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Navy Lt. Thomas R. Norris, Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient.
Navy Lt. Thomas Norris poses in Vietnam with Nguyễn Văn Kiệt, the Vietnamese commando who accompanied Norris on the rescues of Air Force 1st Lt. Mark Clark and Lt. Col. Hambleton. Kiệt was one of five Vietnamese commandos to accompany Norris on the mission to find Clark. When the others refused to pursue the mission for Hambleton, Kiet still volunteered. Kiệt was the only South Vietnamese navy member to be awarded the Navy Cross for actions during the Vietnam War.
Episode 2710 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Navy Lt. Thomas R. Norris and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Navy Lt. Thomas R. Norris. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange, in her story, reported that according to DoD documents, When two American pilots were downed in enemy territory toward the end of the Vietnam War, numerous attempts to rescue them by other aircraft failed. That’s when Navy Lt. Thomas Rolland Norris was called in to lead a ground team to find them. Both missions were a success, and they earned the young Navy SEAL the Medal of Honor.
Lange also reported that Norris was born on Jan. 14, 1944, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Rolland and Irene Norris. He had two brothers, James and Kenneth. Since their dad was in the Navy, the family didn’t stay put for long. They moved to Michigan, Wisconsin and then to the Washington, D.C., area, where Norris graduated high school in 1963.
Norris graduated college in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in criminology and sociology. Not long after that, when his student deferment from the Vietnam War draft wasn’t extended, he enlisted in the Navy and was commissioned as an officer.
On April 2, an Air Force EB-66 aircraft was shot down just below the DMZ. Air Force Lt. Col. Iceal “Gene” Hambleton, 53, was the only survivor, and he was trapped in the thick of the enemy offensive.
It decided that the only way to get to the pilot was by ground troops, so Norris was assigned to lead the rescue effort. Norris said he believed he was chosen because he was one of the few special operators remaining in the country who had worked with the Vietnamese teams involved. He was comfortable running operations with them.
Listen to episode 2710 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Navy Lt. Thomas R. Norris and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
