By Honor Bound Read online

  (Courtesy of University of Maryland)

  Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Class 49, West Coast, 1969. Mike Thornton, standing seventh from left, graduated from BUD/S training about the same time as did Tommy Norris who trained on the East Coast.

  (Courtesy of U.S. Navy)

  Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Class 45, East Coast, 1969. Front row, far left is Dick Couch; front row, far right is Tommy Norris.

  (Courtesy of U.S. Navy)

  Charlie Platoon embarked on a Light SEAL Support Craft. The LSSC was fast and had .30 caliber armor, but was gasoline powered and an explosive fire hazard as a SEAL combat craft.

  (Courtesy of Tom Boyhan)

  Fifth Platoon, SEAL Team Two, in Vietnam, 1970. Kneeling on the far right is Tommy Norris.

  (Courtesy of Mike Jukoski)

  A single squad of SEALs from Charlie Platoon, SEAL Team One in 1970, with captured Viet Cong flag. Standing right to left, Barry Enoch, Mike Thornton, Lieutenant Tom Boyhan.

  (Courtesy of Tom Boyhan)

  Then Lieutenant Mike Jukoski (center) and Tommy Norris (right) in Vietnam in 1970. Jukoski and Norris served as Platoon Officer and Assistant Platoon Officer of 5th Platoon, SEAL Team Two.

  (Courtesy of Mike Jukoski)

  Mike Thornton with Charlie Platoon, SEAL Team One, in 1970. He’s holding the Vietnam-era SEALs’ weapon of choice—the Stoner Rifle.

  (Courtesy of Mike Thornton)

  Always the fierce warrior, Mike Thornton was also a willing friend of the Vietnamese people. Following the Vietnam War, he helped to resettle numerous loyal Vietnamese in the United States.

  (Courtesy of Tom Boyhan)

  Nguyen Kiet atop a burned out NVA tank. Photo was taken by Nick Ut at the Vietnamese Ranger outpost between rescue missions, April 1972.

  (Courtesy of Nick Ut)

  A very tired Tommy Norris, standing center, watches as Colonel Hambleton (Bat 21 Bravo) is unloaded from an armored personnel carrier after the journey from the Vietnamese Ranger outpost back to Dong Ha, April 1972.

  (Courtesy of Nick Ut)

  Tommy Norris and Nguyen Kiet at Dong Ha, just after they brought Colonel Iceal Hambleton out from behind the North Vietnamese Army line of advance, April 1972.

  (Courtesy of General Louis C. Wagner, Jr., US Army Retired)

  LDNN (Vietnamese SEAL) advisors having a beer at Cat Lai, Vietnam. Back row: Ryan McCombie, Mike Thornton, unknown, John Brooks, Tommy Nelson. Front row: Commodore Robert Stanton, Doug Huth, Tommy Norris.

  (Courtesy of Mike Thornton)

  Then Petty Officer First Class Mike Thornton and then Commander (Uncle) Dave Schaible pay an office call on the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, shortly before Mike was awarded the Medal.

  (Courtesy of U.S. Navy)

  Petty Officer First Class Mike Thornton is presented the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony. Flanking Mike is President Nixon and his wife, Gladys.

  (Official White House Photo)

  Lieutenant Tommy Norris is presented the Medal of Honor by President Ford at a White House ceremony. Attending the ceremony are Tommy’s parents, two brothers, sister-in-law, and niece and nephew.

  (Official White House photo)

  Mike’s official Medal of Honor photo, taken soon after he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy.

  (Courtesy of U.S. Navy)

  Tommy Norris, with Ross Perot standing by, receives the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, 2011. Eleven men who were Eagle Scouts have been recipients of the Medal of Honor.

  (Courtesy of Rob Kyker)

  Mike Thornton, Bob Kerrey, and Tommy Norris—the three Navy SEAL Medal of Honor recipients from Vietnam. Photo taken in Dallas, 2014, at a Medal of Honor banquet.

  (Courtesy of Rob Kyker)

  Tommy’s official Medal of Honor photo, taken shortly before he was medically retired from the United States Navy.

  (Courtesy of U.S. Navy)

  ALSO BY DICK COUCH

  NONFICTION

  The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228

  The US Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Survival Manual

  The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident

  Down Range: Navy SEALs in the War on Terror

  Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior

  The Sheriff of Ramadi: Navy SEALs and the Winning of al-Anbar

  A Tactical Ethic: Moral Conduct in the Insurgent Battlespace

  Sua Sponte: The Forging of a Modern American Ranger

  Always Faithful, Always Forward: The Forging of a Special Operations Marine

  Navy SEALs: Their Untold Story (with William Doyle)

  FICTION

  SEAL Team One

  Pressure Point

  Silent Descent

  Rising Wind

  The Mercenary Option

  Covert Action

  Act of Valor (WITH GEORGE GALDORISI)

  Out of the Ashes (WITH GEORGE GALDORISI)

  Into the Fire (WITH GEORGE GALDORISI)

  Act of Revenge

  Act of Justice

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Authors Mike Thornton (left) and Tommy Norris (right) with their narrator, Dick Couch, at the Dallas Medal of Honor Banquet, 2014.

  TOM NORRIS received the Medal of Honor for his behind-enemy-lines rescue of two downed airmen in Vietnam in April 1972. He was raised in Maryland and now lives in Northern Idaho. You can sign up for email updates here.

  MIKE THORNTON, a native of South Carolina, was awarded the Medal for saving the life of his SEAL officer, Lieutenant Tom Norris. He lives in Texas. You can sign up for email updates here.

  DICK COUCH is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who has served as a Navy SEAL and as a CIA case officer. By Honor Bound is his twenty-first published work. Other nonfiction works include Down Range, The Finishing School, and The Warrior Elite. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedications

  Foreword by Senator Bob Kerrey

  Preface by Drew Dix

  Introduction by Dick Couch

  Epigraph

  Map of Norris and Thornton’s Area of Operation, 1972

  Map of Tommy’s rescue of Bat 21 Bravo and Nail 38 Bravo

  Map of Norris/Thornton Insertion-Extraction in the DMZ

  Map of the Battle in the Sand Dunes and Mike’s rescue of Tommy

  Part I: Bat 21

  Part II: Not Without My Liuetenant

  Part III: The Award and Life After the Award

  Epilogue

  Index

  Acknowledgments

  Photographs

  Also by Dick Couch

  About the Authors

  Copyright

  All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the FBI or any other U.S. government or military agency or branch. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government or military authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views. This material has been reviewed by the FBI and the U.S. Navy in order to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

  BY HONOR BOUND. Copyright © 2016 by Tom Norris, Mike Thornton, and Dick Couch. Foreword copyright © 2016 by Bob Kerrey. Preface copyright © 2016 by Drew Dix. Introduction copyright © 2016 by Dick Couch. All rights reserved. For information,
address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

  Cover photographs: medal © Getty Images; portraits courtesy of Tom Norris and Mike Thornton

  Maps by W. Robert Singleton Jr.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Norris, Tom (Thomas R.), 1944– author. | Thornton, Mike (Michael E.), 1949– author. | Couch, Dick, 1943– author.

  Title: By honor bound: two Navy SEALs, the Medal of Honor, and a story of extraordinary courage / Tom Norris and Mike Thornton, with Dick Couch; with a forward by Senator Bob Kerrey.

  Description: New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2016. | Includes index.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016001120 | ISBN 978-1-250-07059-3 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-4668-8073-3 (e-book)

  Subjects: LCSH: Norris, Tom (Thomas R.), 1944– | Thornton, Mike (Michael E.), 1949– | Vietnam War, 1961–1975—Personal narratives, American. | Vietnam War, 1961–1975—Biography. | United States. Navy. SEALs—Biography. | Medal of Honor—Biography.

  Classification: LCC DS557.5 .N67 2016 | DDC 959.704/345092273—dc23

  LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016001120

  e-ISBN 9781466880733

  Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].

  First Edition: May 2016