A true American hero

Apologies for the dearth of blogging this week, was spending a few days in Atlanta but am now back in God's Country. One of the things I did while in the ATL was represent the GaSDF at a 9/11 memorial ceremony at the National Museum of Patriotism (as you can see, my mug appeared for a short time on the local TV news, doubtlessly breaking television screens across Georgia).

But someone far more notable was at the ceremony on Monday: Michael E. Thornton, a Vietnam vet who is among the very few who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving the live of another Medal of Honor recipient, Thomas Norris (of BAT-21 fame). Thorton was a Navy SEAL who saved Norris' life in an act of bravery most of us cannot even begin to imagine:

On learning that Lt. Norris had been hit by enemy fire and was believed to be dead, Thornton returned through a hail of fire to the lieutenant's last position and found him severely wounded and unconscious but alive. Quickly disposing of two enemy soldiers who approached at that moment, Thornton slung Norris over his shoulder and dashed for life over 400 yards of open beach, returning enemy fire as he ran. He carried Norris and another wounded comrade out to sea, beyond the range of enemy fire. The company floated for approximately two hours before being retrieved by the South Vietnamese Navy.

It was my honor to meet Thorton after the ceremony, which plainly moved him. Mr. Thornton is a soft-spoken and humble man, but became intense when speaking of the threat we face from Islamofacism, which he likened to cancer: "Cancer may go into remission for a time, but it will always return unless it has been completely cut out and removed." Which was Thornton's not-so-subtle way of saying that the Jihadist movement can only be stopped by completely and utterly destroying it. A shame that there are so many who cannot even recognize the disease, let alone the cure.