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Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipient Captain Jon Swanson
**President Bush signed the Bill to bestow the Congressional Medal of Honor on Jon Swanson.
Standing between daughters Brigid Swanson Jones and Holly Walker, Sandra Swanson accepts the thanks and praise of President George W. Bush for her husband's sacrifice during the Vietnam War. Bush awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to Capt. Jon E. Swanson and to Capt. Ben L. Salomon who died defending his battalion aid station during World War II at the White House May 1. U.S. Army Photo by Joe Burlas
President awards soldiers Medals of Honor
Standing between daughters Brigid Swanson Jones and Holly Walker, Sandra Swanson accepts the thanks and praise of President George W. Bush for her husband's sacrifice during the Vietnam War. Bush awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to Capt. Jon E. Swanson and to Capt. Ben L. Salomon who died defending his battalion aid station during World War II at the White House May 1. Photo by Joe Burlas(Click on the photo to view a higher resolution photo)
by Joe Burlas
Washington (Army News Service, May 2, 2002) -- President George W. Bush honored two soldiers with posthumous Medals of Honor May 1 during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Capt. Ben L. Salomon , a dentist, was recognized for his efforts in defending his regimental aid station from a Japanese attack in the Marianas Islands during World War II, and Capt. Jon E. Swanson was recognized for his work in marking enemy troop and anti-aircraft positions from a damaged aircraft in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Army Secretary Thomas E. White, Army Chief of Staff Eric K. Shinseki and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack L. Tilley inducted both men into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes during a ceremony May 2.
"We gather in tribute to two young men who died long ago in service to America," Bush said. "In awarding the Medal of Honor to Captain Ben Salomon and Captain Jon Swanson, the United States acknowledges a debt that time has not diminished."
A dentist by training, Salomon replaced a wounded surgeon in a battalion aid station near the frontlines of the 27th Infantry Division in early July 1944. On July 7, those frontlines were overrun by Japanese troops. After killing several Japanese who entered the aid station, Salomon told everyone in the area to evacuate to the regimental aid station while he held off the attacking troops alone.
Salomon was found dead the next morning holding a machine gun. There were 98 dead Japanese soldiers piled in front of him. He had been hit by enemy fire more than 70 times -- 24 of those wounds were inflicted while he was alive, according to an examining doctor.
The doctor's initial Medal of Honor recommendation was returned without action due to a mistaken opinion that the Geneva Convention forbade the award of valor medals to medical personnel. A much later legal opinion determined that medical personnel may be awarded valor awards for defending their patients, aid station or hospital.
On his second tour in Vietnam, Swanson flew his last mission Feb. 26, 1971, in support of allied ground troops in contact with the enemy in Cambodia. When his CH-6A helicopter ran out of heavy ordnance, was low on fuel and heavily damaged by enemy fire, he continued to mark targets for other attack aircraft using smoke grenades. Swanson's actions helped destroy five enemy bunkers and three anti-aircraft weapons before his helicopter exploded and crashed into the ground.
Despite recommendations of approval from the chain of command all the way up to the then-serving chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Executive Office declined to award Swanson the Medal of Honor in 1971. Instead, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. A recent review of the case made it clear that the Medal of Honor was warranted, Bush said.
Swanson's remains, and that of his gunner, Staff Sgt. Larry Harrison, were only recently returned to the United States, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Andrew Swanson, who attended both the White House and Pentagon ceremonies in honor of his brother.
"The recovery team visited the crash site five times to bring back all of the remains," Andrew said. "We knew in 1999 that he had been found because dental records identified some of recovered teeth as his gunner's."
Despite many DNA tests, most of the recovered bones could not be positively identified as they were severely burned, Andrew said. Due to the lack of identification, the remains of Swanson and Harrison will be interned together in a group grave May 3 in Arlington National Cemetery.
"It is appropriate that we honor Ben Salomon and Jon Swanson in Washington (D.C.) because it is here in our nation's capitol -- in granite, marble and stone -- we remember our nation's heroes," White said during the Pentagon ceremony. "(The Hall of Heroes) has no associate members, no honorary members. Rank or political clout cannot get you in. Membership is only for certified heroes."
Bush Awards Medals of Honor to WWII, Vietnam Soldiers (Updated)
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2002 -- Proving heroism has no deadline, President Bush awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously May 1 to a World War II Army dentist who died while single- handedly fighting off a horde of enemy troops and to an Army pilot who died marking enemy targets to save friendly soldiers during the Vietnam War .
Bush awarded the medals at a White House Rose Garden ceremony. Dr. (Capt.) Benjamin L. Salomon received the award for heroism on the Pacific island of Saipan on July 7, 1944. Capt. Jon E. Swanson received the award for his bravery on Feb. 26, 1971, in the skies over Cambodia.
Swanson's family received the award from the president. Salomon, who has no living relatives, was represented by Dr. Robert West, a fellow alumnus of the University of Southern California dental school. West was the individual most responsible for pursuing the award for Salomon.
Salomon was a dentist serving as a surgeon with the 27th Infantry Division. The division had invaded Saipan, in the Marianas Islands. He was at his battalion's aid station when the unit came under a massive attack by thousands of Japanese soldiers.
"The American units sustained massive casualties, and the advancing enemy soon descended on Captain Salomon's aid station," President Bush said during the ceremony.
Salomon killed several enemy soldiers as they tried to enter the aid station from different directions. As the attacks continued, he ordered comrades to evacuate the tent and carry away the wounded.
"He went out to face the enemy alone and was last heard shouting, 'I'll hold them off until you get them to safety. See you later,'" Bush said.
Salomon replaced a dead machine gun crew and began firing on the attackers. When American troops retook the ground, they found his body still at the machine gun -- and surrounded by 98 dead Japanese soldiers.
No one doubted Salomon deserved the Medal of Honor. Soon after the action, his regimental commander put him in for the award. The paperwork stopped after division strictly interpreted a Geneva Convention rule that medical personnel cannot receive valor awards.
The time limit on nominations had passed by the time a different interpretation came through -- that medical personnel could receive valor awards if they were defending their patients and aid stations or hospitals.
Many people tried to get Salomon his due in the intervening years, but paperwork was misplaced or lost, the Army couldn't find two people who witnessed his heroism, and so on. Robert West took on the effort five years ago, and Ben Salomon finally received the recognition he deserved.
Swanson was an Army pilot supporting South Vietnamese troops in Cambodia. He was serving his second tour in Vietnam. Flying an OH-6 helicopter, Swanson was called in to provide close air support.
"Flying at tree-top level, he found and engaged the enemy, exposing himself to intense fire from the ground," Bush said. "He ran out of heavy ordnance, yet continued to drop smoke grenades to mark other targets for nearby gunships.
"Captain Swanson made it back to safety, his ammunition nearly gone, and his scout helicopter heavily damaged," Bush continued. "Had he stayed on the ground, no one would have faulted him. But he had seen that more targets needed marking to eliminate the danger to the troops on the ground. He volunteered to do the job himself, flying directly into enemy fire until his helicopter exploded in flight."
The Swanson family came to Washington to receive his medal, but also to bury his remains.
When Swanson was shot down in 1971, the Army listed him and his observer, Staff Sgt. Larry Harrison, as "killed in action body not recovered." U.S. military officials kept trying to recover the two men's remains, however.
In 1992, a joint U.S.-Cambodian search team found wreckage, crew artifacts, small fragments of human remains, data plates and other evidence. All these were sent to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.
Recovery teams went back into the site in 1999 and found more human remains after expanding the search area. CIL scientists identified Swanson and Harrison in late 2001. On May 3, 2002, the two will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.
Swanson received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions even though he had been recommended for the Medal of Honor. A review of his actions upgraded the award.
"The two events we recognize today took place a generation apart, but they represent the same tradition," Bush said. "That tradition of military valor and sacrifice has preserved our country, and continues to this day. Captain Salomon and Captain Swanson never lived to wear this medal, but they will be honored forever in the memory of our country."
Army Secretary Thomas White, Sandra Swanson, widow of Army Capt. Jon Swanson, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack Tilley pause following the unveiling of the soldier's photo and Medal of Honor citation during his induction into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes on May 2, 2002. Swanson received the Medal of Honor posthumously May 1, 2002, for his actions during the Vietnam War. Photo by Jim Garamone.
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