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The 31-year-old staff sergeant, Jon R. Cavaiani, received the nation’s highest medal for valor from President Gerald R. Ford during a White House ceremony on Dec. 12, 1974.
Episode 2700 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Raymond Army Sgt. Maj. Jon Robert Cavaiani and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Sgt. Maj. Jon R. Cavaiani. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange in her story reported that Army Sgt. Maj. Jon Robert Cavaiani fought an overwhelming North Vietnamese force until he couldn’t fight anymore. His actions saved dozens of men who served under him, but they also earned him two years at a prisoner of war camp. When he finally returned home, the Special Forces legend was greeted with respect and, soon after, the Medal of Honor.
Cavaiani was born Jon Lemmons in Royston, England, to an American soldier named Pete Lemmons and a British mother, Dorothy. He had a younger brother named Carl.
When Jon was 4, he and his brother were sent to live with their uncle in California. Eventually, his parents came over, too, but they divorced. His mother remarried a man named Ugo Cavaiani in 1950, and they settled in Ballico, California. When his stepfather adopted him in the early 1960s, Jon decided to take the name Cavaiani.
Cavaiani became a naturalized citizen in 1968. He joined the Army because he said he had a few half-brothers who were already serving in Vietnam. He became a member of the Special Forces and was sent to Vietnam. He was sent to Hickory Hill near the DMZ. On the morning of June 4, 1971, the young staff sergeant woke up to find the entire camp under fire from a large enemy force. Without regard for his own safety, he put himself in harm’s way several times to move around the camp’s perimeter to rally and direct the platoon’s return fire; using any weapon he could find to join them.
For his actions at Hickory Hill Cavaiani was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Listen to episode 2700 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Raymond Army Sgt. Maj. Jon Robert Cavaiani and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
