Jon A. Reynolds papers — Updated and Fully Processed for Research

by Amy FitzGerald, Processing Archivist

In honor of Memorial Day 2024, the Watkinson Library is pleased to announce an expanded and fully processed version of the personal papers of a Trinity College alumnus and decorated U.S. Air Force Brigadier General, Jon A. Reynolds. The Jon A. Reynolds papers consist primarily of correspondence and office files; photographs and slides; maps, guides, and brochures; newspaper clippings and periodicals; military service awards; and artifacts and ephemera which document his life and career as a command pilot in the U.S. Air Force and later as an employee of Raytheon Company, after retirement from the military.

Jon A. Reynolds was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1937. He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, graduating in 1959 with a B.S. in Engineering. During his college years, he participated in the Air Force ROTC, and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant when he graduated. Reynolds attended pilot training from 1960 to 1961 and then participated in Cold War deployments, including the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, flying the F-100 Super Sabre. He was deployed to South Vietnam in 1963, where he flew 165 missions in the L-19 Bird Dog as a forward air controller with the 22^nd Infantry Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was then assigned to the 4^th Tactical Fighter Wing in North Carolina, flying the F-105 Thunderchief, and his squadron deployed to Thailand to join the air campaign over North Vietnam as part of the 388^th Tactical Fighter Wing. Reynolds’ aircraft was shot down on November 28, 1965, and he was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese. He remained a prisoner of war for over seven years, spending time in several POW camps, including the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” (Son Tay). Reynolds was released and repatriated in February 1973. He enrolled at Duke University later that year, earning an M.A. (1975) and a Ph.D. (1980) in military history.

From 1975 to 1979, Reynolds was posted to the Department of History on the faculty of the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming Director for Military History, and he taught at the National War College in Washington, D.C. from 1980 to 1981. After attending Defense Intelligence School and receiving training in Mandarin Chinese, Reynolds served at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, as Air Attaché (1984-1986) and Defense and Air Attaché (1986-1988). During this time, Reynolds was the senior U.S. military representative to the People’s Republic of China and was promoted to Brigadier General. Returning to the United States, he became Senior Military Advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) from 1988 to 1989, and then Director of the Defense Attaché System with the Defense Intelligence Agency until his retirement in 1990.

Reynolds then joined Raytheon Company, where he was responsible for the removal of chemical weapons at the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Destruction System (JACADS). He then headed Raytheon’s Beijing, China division, providing air traffic control systems for Chinese airports as that country’s airlines expanded, from 1994 until 2000, when he retired. In retirement, Reynolds served on the board of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Reynolds was the recipient of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Purple Heart, among other awards. From Trinity College, Reynolds received the Alumni Achievement Award in 1973, the 150th and 175th Anniversary awards, and an honorary degree in 2015. He died at home in Bethesda, Maryland on April 16, 2022.

In honor of Veterans Day 2015, the Watkinson Library featured a blog post regarding the acquisition of a portion of the Reynolds papers. In the years after that first donation, the Watkinson received additional shipments of Reynolds’ papers, which further highlight Reynolds’ dedicated military service to his country. The Jon A. Reynolds papers at the Watkinson Library are available for public use, research, and enjoyment during scheduled research appointments between the hours of 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. Please contact the Watkinson Library Reading Room (watkinson@trincoll.edu) for more information and to make an appointment to access the manuscript collections of the Watkinson Library and College Archives.