Intertribal Life Newspaper -

The Medal of Honor Convention

Michael Thornton was awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was formally presented to him by U.S. President Richard Nixon during a ceremony at the White House on October 15, 1973. The man Thornton rescued, Thomas Norris, survived his wounds and was awarded the Medal of Honor from President Gerald R. Ford in a White House ceremony on March 6, 1976 for his April 1972 rescue of Lt Col Iceal Hambleton and 1st Lt Mark Clark from behind enemy lines. In 1980 Thornton was chosen by Commander Richard Marcinko to be a founding member of SEAL Team Six, the U.S. Navy’s first unit dedicated to counterterrorism.