JON EDWARD SWANSON & LARRY HARRISON

swanson, alongside his oh-6

jon edward swanson was piloting a hughes loach observation helicopter (OH-6A) on february 26, 1971 alongside staff sgt. larry harrison. they were providing close air support to an ambushed south vietnamese army convoy in kampong cham province, cambodia. When the task for came under heavy fire, swanson engaged five enemy bunkers and took on heavy anti-aircraft fire. he went on to destroy two machine gun positions— running low on ammunition with a heavily damaged aircraft, swanson volunteered to continue the mission. while heading towards a third machine gun position, the oh-6a exploded and crashed to the ground, killing the two crew on board almost instantly.

swanson’s widow would end up marrying his younger brother, tom, in 1977. tom swanson would adopt his brother’s two daughters. when the daughters learned that jon swanson was recommended for the distinguished service cross (the military’s second highest honor) after his death, they began an effort to have their father nominated for the medal of honor, posthumously. a short ASSESSMENT would lead to swanson’s distinguished service cross being upgraded to the medal of honor.

in 2002, 30 years after the mission in cambodia, swanson’s widow and daughter accepted the medal on their father’s behalf from president bush. although swanson and harrison were listed as “killed in action - body not recovered”, a search team located the crash site, along with their remains in 1992. more remains were recovered in 1999 and late 2001— on may 3rd 2002, swanson and harrison were finally laid to rest together at arlington national cemetery.