Hunted in North Vietnam: Lieutenant Michael Thornton

Medal of Honor Podcast

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Lieutenant Michael Thornton served in Vietnam as a Navy SEAL. On October 31st, 1972, then Petty Officer Thornton was assigned to a night-time SEAL patrol. Thornton and three South Vietnamese SEALs were led by Lieutenant Tom Norris, and tasked with gathering intel on North Vietnam’s southern advance.

After taking down two enemies, Thornton was spotted, and 50 NVA soldiers began chasing him. In a five-hour firefight, Thornton retreated back to the shore while fending off the enemy. After learning that his leader, Lieutenant Norris, was presumed dead, Thornton ran 500 yards in the direction of the enemy in order to reach Norris’ last known position. There he fought off five enemies and found Norris with serious injuries to his head. Thornton put his wounded ally on his shoulders and began to head back to shore, but a friendly artillery round sent them both 20 feet into the air. After hitting the ground, Thorton put Norris back on his soldiers and realized that he was still alive. Thorton carried him 400 yards back to the beach, inflated his life jacket, and began towing him into the sea. When one of the South Vietnamese SEALs was shot in the water, Thornton towed him along as well. He swam for two hours before they were picked up by a friendly ship.

On October 15th, 1972, Lieutenant Michael E. Thornton was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on the Halloween of 1973. Lieutenant Norris had been told by his doctors that he couldn’t leave the hospital to attend the ceremony, but Thornton had other plans. On the day of the ceremony, Thornton snuck Norris out the back door of the hospital and brought him to the White House so he could attend it.

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