Medal of Honor History: Colalillo and Norris

7 Apr 1945 near Untergriesheim, Germany: Enemy fire pinned down Private Michael “Mike” Colalillo and his company. Despite the heavy machine gun, artillery, and mortar fire, Colalillo stood up and urged his men and a tank to follow him. Firing his Grease Gun until it was destroyed by shrapnel, he then climbed up on a friendly tank and began firing the machine gun on the turret. Although exposed to enemy fire, Colalillo killing and wounding numerous enemy troops, and destroyed machine gun positions before silencing all resistance. Having expended all the ammunition, he then secured a Thompson machine gun from the tank crew and pursued the fleeing Germans on foot. Once their ammunition was expended, the order to withdraw was given. However, Colalillo remained behind to rescue a wounded comrade – crossing several hundred yards of open terrain as the soldiers were rocked by heavy artillery and mortar fire. Read the citation

2 Apr 1972: Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton’s electronic surveillance aircraft is shot down by an enemy surface-to-air missile – into an area with 30,000 enemy troops. Over the course of the next several days, ten men are killed in rescue efforts; four aircraft are shot down; two more airmen are captured; and two others are trapped behind enemy lines. Enter SEAL Adviser Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris.

10-13 Apr 1972: Lt. Norris volunteered to lead a five-man team through the heavily-controlled enemy area to rescue a downed airman. Norris locates Lt. Mark Clark in a river deep behind enemy lines, and returns him to a Forward Operating Base (FOB). Once back at the FOB however, the base came under heavy enemy attack. Half of the personnel are lost, but Norris saved numerous South Vietnamese personnel, directed counterfire, and provided medical aid. The next day, Norris led two unsuccessful attempts to rescue the second pilot. Then on the 13th, Norris and another South Vietnamese commando located Hambleton, placing him in the bottom of a sampan and brought him back to the FOB. But before they reached the relative safety of the base, the three came under machine gun attack. Norris called in an airstrike, and the men were able to finally bring Col. Hambleton to safety. Read the citation

Note: Lt. Norris was involved in another Medal of Honor action in months to come, but we will discuss that on 31 October.