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W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Executive Editor
Beyond the DropZone
Plain talk about fighting terrorism
An exclusive interview with Medal of Honor recipient Michael E. Thornton
NO ONE KNOWS THE BUSINESS OF WAR-FIGHTING BETTER than Michael Edwin "Mike" Thornton. A retired U.S. Navy SEAL, Thornton received the Medal of Honor (MOH) for his actions on October 31 – Halloween night – 1972, when – among other things – he saved the life of his mission commander, SEAL Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris, who himself received the MOH.
Though the wording of all MOH citations reflects unimaginable heroism above-and-beyond the call of duty, no Hollywood script could match the citation of Mike Thornton: today a retired Naval officer, then an enlisted sailor.
Aside from overcoming overwhelming odds – as almost all MOH recipients have done since President Abraham Lincoln authorized the award during the American Civil War – Thornton exhibited almost superhuman strength and athletic ability. He also did something no man had done in over a century: He saved the life of another MOH recipient.
Portions of Thornton's citation read:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while participating in a daring operation against enemy forces in the Republic of Vietnam. … [Thornton's] patrol called in naval gunfire support and then engaged the enemy in a fierce firefight, accounting for many enemy casualties before moving back to the waterline to prevent encirclement. Upon learning that the senior advisor [Norris] had been hit by enemy fire and was believed to be dead, Petty Officer Thornton returned through a hail of fire to the lieutenant's last position, quickly disposed of two enemy soldiers about to overrun the position, and succeeded in removing the seriously wounded and unconscious senior naval advisor to the water's edge.
The story did not end at the surf.
After having sprinted across several hundred yards of open ground with Norris slung over his shoulder (and about 75 North Vietnamese Army soldiers chasing them), Thornton hit the water and began swimming out to sea with his wounded commander and a wounded South Vietnamese commando, all in tow. Meanwhile, the enemy was firing furiously from the beach. Bullets were zipping into the water all around the men.
In Kevin Dockery's definitive work, Navy SEALs: A Complete History from World War II to the Present, Thornton describes the escape:
"I inflated my life jacket around Tommy [Norris] and pulled the H-harness over my head as well. That secured Tommy across my back with his head above the water. Then I put Quan [the wounded South Vietnamese commando] in front of me and just started breast stroking out to sea. … I was praying that they [the enemy rounds] wouldn't hit me now, because if they did, we would all be going down."
They spent the next two hours in the water before being rescued.
I first met Thornton more than ten-years-ago when I was interviewing him for a small community newspaper, not far from his hometown of Greenville, S.C., in a piece that would ultimately be entitled "Superman lives." It was several years before 9/11, and he spoke then about the importance of supporting our actively deployed troops as well as our military veterans. He also, in his plain-speaking manner, discussed the criticality of "getting a handle on" international terrorism before we are hit hard here at home.
Last week, I chatted with Thornton about the current global war on terror and what ordinary Americans must do - from an ideological standpoint – to win.
W. THOMAS SMITH JR: I understand you are still – in some way – connected to the special operations community.
MICHAEL E. THORNTON: Yes. I'm still actively involved with those folks. I'm not on active duty, of course. I don't actually go out on operations anymore. But I talk with them all the time. And I can tell you they are doing great and amazing things.
Look, special operations have expanded to much larger numbers than we had when I was in Vietnam. It's really fantastic what they are able to do, today.
Think about it: We took Afghanistan back from the Taliban with air assets and a few hundred special-forces guys. And that's how we continue to move terrorists around the world. Special ops, and keeping the pressure on. And we have to. If we don't keep the pressure on, they are going to regroup, retrain, and hit us again. That's a fact.
SMITH: Is it fair to say that the reason we've not been hit again in this country post-9/11 is because we have the terrorists on the run?
THORNTON: Yes. That, and intelligence; and intelligence-sharing between agencies.
SMITH: What are we doing right, and what are we doing wrong, in the global war on terror?
THORNTON: First of all, terrorism is not something that's going to go away. We've got to confront it, head-on. You have to understand, the Islamic fascists hate Americans, as well as their own people. They simply hate and will kill anyone who does not agree with them.
It's simply a matter of you either agreeing with their methods and ideologies or you are against them. If you are against them, they will do anything to persuade you to come to their side, or they will eliminate you.
SMITH: So what are our options in dealing with terrorists?
THORNTON: I once sat on a panel in D.C. with a number of professionals from the FBI, the CIA, several economists, psychologists, etc., all trying to develop ideas as to how they could reprogram these people [the terrorists]. I listened to them for two-and-half days without saying anything.
Finally, someone said, 'Mr. Thornton, you haven't said anything.'
I responded by saying, 'Well, let me first ask how many of you have ever been in fire-fight or shoot-out?'
No one raised their hand.
Then I asked how many had ever actually feared for their lives.
No one raised their hand.
'How many had ever known anyone who had ever died of cancer?'
Everyone raised their hand.
'How many had ever known anyone whose cancer went into remission, came back later and killed them?'
All but one raised their hands.
I then said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, terrorism is like cancer. And the only way you can deal with it, is to cut it out and completely destroy it. Because like cancer, terrorists can wait. They have no deadlines. No time limit.'
This war against terrorism has been going on since the '80's, but no one has really wanted to understand what it is. It is never going away. You can't wash it away, or rehabilitate it. They will destroy every man, woman, and child on this earth who does not believe in and adhere to their way of life. It is as simple as that.
The problem is we have, thus far, not been willing to destroy them. They get medals for cutting our heads off, whereas we go to jail for putting underwear on their heads.
SMITH: Why is that?
THORNTON: Several reasons. One is we, in this country, are letting a bunch of lawyers take the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and reword it. And the American people are letting them get away with it. That's not what the courageous Jeffersons, or the Henrys – those who would stand up and say, 'Give me liberty or give me death' (and mean it) – stood for.
Now, instead of us eliminating the terrorists, we seem to want to put them in jail and then release them.
We let people here in this country tell us how to fight and win in Iraq, and we should not be doing that. Let the military do that.
SMITH: Let's look at Iraq: Can we win the war there?
THORNTON: Yes, of course. Some may say they are not suited for democracy.
But look, if you had told me when I returned from Vietnam in 1973 that Communism would ultimately collapse worldwide, I would have said you are crazy as hell.
Now look at Vietnam: they are moving more toward a free market economy everyday. Communism is basically dead in Vietnam. They are becoming more-and-more democratic every year. They are welcoming American and European tourists.
Cam Ranh Bay used to be a battlefield for Americans. Now it's one of the nicest resorts in the Far East.
Also, look at how long it took us to achieve our own independence in this country?
Everything takes time. It takes hard work, strong leadership, and the right approach to fighting this war.
SMITH: Those who are vocally against the war in Iraq – saying that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 – contend that we've taken many of our counterterror assets and placed them in Iraq when they could be better used to fight terrorism elsewhere in the world.
THORNTON: I disagree. Look, Saddam Hussein was hosting terror parties in his country. He was backing various fascist entities. He was giving money and support to different terrorist organizations. These are facts.
Now, was he using his people like the Republican Guard to conduct terrorist operations? No he wasn't. He needed them for internal security because he was having problems keeping peace in his own country.
But was he training terrorists and permitting terrorist training to be conducted in his country? Yes, he was. That's a fact.
SMITH: Though almost no one has published this – nor other examples like it – I know that during the invasion phase, a group of Marines came upon a building in Baghdad, and there they discovered multiple stacks of brand new suicide vests, still wrapped in plastic bags ready to be shipped to who knows where.
THORNTON: That's very true, and it has been recognized. The problem is that much of the mainstream media has ignored it, because they have it in for the current administration. It's all politics.
I read some of the major publications in the country, and am shocked by the lies. It's not even spin or opinion. Much of it is lies.
SMITH: The War on Terror has placed an enormous demand on U.S. special-operations forces. In fact, the Defense Department hopes to increase its numbers of special operators – currently totaling about 40,000 – by 15 percent over the next four years. Let's take SEALs for instance: It costs about $350.000 to fully train a SEAL in the 21st century. And the attrition rate for BUD/S [Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training] is about 80 percent. How do we increase the numbers without lowering standards?
THORNTON: You're right; we do not want to lower standards, and the attrition rate is very high. But the qualified kids are getting through. The biggest problems in terms of attrition – as I see it – are the young guys who are opting out of the military to go to work for private contractors where they can make $200,000 a year doing the same job, and in some ways it may even be safer.
So we need to increase pay and incentives to retain these guys. We also need to make sure their families are properly taken care of, so that they can stay in and focus on what needs to be done. And we as ordinary Americans need to be vocally and in other ways supporting them.
— A former U.S. Marine infantry leader and parachutist, W. Thomas Smith Jr. writes about military issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans and on the West Bank. He is the author of five books, a columnist at Townhall.com, and his articles have appeared in USA Today, George, CBS News, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, National Review Online and The Washington Times.
W. Thomas Smith Jr. can be reached at editor@reportingwar.com.
© 2006 W. Thomas Smith Jr.