Ken Harbaugh tells the stories of service members who have distinguished themselves through an act of valor. These stories feature recipients from the Civil War to present day, including a few who were originally overlooked for the medal.
Hunted in North Vietnam: Lieutenant Michael Thornton
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.
Welcome to the Medal of Honor podcast, brought to you in partnership with the National Medal of Honor Museum. I’m Ken Harbaugh. In each episode, we’ll learn about a different service member who has distinguished him or herself through an act of valor.
Michael E. Thornton was born on March 23rd, 1949 in Greenville, South Carolina. He grew up on the family farm in Spartanburg, and enlisted in the Navy after High School.
Inspired by the movie Frogmen about Navy divers serving in World War II, Thornton attended Underwater Demolition Training. Out of his class of 127, Thornton was one of twelve chosen to become a Navy SEAL. He graduated from BUD/S in 1969, and deployed to Vietnam in December of that year at the age of 20.
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. Deploying from a Vietnamese Junk ship, they quietly traveled in a rubber boat until they were a mile from shore. They swam the rest of the way to shore, and then began patrolling inland. The group soon realized that they were not where they were supposed to be. Their trajectory had been off, and they had landed much farther north, deeper into enemy territory than they had planned. They continued their mission nonetheless.
Soon enough, the SEALs spotted two enemy soldiers on patrol. When one got close, Thornton struck him with the butt of his weapon, knocking him out in one hit. Following Thornton’s direction, one of the South Vietnamese SEALs snuck up on the other enemy, but instead of firing, he shouted “Stop! Come here!” in Vietnamese. The enemy immediately spun and fired, forcing the friendly soldier to jump behind a dune. Thornton took a distant shot at the enemy but missed, so he began sprinting in the enemy’s direction. The NVA soldier fled, but Thornton pursued until they both were on a trail headed towards a village. Seeing his opportunity, Thornton dropped to one knee, took a breath, and fired two shots into the enemy’s back, killing him.
Unfortunately for Thornton, the village was now alert to the situation, and about 50 North Vietnamese soldiers began running towards him. Thornton began shooting at the enemy as he retreated as quickly as he could. Covering his ally, Lieutenant Norris aimed his light anti-tank weapon at the treeline and fired. The sudden impact obliterated the trees and sent splinters of wood flying, startling the oncoming enemy force and slowing their advance. The enemy continued forward, beginning a five hour firefight. During that time the North Vietnamese advanced in three side by side groups. Thornton continued retreating, firing any time one of the groups left cover to advance.. This continued until Thornton found himself pinned behind a sand dune, with enemies closing in. When an NVA grenade flew over the dune, Thornton quickly rolled over. The shrapnel from the explosion hit his lower back, causing him to scream in pain. Hearing this, four NVA soldiers charged over the dune. Thornton shot all four as they came over, and one’s body even landed on Thornton as he fired.
At this point, around 2/3rds of the initial enemy group had been killed by Thornton and his allies, so they weren’t keen on continuing their pursuit. However, a new group of 75 NVA soldiers arrived on the scene, advancing in their place. Near the time they arrived, Thorton was told that Lieutenant Norris had been killed. Through enemy fire, Thornton ran 500 yards in the direction of the enemy in order to reach Norris’ last known position. He found Norris laying behind a dune when five enemy soldiers charged. Thornton fired, taking out all five with his weapon. Shifting his focus back to his ally, Thornton saw that Norris’ skull was shattered from an enemy round. Thornton put his leader on his shoulders, and began to retreat. Suddenly, an 8-inch artillery round exploded near Thornton. The fire was coming from a friendly Navy destroyer, hoping to push back the advancing enemy. Thornton was thrown nearly 20 feet in the air, and Norris was knocked off his shoulders. Both men landed in the dirt with a thunk. Thornton got up and moved over to where Norris had landed. As he placed Norris back on his shoulders, Norris spoke a few words, meaning he was somehow still alive. Thornton began racing towards the coast, shooting two more enemy soldiers as he traveled through 400 yards of open beach. He met up with the two surviving South Vietnamese SEALs at the shore, and learned they had both run out of ammo. With Thorton himself almost out as well, all the men could do was flee. Thornton waded into the water and inflated Norris’ lifejacket. Pushing his floating ally through the water, Thornton and the two Vietnamese SEALs swam away from shore, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. They came under fire in the water, with bullets splashing on either side of them until one of the other SEALs was hit in the hip. The round seriously injured his lower body and rendered him unable to swim. Thornton swam over to the wounded soldier, placing his ally’s body infront of him, and his ally’s arms over his shoulders. The Vietnamese SEAL then grabbed Norris, dragging him through the water as Thornton pushed them all farther away from shore. Thornton did this for more than two hours until they were spotted by a friendly ship and brought aboard.
Lieutenant Norris was rushed to a hospital and underwent a 19 hour surgery. To the surprise of his doctors, Norris survived the operation. As a result of his injuries, which included the loss of his left eye, he medically retired from the Navy. He spent several years in rehabilitation, and underwent numerous additional surgeries during the healing process.
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.
Lieutenant Norris was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor himself, in recognition of actions that occurred in a different mission a year prior to his injury. Next time on the Medal of Honor Podcast, we’ll share that story.
The Medal of Honor podcast is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.
Nathan Corson is our executive producer and mixing engineer, Declan Rohrs is our associate producer, scriptwriter, and recording engineer, and I’m Ken Harbaugh.
We are proud to support the National Medal of Honor Museum. To learn more, and to support their mission, go to mohmuseum.org. Thanks for listening.
