Jon Robert Cavaiani (1943 - 2014)

• YouTube - Jon Cavaiani POW, Medal of Honor Winner Vietnam War

Jon Cavaiani was a Prisoner of War for 661 days during the Vietnam War.

Biography

Birth

Staff Sergeant Major Jon Robert Cavaiani was born in Royston, Yorkshire, England^[1] on 2 August 1943. ^[2] His American biological father, Orrin Arthur Lemmons (1923-1985), known as Pete, was in the United States Army fighting in World War II in Normandy and France and he and Dorothy, the mother were estranged for most of the time after their marriage which occurred between January and March 1943. Jon had a brother, Carl, who was born in 1944 in England. The boys were sent to the United States to live with their uncle Vernon Lemmons, older brother of Pete, on 19 August 1946. Vernon and his family lived in Riverbank, California. The children lived with the aunt and uncle for about three years. Pete tried to reconcile with Dorothy after the war and they did go to America, but they divorced soon after. They did get back together much later in life.

Jon's mother, Dorothy Mary Gresty (1926-2002), married in 1950 after the divorce from Lemmons to Ugo Cavaiani (1919-1989) and they took the boys to live at his home in Ballico, Merced, California. Pete gave his consent to Ugo for the adoption of the boys in the late 1960s. By this time Pete also had started another family.^[3] When their mother divorced Ugo, the boys stayed on the farm with Ugo.

Immigration to the United States of America

He came to America with his birth parents in 1947 at about 4 years old. In 1953 he moved to Ballico, Merced, California to be with his stepfather.

Education

He was a graduate of Livingston High School and he attended California Polytechnic Institute at San Luis Obispo before enlisting in 1969. He was called Bob in High School and by relatives.

Naturalization

Jon became an American citizen in 1968.

Marriages and Family

Jon was married five times and divorced 4 times.

1. Marianne Johnson (b. 1945) in 1964. They had 2 daughters. Divorced in November 1968 in Merced County, California.
2. Martha P. Bryant (b. 1949) on 26 December 1969 in Merced, California. They divorced in February 1971 in San Diego, California while he was in Vietnam.
3. Claire Loretta Manhart (b. 1940) on 31 August 1973 in Reno, Washoe, Nevada. They divorced in December 1974 in San Francisco, California.
4. Martha E. Yawn on 4 October 1976 in Reno, Washoe, Nevada. They either annulled or divorced before December 1991. Only found marriage record.
5. Barbara A. Elf on 28 December 1991 in Washoe County, Nevada.

His last wife was Barbara A. Elf. He said she was the love of his life and literally saved his life. He had two daughters with his first wife, Marianne Johnson. His second wife Martha Bryant was an Army nurse who outranked him. It caused a lot of friction with the United States Army protocol. ^[4]

Military Service

On 7 May 1969 in Fresno, California, he enlisted in the United States Army in spite of the fact that he was classified as 4-F due to an allergy to bee stings. He said that he knew a doctor who was making eligible men 4-F and he sort of intimidated him with that knowledge and the guy asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted in so the doctor fixed that little problem so that he could be reclassified. He trained as an infantryman. After completing Airborne training and Special Forces training, he deployed in August 1970 to Southeast Asia. In the beginning for a few months, he was put in as an Agricultural Advisor for I Corps, acting as veterinarian and agricultural advisor because he had a background in farming and farming chemicals. Jon worked very closely with the Montagnards and called them his little people. He even started an orphanage for South Vietnamese children. The Vietnamese killed six of the seven monks who ran it and the boy that Jon had adopted along with the other 22 children to warn him to get out of the area.

From there he served with a Special Forces Training Advisory Group in South Vietnam, Task Force 1, Advisory Element, USARV Tag Sup; Headquarters USARV. The missions of the group were sensitive and highly classified. He was captured in South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army during the mission upon which his Medal of Honor is based. The Hickory Hill radio relay site and post in northwest Quang Tri Province was at the edge of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). ^[5] On 3 June 1971 the North Vietnamese began battering the bunkered defenses. On 4 June five wounded Special Forces and ten indigenous (Vietnamese) commandos were medically evacuated from the mountaintop along with most of his platoon. Sgt. John R. Jones who was with him in a bunker when they threw a grenade down the air tube, ran out and was shot in the chest. His body could not be located. He and Jones had been ordered to leave the Montagnards and evacuate along with the rest of the platoon, but they refused and Jon told them that he would leave when the Montagnards left. Jon said they lived by rules and the rule for the situation was First man on the ground, last man off the ground. He ordered the remaining platoon members to try to escape and he returned cover fire to get his group to safety. Then a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) battalion stormed the mountaintop and captured Hickory Hill on 5 June. The weather was so bad on that day that air support was impossible. Cavaiani was still in the bunker and played dead when the NVA came looking for survivors. They set his bunker on fire and as he was badly burned, he ran to another bunker. He spent 11 days in the jungle evading the enemy and then was captured in Laos.

Prisoner of War from 5 June 1971 to 27 March 1973.

There are much better explanations of the activity on Hickory Hill on some of the sites given below in sources and there is a video of Jon recounting his own story that can be accessed at the top of this profile. An interesting part of his story that isn't often told is that while in captivity, he and three other POWs helped the camp's Senior Ranking Officer, Colonel Guy, to infiltrate a collaborators' group called the Peace Committee. They conducted psychological operations to disrupt their collaboration in a divide and conquer method. He would have been a key witness in the court-martials of the collaborators if Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird had not decided against prosecuting the known traitors after one of them committed suicide. This has been substantiated by several sources including one of the members of the peace committee who was a black POW and became a conscientious objector.^[6]

He was originally missing in action and the papers for awarding him the Medal of Honor were being prepared. Then his name was heard on a Viet Cong radio program.

Most of his time as a Prisoner of War was spent in solitary confinement by his own account. His own words give us an idea of the man and what sustained him. An individual must at least attempt to keep his mind occupied, to retain his sanity, otherwise, the enemy will enter. Therefore, I decided what were the things I believed in: God, America, and my family. Yes, they had always been in my mind and then when I needed them most they stood by me as a shield against the enemy.

As a prisoner I was to meet some of the most heroic men I have ever or will ever hope to encounter, men who never let their country or families down, when so many people in the United States were letting us, the POWs, MIAs and almost all our country, down. Well, by God, regardless of what some people said about the war, we did our jobs as men and kept the faith in our President and country.

When he first arrived in North Vietnam he had almost 120 shrapnel holes and several bullet holes. He said that was when all his worst nightmares came true. He called what happened next as ...the rude, crude, and socially unacceptable interrogation techniques.

He spent time in the camp called The Plantation and then he was moved on 27 December 1972 to the Hanoi Hilton. He weighed 198 pounds when he was captured and 92 pounds when he was released having lost 106 pounds during his incarceration.

He was released during Operation Homecoming and after medical care and regaining strength, he asked to return to dutch with the Special Forces. He formally received the Medal of Honor from President Gerald Ford on 12 December 1974.

When he returned from Vietnam, he served as an instructor at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from July 1973 to August 1974. Then he became the Chief Enlisted Advisor for United States Army Readiness Region IX in San Francisco, California. From there he went to West Berlin, Germany from September 1977 to August 1980 as an Operations Sergeant on the Allied Staff.

From August 1980 until May 1983 he was at Fort Devens, Massachusetts with the 10th Special Forces Group. In May 1983 he was assigned to the 11th Special Forces Group at Fort Meade in Maryland until June 1984. He transferred to the 97th Army Reserve Command at Fort Meade until September 1985 and then to Fort Eustis, Virginia where he served as Operations Sergeant Major with the Flight Concepts Division until May 1989.

His final assignment was as Chief Instructor at the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment at the University of California Davis in until May 1990.

Military Honors

Medal of Honor Citation:

Medal of Honor.

S/Sgt. Cavaiani distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 4 and 5 June 1971 while serving as a platoon leader to a security platoon providing security for an isolated radio relay site located within enemy-held territory. On the morning of 4 June 1971, the entire camp came under an intense barrage of enemy small arms, automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenade and mortar fire from a superior size enemy force. S/Sgt. Cavaiani acted with complete disregard for his personal safety as he repeatedly exposed himself to heavy enemy fire in order to move about the camp's perimeter directing the platoon's fire and rallying the platoon in a desperate fight for survival. S/Sgt. Cavaiani also returned heavy suppressive fire upon the assaulting enemy force during this period with a variety of weapons. When the entire platoon was to be evacuated, S/Sgt. Cavaiani unhesitatingly volunteered to remain on the ground and direct the helicopters into the landing zone. S/Sgt. Cavaiani was able to direct the first 3 helicopters in evacuating a major portion of the platoon. Due to intense increase in enemy fire, S/Sgt. Cavaiani was forced to remain at the camp overnight where he calmly directed the remaining platoon members in strengthening their defenses. On the morning of 5 June, a heavy ground fog restricted visibility. The superior size enemy force launched a major ground attack in an attempt to completely annihilate the remaining small force. The enemy force advanced in 2 ranks, first firing a heavy volume of small arms automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire while the second rank continuously threw a steady barrage of hand grenades at the beleaguered force. S/Sgt. Cavaiani returned a heavy barrage of small arms and hand grenade fire on the assaulting enemy force but was unable to slow them down. He ordered the remaining platoon members to attempt to escape while he provided them with cover fire. With 1 last courageous exertion, S/Sgt. Cavaiani recovered a machinegun, stood up, completely exposing himself to the heavy enemy fire directed at him, and began firing the machinegun in a sweeping motion along the 2 ranks of advancing enemy soldiers. Through S/Sgt. Cavaiani's valiant efforts with complete disregard for his safety, the majority of the remaining platoon members were able to escape. While inflicting severe losses on the advancing enemy force, S/Sgt. Cavaiani was wounded numerous times. S/Sgt. Cavaiani's conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.

1. Medal of Honor.
2. Legion of Merit.
3. Bronze Star Metal with V Device and 1 bronze Cluster.
4. Purple Heart with 1 Bronze Cluster.
5. Meritorious Service Medal.
6. Joint Service Commendation Medal.
7. Army Commendation Medal with V Device and 3 Bronze Clusters.
8. Joint Service Achievement Medal.
9. Army Achievement Medal with 1 Bronze Cluster.

He was also entitled to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Pathfinder Badge and Master Parachutist Badge. (He had made over 5,000 jumps. He was most proud of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor he wore on the top right of his lapel as the Marine Corps Commandant recognized him as an Honorary Marine. It was an honor only a few have ever received.

The full ribbon set is available here.

Retirement from the United States Army

Sergeant Major Cavaiani retired on 31 May 1990 after 21 years of service to his country. He said he was retiring to grow peaches on his 294 acre farm in Columbia in central California. He always said he was just a farm boy at heart.

Later Life

He graduated with honors from the culinary arts program in Columbia, California.

The Medal of Honor was not just a blessing for him. It was also a burden. He said that it was a constant reminder of what he wanted to forget, but he was forthright in his attempts to tell the public about Post-traumatic stress, prescription medications, lasting battles with psychological problems and the label of hero. He used the platform he was given to try to bring light to the situation for returning warriors.

Forty years after the battle on Hickory Hill, Jon returned with two battle buddies searching for the remains of Sgt. John R. Jones. They found his remains and Jones was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 2012.

Death

Cavaiani died at the age of 70 on 29 July 2014 in Stanford, Santa Clara, California, United States. The cause of death was leukemia. He had been fighting a battle with bone marrow cancer for a number of years. It is acknowledged as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. His wife Barbara was by his side when he died. He was accompanied by an Honor Guard of prior service Stanford University Medical Department security officials and the nurses who had cared for him for the last year of his life and met by Medal of Honor Society members and Special Forces Association members as his body was accompanied to the mortuary by the Northern California Patriot Guard Riders. After a short visitation period he was joined by a United States Army Honor Guard, 30 San Jose Police vehicles and the Northern California Patriot Guard in a procession to San Jose Airport. American Airlines received him once again surrounded by honor guards, San Jose Airport Fire Department, and various airport official. Two of his lifelong friends Chief Sergeant Major Mark Christianson United States Army Special Forces and David Behring joined him on his flight to Philadelphia. There he was honored by the City of Philadelphia and the United States Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. He was joined by almost every veteran man and woman that he had mentored. He had two daughters, three grandsons and two granddaughters.

He was buried on 5 November 2014 at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States. Plot: Section 60 Site 10590. Find A Grave: Memorial #133482964

Notes on lineage

Father: Orrin Arthur Lemmons (born 7 May 1923 in Blackwell, Kay, Oklahoma, United States - died on 21 January 1985 in Livermore, Alameda, California, United States.)

Paternal grandfather: John William Lemmons (born 25 October 1885 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri, United States-died after 1928 in Oakdale, Stanislaus, California, United States)

Paternal grandmother: Mary Ellen Donley (born 6 August 1891 in Bonita, Mantague, Texas, United States - died on 11 February 1927 in Peckham, Kay, Oklahoma, United States).

Paternal great grandfather: Kenyon Mortimer Lemmons (born 28 January 1849 in Missouri, United States - died 16 July 1891 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri, United States.)

Paternal great grandmother: Sarah Ellen Strickland (born 18 November 1860 in Whitfield, Georgia, United States - died 15 April 1890 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri, United States)

Paternal 2nd great grandfather: John William Lemmons (born about 1811 in Tennessee, United States-died about 1859 in Osage, Kansas, United States)

Paternal 2nd great grandmother: Spice South (born about 1820 in Kentucky, United States - died 1859 in Osage, Kansas, United States)

Mother: Dorothy Mary Gresty (born 26 January 1926 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom - died 23 March 2002 in Sonora, California, United States)

Maternal grandfather: John Gresty (born about 1900 in Styal, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom - died about 1972 in Poynton, Essex, England, United Kingdom)

Maternal grandmother: Elsie Gibbon (born about 1899 in Handforth, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom - died about 1968 in Poynton, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom)

Maternal great grandfather: John William Gresty (born about 1869 in Sale, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom - died after 1899)

Maternal great grandmother: Mary Elisabeth Gresty (d/o Amos Gresty) (born about 1873 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom- died after 1900)

Sources

• England and Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005. 1943 registrations for January, February and March 1943 for Lemmons-Gresty.
• General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.
• Vietnam War, Casualties Returned Alive, 1962-1979.
• Veteran Tributes. Find here [1]
• Personal writings about the parental relationships by Debby Lemmons Fowler who states that she retains letters and military documents as well as personal memory to support the story of the early family life of Jon.
• California Divorce Records Index for Jon Cavaiani are as follows: 1) Marianne Johnson born 1945, married 1964, divorced November 1968; 2) Martha Bryant born 1949, married 1969, divorced February 1971; 3) Loretta Manhart born 1940, married 1973, divorced December 1974.
• California Marriage Index for Jon R. Cavaiani and Martha P. Bryant on 26 Dec 1969.
• Nevada Marriage Index for Jon Robert Cavaiani and Claire Loretta Manhart on 31 Aug 1973.
• Nevada Marriage Index for Jon R. Cavaiani and Martha E. Yawn on 4 October 1976.
• Nevada Marriage Index for Jon R. Cavaiani and Barbara A. Elf on 28 December 1991.
• Livingston High School Yearbooks, 1960.
• American Valor. Find here [2]
• Veterans Resources. Find here [3]
• POW Network Find here [4]
• Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Find here [5]

Footnotes

1. ↑ Birth: According to cousin who holds his birth record and brother Carl he was born in Royston, not Ireland as some have said including the article on Wikipedia.
2. ↑ It is important to know that his birth name was Lemmons, but it was legally changed when his step-father adopted him and records never show Lemmons as his surname; so I have chosen to give him the name he wished to be known by but to mention that his biological father's surname was Lemmons. His mother's name was Dorothy Mary Gresty (1926-2002).
3. ↑ Dorothy married again to Del Hibdon in Modesto after divorcing Ugo in March 1968 in Merced, California.
4. ↑ See California Marriages and Divorce Index.
5. ↑ Technically Hickory Hill was called strategic Hill 953.
6. ↑ The man, James A. Daly, wrote a book called Black Prisoner of War, a Conscientious Objector's Vietnam Memoir. See Pp. 214-219, 232, 258-9, 262, 264 for discussion on how he disrupted the organization of the 8 men who collaborated with the enemy.

Acknowledgements