A Vietnam veteran and retired Air Force brigadier general who spent more than seven years as a prisoner of war has died.
Jon A. Reynolds, 84, died April 16 of lung cancer at his home in Bethesda, Md, his wife Emilee Reynolds told The Washington Post.
Reynolds was a captain on his second tour of duty in Southeast Asia on Nov. 28, 1965, when his F-105 Thunderchief was hit by North Vietnamese antiaircraft fire.
After he ejected from the aircraft, Reynolds’ parachute got caught in a tree. He was taken initially to the “Hanoi Hilton” and would spend time in nine different POW camps before he was released in 1973.
According to The Post, Reynolds’ injuries included a fractured jaw and two broken shoulders, which left him unable to clean or feed himself.
Later, Reynolds was denied food for several days after refusing to write a letter denouncing the American war effort in Vietnam. Fellow POW Robert “Percy” Purcell stepped in, arranging to get Reynolds food after a guard fell asleep.
Related
“As the afternoon grew quiet, I heard scratching on the ceiling, and dust and dirt were soon falling from around the single lightbulb in the ceiling of my room,” Reynolds wrote in a 2013 remembrance of Purcell for the Air Force Association.
“Soon the bulb and wire dropped down a couple of feet, which was then followed by a series of long slender pieces of stale bread. My first food in eight days! Through the hole where the lightbulb had been, I saw the smiling face of Percy. He whispered a few words of encouragement, waved, and then he was gone, off to get back to his cell before his absence was discovered.”
As Reynolds recovered from his injuries, he began to write letters home even as he and other POWs were moved from one prison to another. He was imprisoned at Heartbreak Hotel, The Zoo, Dirty Bird, Little Vegas, and Dogpatch, according to The Post.
Reynolds was one of the first POWs released, on Feb. 12, 1973, following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
Related
Reynolds remained in the Air Force after returning to America. He would go on to spend four years as a professor at the Air Force Academy, served on the faculty of the National War College, and served as an air and defense attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing during the 1980s. He would retire from the Air Force in 1990.
Reynolds’ military decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two awards of the Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart, per The Post.
Funeral services will be private, followed by interment at Arlington National Cemetery. Donations made in Reynolds' memory can be sent to the Canines for Veterans program, operated by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 850. Donations can be mailed to VVA P.O. Box 1718, Dover, Delaware 19903.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.