~ IN MEMORY ~
Medal of Honor POW, Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Leo K.
Thorsness
February 14, 1932 ~ May 2, 2017
Leo Keith
Thorsness (February 14, 1932 – May 2,
2017) was a colonel in the
United States Air Force who received the Medal of Honor
for his actions in the Vietnam War. He
was awarded the medal for an air engagement on April 19, 1967. He was shot down
two weeks later and spent six years in captivity in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war.
After his military service, Thorsness served one term in the Washington State Senate.
Leo Thorsness, Decorated Veteran Held Captive With McCain, Dies at 85
Leo Thorsness spent six years in captivity in North Vietnam after he was
shot down in 1967. President Richard M. Nixon gave him the Medal of Honor for
his actions on a mission 11 days before he was taken
prisoner..............................
Col. Leo K. Thorsness, one of the most highly decorated American airmen of
the Vietnam War and a belated recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroism on
a mission that took place 11 days before he was shot down and taken prisoner,
died on Tuesday in Jacksonville, Fla. Colonel Thorsness, who had been brutalized
during his six years of captivity at the notorious North Vietnamese prison known
as the Hanoi Hilton, where he was a cellmate of John McCain’s, was 85.
His wife, Gaylee, said the cause was leukemia. He died at a Mayo Clinic.
Colonel and Mrs. Thorsness had been living in St. Augustine, Fla., for the past
year and
half......................................................................................................................
From:
wmkerschner88@gmail.com Sent:
5/4/2017 8:59:08 P.M. Central Daylight Time Subj: Leo Thorsness
passing
A great American of Scandinavian descent from America's Midwest.
A great American of Scandinavian descent from America's Midwest.
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