The 81-year-old Mr. Johnson, who goes by John because "it's better than Bernie," credits U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, for helping him get the 11 medals.

"Thank you for getting them in a hurry," Mr. Johnson said to the congressman at a press conference at Rep. Hare's district office at 1535 47th Ave., Moline. "This is the first time I've seen them all together. It kind of makes me kind of proud."

"On behalf of this country, I want to thank you for your service," Rep. Hare said. "I'm honored to represent somebody like you."

Mr. Johnson's military career spanned 21 years and three wars -- World War II, Korea and Vietnam -- and he retired at the rank of sergeant.

"I'm glad I stayed in the service as long as I did," he said. "I didn't feel like working on the outside."

The reason for the 42-year delay between his retirement and receiving his awards was he did not know which ones he had earned, he said, explaining that he didn't realize the omissions until he was going through his discharge papers recently.

"In some cases, you didn't see your records for a while," the Moline resident said.

Rep. Hare said that Mr. Johnson's situation is not unique, though his 42-year wait is.

"We should have had these a long time ago," Rep. Hare said. "If veterans believe they have medals coming, they should contact the office. A lot of people don't even know they have them coming."

The important thing, Rep. Hare said, is that Mr. Johnson got the medals he earned, including a sharpshooter badge, Vietnam service medal and good conduct medal.

"He's a great guy and he earned every one of them," Rep. Hare said. "These mean an awful lot to people."

But Mr. Johnson said there's one medal he was surprised to see and doesn't necessarily think he earned.

"The good conduct medal -- I shouldn't have that one," he said with a grin.