Jon E. Swanson

Jon Edward Swanson (May 1, 1942 – February 26, 1971) was a United States Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. He directed the destruction of five enemy bunkers and two anti-aircraft positions before being shot down in Cambodia. His actions were recognized over 30 years later, when his family received the Medal of Honor posthumously from President George W. Bush in 2002.

Biography

Born in 1942, Swanson grew up in Denver, Colorado. He met his future wife Sandee there as a teenager. Swanson attended Colorado State University where he was a member of the Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps. After graduating in 1965 and becoming a commissioned officer in the Army, he continued to correspond with Sandee, who was serving with the Peace Corps in the Philippines. The two were married in 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii, while Swanson was on leave from his first tour in South Vietnam. They settled in Boulder, Colorado, and had two daughters, Brigid and Holly.

Swanson later volunteered for a second combat tour in Southeast Asia. On February 26, 1971, he and his observer, Staff Sgt. Larry Harrison, were on a reconnaissance mission over Cambodia, searching for enemy positions in support of an Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) task force.

Swanson's widow, Sandee, and his younger brother, Tom, were married in 1977. Tom Swanson adopted his brother's two daughters. As adults, the daughters learned that Jon Swanson had been recommended for the Medal of Honor shortly after his death. Two days later, on May 3, Swanson and Harrison were buried together at Arlington National Cemetery.