Like many veterans, Sergeant Cavaiani preferred not to recall wartime heroics. “I don’t care to get into details,” he told The Modesto Bee in 2003. “I’ve spent too much time trying to forget them.”

Like many veterans, Sergeant Cavaiani preferred not to recall wartime heroics. “I don’t care to get into details,” he told The Modesto Bee in 2003. “I’ve spent too much time trying to forget them.”