Army veteran receives Purple Heart 48 years late

Wednesday, July 5, 2000 | 9:10 a.m.

The day before the nation celebrated its hard-fought freedom, Korean Army veteran Joaquin Johnson received the Purple Heart - 48 years late.

The Las Vegas resident was presented Monday with the military's medal for those wounded in action.

"It means everything to me," Johnson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It's a real plus, especially with the stigma attached to the Korean War. It brings back a lot of memories."

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., assisted Johnson in obtaining the medal after numerous failed attempts.

"We put a tracer on his record. It's something we've done quite often," Bryan said. "What became important was the 50th anniversary of the war."

And receiving the medal over the Fourth of July holiday was especially meaningful for Johnson, he said.

"I think people need to look at the Fourth and why we have it," he said. "People don't really understand war and the tragedy that goes with it."

Johnson was hit by enemy shell fragments on Aug. 2, 1952, while serving as a sergeant. The medal was awarded for Johnson's hip injuries for which he was discharged.

"I wrote the Army several times when I was first interested in getting the Purple Heart after I got back from Korea and went to college," the 71-year-old said. "I wrote to everyone I could find to write to at that time and I never got a response."

The longtime Nevada resident then got busy with his career as an educator in Nye County. Johnson said he may have written twice over the 34 years he served as a teacher, principal and later the Nye County schools superintendent. It wasn't until he retired from his position as superintendent that he resumed the quest for his medal.

"I never got an answer from the Department of the Army," Johnson said. "There was no explanation of why it took so long. I suspect they may have lost my records somewhere along the line."