Medal of Honor recepient Air Force Maj. Leo K. Thorsness

Maj. Leo K. Thorsness and the F-105 he flew on Apr. 19, 1967 over North Vietnam.

Episode 2784 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Air Force Maj. Leo K. Thorsness and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The Aviation Geek Club website and was titled: The F-105 pilot who glided his Thud to a safe landing with the fuel gauge reading “empty” after He directed a tanker to another F-105 dangerously low on fuel during a CSAR mission over North Vietnam. It was submitted by Dario Leone, the chief of the Aviation Geek Club Website.

Dario was born in 1984, since his youth he has always been interested in every kind of aeronautical subjects from die-cast models to books. After having written for several media outlets, his unique fascination with aircraft led him to launch his website.

Built from a true aviation geek for true aviation geeks, this blog is aimed to create a community of people who can read and talk about every aviation topic, from never told stories to latest news.

Dario, in his story, not only describes the exploits of Air Force Maj. Leo K. Thorsness that earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, he also shares details about the type F-105 aircraft Thorsness flew on that fateful day.

Dario reported that in 1951 Republic Aviation began a project to develop a supersonic tactical fighter-bomber to replace the F-84F. The result was the F-105 Thunderchief, later affectionately nicknamed the “Thud.” A total of 833 Thunderchiefs of all types were built, including 610 F-105Ds.

He continued with this about the heroic actions of a brave American aviator, on Apr. 19, 1967, Maj. Leo K. Thorsness, a veteran 357th TFS Weasel pilot, led a flight of four F-105F Thunderchiefs on an Iron Hand mission in support of a raid against the Xuan Mai army barracks and storage supply area, roughly 37 miles south west of Hanoi.

Listen to episode 2784 and discover more about Air Force Maj. Leo K. Thorsness and his Congressional Medal of Honor award honors.