Thornton carried his wounded comrade back to the beach, stopping several times to engage enemy troops. It turns out, while he was severely wounded, Norris was actually still alive. Thornton ran to the last location Norris was spotted, which was about 400 yards away, to recover what he thought would be a dead body. Thomas Norris, was struck in the head by an enemy round. It was during this withdrawal that another SEAL serving alongside him, Lt. On one of those missions, Thornton and his team of 5 were on a recon mission when they were ambushed by enemy forces.Īfter keeping the enemy, which was estimated to be nearly 150 men strong, at bay for several hours, he and his team extracted from the area to the beach. Thornton participated in heavy combat action throughout the Vietnam War, conducting intelligence gathering and direct action missions. Thornton is a former Navy SEAL that was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a mission in the Vietnam War.Īfter graduating from BUD/S Class 49 in March of 1969, he was assigned to SEAL Team 1. Thornton – BUD/S Class 49 Michael Thornton is one of a handful of Navy SEALs that have been awarded the Medal of Honor.
