Medal of Honor Roll Call: Michael E. Thornton

 HUMAN EVENTS
VERBATIM

In the past, we have looked at brother recipients of the Medal of Honor and other coincidences, this week, our MOH hero is Michael E. Thornton. In the last days of our support of democracy in Vietnam, Thornton saved the life of his brother Navy SEAL Thomas R. Norris. Six months later, Norris himself earned the MOH for saving downed flyers. Thorton stayed in the SEALs after the war and was chosen to be a plankowner in the fabled SEAL Team Six in 1980.

Rank: Petty Officer Organization: U.S. Navy Born: 23 March 1949, Greenville, S.C. Entered Service At: Spartanburg, S.C.

Place / Date: Republic of Vietnam, 31 October 1972

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while participating in a daring operation against enemy forces. PO Thornton, as Assistant U.S. Navy Advisor, along with a U.S. Navy lieutenant serving as Senior Advisor, accompanied a 3-man Vietnamese Navy SEAL patrol on an intelligence gathering and prisoner capture operation against an enemy-occupied naval river base. Launched from a Vietnamese Navy junk in a rubber boat, the patrol reached land and was continuing on foot toward its objective when it suddenly came under heavy fire from a numerically superior force. The patrol called in naval gunfire support and then engaged the enemy in a fierce firefight, accounting for many enemy casualties before moving back to the waterline to prevent encirclement.

Upon learning that the Senior Advisor had been hit by enemy fire and was was believed to be dead, PO Thornton returned through a hail of fire to the lieutenant’s last position; quickly disposed of 2 enemy soldiers about to overrun the position, and succeeded in removing the seriously wounded and unconscious Senior Naval Advisor to the water’s edge. He then inflated the lieutenant’s lifejacket and towed him seaward for approximately 2 hours until picked up by support craft. By his extraordinary courage and perseverance, PO Thornton was directly responsible for saving the life of his superior officer and enabling the safe extraction of all patrol members, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.