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It took more than 11 years and multiple appeals to the Pentagon, but on Monday Billy Johnson was recognized with the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom for his courage, valor and sacrifice during an attack in Iraq.

The explosion claimed the lives of four others riding in the lead vehicle Johnson was in to help secure rebuilding work being done by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Johnson, now living in Chattanooga at age 51, was surrounded by his family when he was presented the prestigious military honor by Army Major General Mark Toy, the commanding officer for the Corps of Engineers' Great Lakes and Ohio River division.

"It is a long overdue recognition," Toy said during a ceremony at the Corps' Chickamauga Lock.

Johnson, who served four years in the Marines including a tour in Kuwait before working as a police officer and contractor for the U.S. Department of State, was serving on a security detail supporting a Corps of Engineers mission in Iraq on December 9, 2007, when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle. None of his four other crew mates survived, and Johnson lost part of a hand and a leg in the attack and still carries hundreds of pieces of shrapnel in his body.

"When they found Billy, he was ragged and still crawling toward his men thinking they might still be alive, and it was only after he heard on the radio that the others were all dead that he allowed himself to be taken care of even though he was still bleeding and suffering from his wounds," said Phil Gonzales, an Army medic who met Johnson when he was recovering from his injuries. "The mission was to gain intelligence on a site that ultimately they did find a lot of weapons at and ultimately saved a lot of American lives."

Johnson said after getting hit he initially made a sign of the cross and was prepared to die, but he survived thinking about his family, which helped him gain greater peace and slow his bleeding until military medics came and rescued him.

Dr. Gonzales said he was so moved by the sacrifice of Johnson and other civilian security personnel that he has worked for more than a decade to get those who died or were injured the Defense of Freedom metal, which is the civilian equivalent of a Purple Heart for members of the armed forces. Johnson's application for the medal was initially turned down in 2013, but Gonzales resubmitted it last year and personally appealed to General Joseph Dunford Jr., the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Johnson's behalf.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.