How Thomas Norris Earned the Medal of Honor at An Loc

Dec 07 , 2025

How Thomas Norris Earned the Medal of Honor at An Loc

Thomas W. Norris crawled through a hailstorm of gunfire—two soldiers trapped, screaming in agony just beyond open ground. Without hesitation, he plunged into the chaos, clutching one man to his back while dodging enemy rounds. No hesitation. No retreat. Only the desperate grit to save a brother.

Background & Faith

Norris was born in 1935, in Oklahoma—grounded in small-town grit and strong faith. Raised in a Baptist household, his roots were tough but tender. The kind that taught that courage isn’t born in battle but forged in quiet days and nights, wrestling with purpose and calling.

“Be strong and courageous,” that old command echoed in his heart, a compass when bullets took to the skies.

He enlisted in the Army with that same resolve, a warrior but a servant first. Honor was never negotiable for him. In Vietnam, those values faced their hardest test.

The Battle That Defined Him

March 9, 1972—An Loc, South Vietnam. A chokepoint under siege.

Captain Norris was leading a Special Forces reconnaissance team when a burst of enemy fire ripped through their ranks. Two men lay wounded and exposed. They were pinned down, screaming for help.

Norris’s response was brutal and immediate. He charged into the kill zone, ignoring the bullets that stitched the air around him. He grabbed one soldier, hoisted him to safety, and then—without pause—turned back for the second man.

Under a merciless rain of enemy fire, he hauled the second wounded soldier off the field.

One man’s bravery may save many lives. Norris saved two that day—each action a defiant stand against the chaos of war.

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

“With complete disregard for his personal safety, Captain Norris repeatedly braved the intense hostile fire... exhibiting conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”[^1]

Recognition

The Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest military decoration—does not land in a soldier’s lap. It marks the rare few who act with superhuman valor.

Norris’s award followed his fearless rescue during the Battle of An Loc. Fellow officers and enlisted men described him as “quietly relentless.”

Colonel Robert C. Boyd, who later knew Norris, said:

“Tom had a way of embodying what it means to be a soldier—a protector at heart. That day, he didn’t think about medals. He just acted.”

The Medal arrived as a symbol of sacrifice, yes, but also a reminder of the unbearable cost borne by those who stand in harms' way for others.

Legacy & Lessons

Thomas Norris’s courage teaches a hard truth about heroes: they bleed, they suffer, but they answer a higher call. Not for glory, but because someone must stand between chaos and life.

In a world eager to forget the grit it demands, Norris’s story insists—never look away. The battlefield is not romantic. It is raw, ugly, and sacred.

His wounds—physical and spiritual—speak of sacrifice beyond medals. Of faith tested in the furnace of gunfire.

He carried his scars silently, reminding us that redemption comes not from the absence of pain but from the resolve to keep moving forward despite it.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” — Philippians 4:13

Norris’s legacy is a beacon for the broken and brave alike. Courage is a choice, not a gift. Sacrifice is the price of freedom. And redemption is never out of reach for those who fight—not just on battlefields, but within themselves.

[^1]: U.S. Army Center of Military History, "Medal of Honor Recipients — Vietnam War"