bobdina
05-19-2010, 10:54 AM
Medal of Honor recipient shares story in Beach
Posted to: Military Virginia Beach
© May 19, 2010
VIRGINIA BEACH
By the fall of 1972, the Vietnam War had started to wind down for most U.S. troops. But for Petty Officer Michael Thornton, a 23-year-old Navy SEAL from the hills of South Carolina, it was just starting to heat up.
Launched at dusk in a rubber boat by a Vietnamese junk, Thornton was part of a five-man SEAL patrol assigned to gather intelligence near the North Vietnam border. When day broke and they could find no identifiable landmarks, Thornton turned to the patrol leader, Lt. Tom Norris, and said: "I think we're in the wrong place."
They had been dropped off too far north, in enemy territory.
Then began a larger-than-life episode that ultimately resulted in the bestowing on Thornton of the nation's highest and rarest military decoration: the Medal of Honor.
One of a dwindling band of recipients whose stories are now being recorded for posterity, Thornton stopped Tuesday at The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center - the first of several appearances this week in Hampton Roads - to tell his.
To understand why he did what he did, Thornton said, it is necessary to understand only one thing: the power of camaraderie in the Navy's elite, tight-knit commando units.
"We loved, and we gave, and we understood each other - that's what SEAL teams are about," he said. "We would have given our lives for each other."
The misplaced patrol - Thornton, Norris and three South Vietnamese SEALs - found themselves surrounded by 50 to 75 North Vietnamese soldiers. Over the course of a five-hour firefight, Thornton estimates, the SEALs killed 35 of them.
After suffering shrapnel wounds from a grenade, Thornton fell back to provide covering fire. Then one of his South Vietnamese comrades arrived with devastating news: Norris had been shot in the head and killed.
Thornton charged 500 yards over open terrain to Norris and found that, in fact, he was clinging to life. He slung Norris over his shoulder and ran toward the beach.
The blast from an incoming round from the U.S. cruiser Newport News blew both men into the air. Thornton picked Norris up again and raced toward the ocean. On the way he was shot in the leg.
One of the South Vietnamese SEALs was shot as well. Thornton picked him up, too, and swam into the surf carrying both wounded men as bullets pelted the water. After two hours, the three were picked up by the junk that had dropped them off.
A year later, when Thornton arrived in Washington to receive his medal, Norris was in nearby Bethesda Naval Hospital. Thornton wanted him at the ceremony, but his doctors said no. So Thornton waited until after hours and kidnapped him.
The next day, when President Richard Nixon hung the medal around Thornton's neck, Norris was standing beside him.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Nixon asked.
"Sir," Thornton replied, "if you could break this medal in half, the other half belongs to the man beside me."
Three years later, Norris received the Medal of Honor in his own right, with Thornton standing at his side. After more than six years of hospitalizations, he recovered from his wounds and today lives in Idaho. Thornton lives in Texas.
They are among 91 Medal of Honor recipients still alive.
As the honorees died off, "we realized we were losing a national treasure," said Holly Crockett, a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney who organized Tuesday's event.
For the past nine years, the brokerage house has partnered with the nonprofit Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation to preserve the veterans' stories in print and video.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/medal-honor-recipient-shares-story-beach
Posted to: Military Virginia Beach
© May 19, 2010
VIRGINIA BEACH
By the fall of 1972, the Vietnam War had started to wind down for most U.S. troops. But for Petty Officer Michael Thornton, a 23-year-old Navy SEAL from the hills of South Carolina, it was just starting to heat up.
Launched at dusk in a rubber boat by a Vietnamese junk, Thornton was part of a five-man SEAL patrol assigned to gather intelligence near the North Vietnam border. When day broke and they could find no identifiable landmarks, Thornton turned to the patrol leader, Lt. Tom Norris, and said: "I think we're in the wrong place."
They had been dropped off too far north, in enemy territory.
Then began a larger-than-life episode that ultimately resulted in the bestowing on Thornton of the nation's highest and rarest military decoration: the Medal of Honor.
One of a dwindling band of recipients whose stories are now being recorded for posterity, Thornton stopped Tuesday at The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center - the first of several appearances this week in Hampton Roads - to tell his.
To understand why he did what he did, Thornton said, it is necessary to understand only one thing: the power of camaraderie in the Navy's elite, tight-knit commando units.
"We loved, and we gave, and we understood each other - that's what SEAL teams are about," he said. "We would have given our lives for each other."
The misplaced patrol - Thornton, Norris and three South Vietnamese SEALs - found themselves surrounded by 50 to 75 North Vietnamese soldiers. Over the course of a five-hour firefight, Thornton estimates, the SEALs killed 35 of them.
After suffering shrapnel wounds from a grenade, Thornton fell back to provide covering fire. Then one of his South Vietnamese comrades arrived with devastating news: Norris had been shot in the head and killed.
Thornton charged 500 yards over open terrain to Norris and found that, in fact, he was clinging to life. He slung Norris over his shoulder and ran toward the beach.
The blast from an incoming round from the U.S. cruiser Newport News blew both men into the air. Thornton picked Norris up again and raced toward the ocean. On the way he was shot in the leg.
One of the South Vietnamese SEALs was shot as well. Thornton picked him up, too, and swam into the surf carrying both wounded men as bullets pelted the water. After two hours, the three were picked up by the junk that had dropped them off.
A year later, when Thornton arrived in Washington to receive his medal, Norris was in nearby Bethesda Naval Hospital. Thornton wanted him at the ceremony, but his doctors said no. So Thornton waited until after hours and kidnapped him.
The next day, when President Richard Nixon hung the medal around Thornton's neck, Norris was standing beside him.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Nixon asked.
"Sir," Thornton replied, "if you could break this medal in half, the other half belongs to the man beside me."
Three years later, Norris received the Medal of Honor in his own right, with Thornton standing at his side. After more than six years of hospitalizations, he recovered from his wounds and today lives in Idaho. Thornton lives in Texas.
They are among 91 Medal of Honor recipients still alive.
As the honorees died off, "we realized we were losing a national treasure," said Holly Crockett, a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney who organized Tuesday's event.
For the past nine years, the brokerage house has partnered with the nonprofit Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation to preserve the veterans' stories in print and video.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/medal-honor-recipient-shares-story-beach