Behind Enemy Lines Medal of Honor SEAL Saves Another

In April 1972, Thomas Norris sailed straight into enemy rivers wearing a fisherman’s disguise.

Command said the pilots were irretrievable. Norris was 24, a Navy SEAL operating inside North Vietnam.

Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton had survived 11 days alone behind enemy lines. Norris found him, hid him, and guided him through darkness to the Cua Viet River. A U.S. ship pulled them out alive.

Two U.S. pilots had been shot down. Patrol boats everywhere. Checkpoints on every river bend. Enemy soldiers hunting them day and night. Rescue planners called it impossible.

Norris volunteered. He moved at night through swamps and jungle with South Vietnamese commandos.

Then Norris went back. Deeper. Harder. More patrols. With Nguyen Van Kiet, he located Lt. Mark Clark and brought him out under increasing enemy pressure. Two men saved from certain capture.

For that, Norris received the Medal of Honor. Six months later, October 31, 1972, his recon team was ambushed by 50 to 100 North Vietnamese soldiers. Norris was shot in the head. His skull fractured. His left eye destroyed. He collapsed and was presumed dead. One man refused to accept that.

Lt. Norris stands in the background in the center as Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton is evacuated

Mike Thornton ran back through gunfire, lifted Norris onto his shoulders, fought to the ocean, and swam 2 hours under fire until a U.S. ship reached them.

Norris survived. Metal plate in his skull. Lost eye. Years of recovery. The only time 1 Medal of Honor recipient saved another. Most people still have no idea who Thomas Norris is.