Medal of Honor recipient, former POW laid to rest
By Staff Sgt. Alyssa C. Gibson , Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs / Published February 14, 2018
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- As a Medal of Honor recipient and former Prisoner of War, retired Col. Leo Thorsness’s life mantra after returning home from the Vietnam War was “Faith, Family, Friends and Fun.â€
With the support of Air Force senior leaders, his wife, Gaylee, and daughter, Dawn, kept those words close as they said their final goodbye to Thorsness during his interment at Arlington National Cemetery Feb. 14, 2018.
Thorsness was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on April 19, 1967. That day, Thorsness, an F-105 Thunderchief pilot, was on a surface-to-air missile suppression mission over North Vietnam. According to his citation, the pilot and his wingman attacked and silenced a SAM site with air-to-ground missiles, then destroyed a second SAM site with bombs. In the attack on the second missile site, Thorsness' wingman was shot down and the two crewmembers abandoned their aircraft.
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