Panetta awards Vietnam War vet with medal

CONGRESSMAN JIMMY Panetta Wednesday awarded a veteran of the Vietnam War with the Vietnam Service Medal, which honors those who served in the 20-year war. Johnnie Dean Johnson, 66, who served with the United States Navy on the USS Coral Sea, was presented the medal at Panetta's district office in Salinas. Johnson took part in the March 1975 Operation Frequent Wind, a largescale evacuation where helicopters were used to transport more than 1,000 Americans and nearly 6,000 Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam to aircraft carriers.

After Johnson contacted Panetta for assistance, the congressman's office asked the Navy Personnel Center about his military record and found that "his record clearly demonstrated that he met the requirements for the Vietnam Service Medal," Panetta's office said.

Johnson, of Salinas, is a lifelong Monterey County resident who graduated from Alisal High School. He was in the Navy for 20 years from 1972 to 1992, was a petty officer first class.