Today we pay tribute to Tommy Norris, Michael Thornton, their families

“I lost an eye and part of my head and brain and had some other bodily injuries. I have another eye. You just go on.”

• Tommy Norris, US Navy SEAL and Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient

From April 10-13, 1972, Thomas “Tommy” Norris, a 28-year old native of Jacksonville, Florida, who was an Eagle Scout and had joined the Navy in 1967, became one of only three SEALs to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.

In early April 1972, after USAF pilot Lt.Col. Iceal “Gene” Hambleton was shot down over enemy territory, the Air Force launched what would become the longest and most intense rescue operation of the Vietnam War.

In repeated attempts to save the pilot, fourteen Americans were killed, eight additional aircraft were shot down, and two Airmen became stranded behind enemy lines.

On April 10, with the situation rapidly deteriorating, Norris and his five-man team were sent into North Vietnamese territory to rescue the downed crewmen.

Over the next three days, Norris and his men, hit by mortar and rocket attacks and engaged in intense fire fights, repeatedly risked their lives to search for the missing Americans.

At one point in the harrowing ordeal, Lt. Norris and South Vietnamese commando Nguyen Van Kiet left their forward base, swam more than a mile down an enemy river, and after fighting off multiple attacks from communist forces, rescued Hambleton and another downed Airman.

For his “outstanding display of decisive leadership and undaunted courage,” Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor.

“I don’t feel like I was anybody special,” he later said. “It was a mission that needed to be accomplished. Anyone else in my position would have done the same thing.”

Postscript:
Six months later, while on a intelligence gathering mission, Norris was again hit by enemy forces. During a four-hour firefight, Norris and his men, surrounded by nearly 200 enemy soldiers, held their position and killed countless communist attackers.

But as the SEALs attempted to make their way to a beach extraction point, Norris, covering his team’s withdrawal, was shot in the head and presumed dead.

Fellow SEAL Michael E. Thornton, however, refused to abandon his comrade. Dashing through enemy fire, he recovered his unconscious buddy, carried him to the beach, and ran into the ocean.

For the next two hours, the 23-year-old Greenville, South Carolina native, who was also wounded, kept Norris and another injured man afloat until they were picked up by a friendly boat.

Norris survived the ordeal. After returning to the States, spending three years in the hospital, and undergoing numerous surgeries (his first one lasted 19 hours), he was medically retired from the Navy. As a result of his nearly-fatal head wound, Norris lost his left eye and part of his skull.

For his actions on October 31, 1972, Thornton was awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the first MOH recipient to be recognized for saving the life of a fellow MOH recipient. Thornton retired from the Navy in 1992. The two men frequently attend MOH events together and co-authored a book, “By Honor Bound.”

Today we pay tribute to Tommy Norris, Michael Thornton, their families, and all those who served, sacrificed, and died in Vietnam. We will never forget you!