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Jon Robert Cavaiani (August 2, 1943 – July 29, 2014) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War. ==Biography== Cavaiani was born in Murphys, County Offaly, Ireland, and came to England a short time afterwards. 〔(NY Times Obituary )〕 He came to the United States in 1947 and in 1953 moved to the small farming community of Ballico, California to be with his stepfather, Ugo Cavaiani. In 1961 Ugo formally adopted Jon and in 1968 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Cavaiani was sent to Vietnam in 1970 with the Special Forces and by June 4, 1971 was serving as a Staff Sergeant in Task Force 1 Advisory Element, USARV Training Advisory Group. This unit was formerly known as Command and Control North, MACV-SOG. On that day, in the Republic of Vietnam, his platoon came under intense enemy attack. Cavaiani organized the unit's defense and, when evacuation by helicopter became necessary, he voluntarily stayed on the ground and directed the aircraft, which successfully evacuated most of the platoon. Cavaiani and a small group were left behind. During a major enemy attack the next morning, he ordered the remaining men to escape while he stayed and provided suppressive fire to cover their retreat. He was captured and spent the next two years as a prisoner of war. Jon R. Cavaiani was released by the Provisional Government of Vietnam on April 27, 1973. His other assignments included tours of duty in the Middle East, South America, Europe and Southeast Asia. Cavaiani spent three years in Berlin, Germany as the Senior Operations Sergeant Major for British, French and U.S. Forces. He was selected and assigned to the United States’ most elite Counter-Terrorist Force. Upon retiring, Cavaiani served as the 6th region director of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. He graduated with honors from the culinary arts program in Columbia, California, where he and his wife Barbara lived. His numerous military decorations include the nation’s highest award for valor, the Army Medal of Honor, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with 'V' for Valor device and one Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 'V' for Valor device and three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Prisoner of War Medal. Additionally, he was entitled to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Pathfinder Badge and Master Parachutist Badge. Cavaiani was a freefall and static line jumpmaster with over 5,000 jumps all over the world. Cavaiani died on July 29, 2014 at the age of 70 in Stanford, California. He had myelodysplastic syndrome. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jon R. Cavaiani」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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