REMEMBERING LEO THORSNESS

Stephen Spender wrote in his most famous poem: “I think continually of those who were truly great.” Today I am thinking of Leo Thorsness. He was truly great. When Leo died on May 3, 2017, this is what I had to say.

I am sad to report that Leo Thorsness has died at the age of 85. Meeting him was perhaps the most awesome experience I owe to writing for Power Line. I had the great good fortune of meeting him in the summer of 2008 through the offices of McCain campaign spokesman Tom Steward (now with Center of the American Experiment).

When Tom invited me to meet with Leo (as I came to know him) in St. Paul as he toured on behalf of Senator McCain, I vaguely recalled him as a Vietnam veteran who had narrowly lost a 1974 Senate race to George McGovern in the toxic aftermath of Watergate. That recollection proved accurate, but his record contained a few other items of interest.

Leo was a native Minnesotan, having been born into a farm family near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and graduated from Walnut Grove High School in 1950. He attended South Dakota State College, where he met his wife in the freshman registration line. In January 1951 he enlisted in the Air Force and graduated from pilot school in 1954. He was a career fighter pilot, reaching the rank of colonel and accumulating 5,000 hours of flying time.

Colonel Thorsness flew 92-and-a-half Wild Weasel missions over North Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on a Wild Weasel mission on April 19, 1967, 11 days before being shot down. His Medal of Honor citation provides the outline of the heroics for which he was recognized.

I found it almost unbelievable that the heroics he displayed on his Medal of Honor mission were followed by further displays of heroism approximating the valor he displayed on the mission. When he was shot down by an air to air missile in late April 1967, he ejected from his exploding fighter doing 690 miles per hour, injuring both knees and sustaining multiple fractures of his back. Like John McCain, he was “tied up” for the next six years. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton and several other North Vietnamese hellholes, including the one known as Camp Punishment, reserved for especially “difficult” cases.

His nomination for the Medal of Honor was kept a secret so that the North Vietnamese would not use the citation against him and aggravate the conditions of his captivity. As it was, he was tortured unmercifully for the first three years.

Upon his capture, he was tortured in interrogation for 19 days and 18 nights, without sleep. “It took them 18 days to break me,” he told me when I first met him in the summer of 2008. Eighteen days! As I sat listening to him, I thought someone has to write up this story.

MOH CITATION

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. As pilot of an F-105 aircraft, Lt. Col. Thorsness was on a surface-to-air missile suppression mission over North Vietnam. Lt. Col. Thorsness and his wingman attacked and silenced a surface-to-air missile site with air-to-ground missiles, and then destroyed a second surface-to-air missile site with bombs. In the attack on the second missile site, Lt. Col. Thorsness’ wingman was shot down by intensive antiaircraft fire, and the two crewmembers abandoned their aircraft. Lt. Col. Thorsness circled the descending parachutes to keep the crewmembers in sight and relay their position to the Search and Rescue Center. During this maneuver, a MIG-17 was sighted in the area. Lt. Col. Thorsness immediately initiated an attack and destroyed the MIG. Because his aircraft was low on fuel, he was forced to depart the area in search of a tanker. Upon being advised that two helicopters were orbiting over the downed crew’s position and that there were hostile MIGs in the area posing a serious threat to the helicopters, Lt. Col. Thorsness, despite his low fuel condition, decided to return alone through a hostile environment of surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft defenses to the downed crew’s position. As he approached the area, he spotted four MIG-17 aircraft and immediately initiated an attack on the MIGs, damaging one and driving the others away from the rescue scene. When it became apparent that an aircraft in the area was critically low on fuel and the crew would have to abandon the aircraft unless they could reach a tanker, Lt. Col. Thorsness, although critically short on fuel himself, helped to avert further possible loss of life and a friendly aircraft by recovering at a forward operating base, thus allowing the aircraft in emergency fuel condition to refuel safely. Lt. Col. Thorsness’ extraordinary heroism, self-sacrifice, and personal bravery involving conspicuous risk of life were in the highest traditions of the military service, and have reflected great credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.

Thank you for the post. Leo was a friend of mine.

In the 1980s Leo had moved to WA and became a State Senator. I wrote Leo a letter of support for a particular “good government” bill.

Out of the blue, on a Tuesday night, Leo called me at home to discuss the bill. We got together and began working on refinements that he later championed and the bill became law.

Leo never worked through aides or assistants, he did his own research and gathered support from other legislators, Republican and Democrat directly. A handshake and a look in the eye and everyone knew he was serious and not into wasting time.

He was a gentleman and a warrior, and the finest character I ever met.

God bless you Leo.

In the 80s, he visited the Wild Weasel squadron in the Philippines. He flew an F4 (with an IP)...but the IP said Leo Thorness flew the Phantom like he’d been born in one.

He said a few weeks before being shot down, he fired a Shrike at an SA-2 radar and hit it. Oops! It was on the Chinese embassy! By the time the diplomatic complaints went uphill and the poop flowed down, he was already a prisoner of the NV.

His wing commander replied to the order to punish him with the response, “If they want to punish him, they’ll have to do it themselves!”

He made quite an impression on the entire squadron!

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