John Siegfried

A Wolf Remembered: Story of Medal of Honor Recipient Sergeant Major Jon Cavaiani

Released June 2023 - Click here to order

JON ROBERT CAVAIANI
A WOLF REMEMBERED

John Siegfried and Dr. Michael B. Evers

This book is about Jon Cavaiani, the Resilient and Uncompromising Wolf who stayed with his Pack, stared the Leviathan directly in the face, and who after his service, never dropped out and never quit. It’s a story about a great man who, despite incredible trials and challenges, used his many personal traumas to positively impact so many lives.

Jon Cavaiani was proud of his heritage, despite being left by his parents to the charge of an Italian farmer, moving to California from England. The lessons learned from his adoptive father, Ugo, and the hard work on the family farm as a young boy, revealed themselves later in life. Those acquired attributes would serve him well, and indeed may have saved his life. In Vietnam, he had a keen sense of duty, and proved that, as attributed to poet Dorothy Parker, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

Jon would enlist in the Army at 26 years old, initially rejected due to an allergy malady from bee stings, would convince the doctor “he wanted in,” and successfully breezed through Special Forces training. Assigned to MEDCAP (Medical Civic Actions Programs), it was a unit employed to continue the “Vietnamization” program, as well as providing outpatient care for the South’s civilians living in rural areas. Cavaiani was known to the villagers as “Bac Si Jon” (Doctor Jon), and the NVA who would announce it in the jungle because of the price on his head.

Read his citation. As with all recipients of the Medal of Honor, these awardees’ actions tough to swallow. Be it Divine intervention, or a miracle, they were ordinary men, doing extraordinary things, under extraordinary circumstances. Refusing to leave before all his men were on choppers, SSG Cavaiani remained on the hill, after insuring the safety of his platoon. Sgt. John Jones and his highly respected Montagnard “little people” remained to defend Hill 950: Once Hickory Hill was overrun, Jones was killed and Jon was unable to retrieve his friend. Using his SERE training (Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion), he evaded the NVA for 11 days. Jon was considered MIA and thought dead, and was awarded the Medal of Honor before he was shipped home March 1973 with his POW brethren. Captain Mike McGrath (USN-POW) told me all Army soldiers were labeled “lost sheep,” as there was no contact among the others POW’s while Jon was in captivity for 21 months.

Jon, the “Quiet Professional,” favored a discussion about the person(s) he was with, rather than about himself. He was extremely humble. His scars were only known to his closest brethren. He was endeared, respected, and beloved by those who crossed his path. To quote Mike Wallace, who knew Jon for almost 25 years, the SgtMaj was not only a hero, but a “Renaissance Man.” The Sergeant Major amassed a cadre of unrelated kinfolk throughout the USA.

While training younger SF forces, he never explained, but taught, trained, and inspired his men. The SgtMaj Commanded Delta Force before retiring in 1990. As well as becoming an expert Chef, a constant help to Veterans, and an unquestioned role model for all who met him. Because of his exposure to Agent Orange in The Poison Garden of Vietnam, he acquired MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), a presumptive blood-borne disease that affects your bone marrow. Even through his challenging treatments, blood transfusions, and travel from California (Stanford University Hospital) to University of Penn in Philly, he never lost his mission to help people. His wife, Barbara, was his greatest cheerleader and loyal aid who saved his life during a particularly dark period.

Jon became the yardstick for dealing with PTS and his medical condition, never relenting. On 29 July 2014, Jon joined his adopted son from Vietnam who was killed, along with all 22 orphans and 6 monks whose orphanage he both built, and cared for. Barb passed away in April 2021.

SgtMaj Jon Cavaiani continues to live on in our memories.

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FOREWORD

A Wolf Remembered reveals how a true American Hero, Jon Robert “Bobby” Cavaiani, confronted and overcame the challenges of being an orphaned child; the horror and fog of war as a driven, determined professional Special Forces non-commissioned officer; brutal existence as a Prisoner of War; the suffering and debilitating effects of PTSD; and finally, an ugly battle with Agent Orange. Jon’s leadership and concern for his troops, U. S. and indigenous, was the backbone of his existence. He strove to ensure mission accomplishment by always doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. Upon retirement from the U.S. Army, Jon dedicated his life to assist his fellow man in confronting and dealing with PTSD. He challenged the Veterans Administration and Veterans’ organizations to provide the services they proclaimed was their purpose. He worked to raise funds to support veterans and the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, to provide scholarships to the future leaders of our great country, the children of fallen Marines, Federal Law Enforcement, and Philadelphia police officers.

To know Jon, was to love him. His low key, love of life attitude, coupled with his great sense of humor, humility and his dedication to his brothers who wear or have worn the cloth of this great nation, identify him as an individual we should all try to emulate.

The authors set the stage for Jon’s military service and accomplishments by including historical data about Vietnam, the politics of the war, and the background and functioning of Special Forces. With all this as a backdrop, the authors weave in Jon’s rough childhood, heroics in battle, horrific treatment as a POW, ending with his struggle with PTSD and how he devoted his time to helping others. Jon fought right to the end as he battled cancer. He left an indelible mark on everyone he met. I miss him as he was truly My Brother.

H.C. “Barney” Barnum Jr
Colonel of Marines (Ret.)
Medal of Honor Recipient