Rank and
organization: Petty Officer, U.S. Navy, Navy
Advisory Group. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam,
31 October 1972. Entered service at: Spartanburg,
S.C. Born: 23 March 1949, Greenville, S.C.
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
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.
The
President of the United States