive and well in Warren — he never received the Purple Heart, the somber medal given to people who are injured or killed in combat.

Johnson said he not only didn’t expect the ceremony, but “I never in my life thought I would see Fred again.”

Johnson nearly did die in the firefight.

“When I got hit, I went down … I said, ‘Oh God, am I in heaven?’ ” Johnson told The Detroit News. “I laid there for a second. I cried. Blood all over me. The main medic bandaged me up, I went back out there fighting.I didn’t know what happened to [Rivera].”

Johnson said he had been denied the Purple Heart twice after returning to the United States and had given up on getting the commendation.

“This is a story that makes the Memorial come very much alive. This is a story of just two of the tens of thousands of people who served,” Levin said in a news release. “Soldiers often did not get a hero’s welcome home, and what we’re doing here today is trying to right some of that wrong.”

Rivera has for the past 47 years worn a bracelet fashioned from Johnson’s bootlaces.

“I wrote this book to help veterans struggling with PTSD,” he said of his novel. “I never thought it would end like this.”

After the ceremony, Johnson and Rivera visited The Wall together.

Image courtesy of U.S. Rep. Sander Levin: From left, Fred Rivera, Herman Johnson, Lt. Gen. Guy Swan and Rep. Levin listen as Sgt. John Marek reads the order of the Purple Heart for Johnson.