Rank/Branch: E5-U.S. Army Special Forces
Unit: Task Force 1, Advisory Element, USARV TAG SUP,
Headquarters USARV
Born: 20 February 1949 ( Louisville, Ky )
Home City of Record: El Paso, Tx
Date of Loss: 05-June-1971
Loss Coordinates: 164111N 1064346E ( XD844455 )
Status as of 1973: Presumed Dead
Catagory: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1753
Other Personel In Incident: Jon R. Cavaiani ( Released POW )
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: In 1971, MACV-SOG's Command and Control North, Central, and South were redesignated as Task Force Advisory Elements 1, 2, and 3, respectivly. These titular changes had little initial impact on actual activities. Thier missions were still quite sensitive and highly classified. Each task force was composed of 244 Special Forces and 780 indigenous commando's, and thier reconnaissance teams remained actively engaged in cross-border intelligence collection and interdiction operations. The USARV TAG ( Training Advisory Group ) supported the USARV Special Missions Advisory Group and was composed of U.S. Army Special Forces and MACV advisors. SMAG formed at Nha Trang from former personel from B-53, The MACV Rcondo School cadre, CCN, and CCS to train the South Vietnamese Special Missions Force teams drawn from LLDB and Ranger units.
Task Force 1, Advisory Element was forced from it's Hickory Hill radio relay site at Dong Tri in early June 1971. The Hickory Hill post had existed on strategic Hill 950, In northwest Quang Tri Province at the edge of the DMZ since June 1968. On June 3, heavy North Vietnamese artillery began battering the bunkered Hickory Hill defenses.
On June 4, Five wounded Special Forces and ten indigenous commando's were medically evacuated, Leaving SSgt. Jon R. Cavaiani and Sgt. John R. Jones with 23 commando's defending the mountaintop. At about 0400 hours on June 5, Jones and Cavaiani were in a bunker when a hand grenade was dropped through the air vent, Wounding Sgt. Jones in the leg. Jones left the bunker and was seen shot in the chest by an NVA soldier.
An NVA battalion stormed the summit and captured Hickory Hill on June 5 in adverse weather which prevented air support. In the bunker, Cavaiani played dead as NVA soldiers came in looking for survivors. As his bunker was set on fire, Cavaiani ran, burned, to another bunker. He spotted a helicopter and tried to signal it, serving to alert the enemy to his position. Cavaiani was captured as the last position fell.
Later searches failed to turn up any sign of John R. Jones, dead or alive. He is among nearly 2,500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. There can be little question that the enemy know his fate, Yet the Vietnamese deny knowledge of him. Evidence mounts that hundreds of these men are still alive, captive, waiting for their country to bring them home. One of them could be John Robert Jones.
Sgt. Jon R. Cavaiani was released by the Provisional Government of Vietnam on 27 March 1973. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his attempt to defend Hickory Hill.
of John R. Jones during SF training
Prisoners and Missing in
Southeast Asia
Adopted POW/MIA at
www.pownetwork.com
