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Photo: DoD
By the early 1970s, the U.S. was winding down its involvement in Vietnam. Nevertheless, there were still troops putting their lives on the line. And for Navy SEAL Thomas Norris, his heroism and refusal to abandon downed pilots would result in his being awarded the Medal of Honor. His incredible story was later made into the blockbuster film
BAT-21, starring Gene Hackman.
Lt. Thomas Norris was an extraordinarily brave and quick-thinking SEAL. He was assigned to MACV-SOG Danang Naval Advisory Detachment and conducted several operations over April 9-13, 1972 to rescue downed Air Force pilots.
Thomas Norris was born in Jacksonville, Florida but grew up in Wisconsin and Washington DC. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Maryland. He graduated in 1967 with a degree in sociology with a specialty in criminology. He was also an ACC Wrestling Champion in 1965 and 1966.
Voice from the past: Combat vet reconnects with long-ago platoon buddy
NORTHERN CHEYENNE, Montana (Billings Gazette) Laura Rockroads was in bed at her Busby home in 1970 when she heard a knock at the door. The mother of three answered each knock with “enter” in Northern Cheyenne. The door opened; a face she hadn’t seen in a year peered in. It was her son.
Thomas Rockroads Jr., now 72, returned home from combat in Vietnam before he was even legally allowed to vote. In spite of her rheumatoid arthritis, Laura sprang from the couch and yelled. The two had last seen each other in Billings, as Thomas boarded a 747 to begin his deployment. They had parted then with a Northern Cheyenne song that, 52 years later, the Bronze Star recipient still sings.
Vietnam veteran Thomas Rockroads Jr. s contribution to the Billings Gazette’s "Vietnam Voices" series turned up in a search by one of his old platoon members, Dennis Joanethis, a former private first class in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The two reunited recently.
PAUL HAMBY
U.S. Army veteran Thomas Rockroads Jr. talks about his experiences in Vietnam from the perspective of a Northern Cheyenne tribal member.
Laura Rockroads was in bed at her Busby home in 1970 when she heard a knock at the door. The mother of three answered each knock with âenterâ in Northern Cheyenne. The door opened; a face she hadn t seen in a year peered in. It was her son.
Thomas Rockroads Jr., now 72, returned home from combat in Vietnam before he was even legally allowed to vote. In spite of her rheumatoid arthritis, Laura sprang from the couch and yelled. The two had last seen each other in Billings, as Thomas boarded a 747 to begin his deployment. They had parted then with a Northern Cheyenne song that, 52 years later, the Bronze Star recipient still sings.
In the aftermath of the Korean War, the U.S. Army took stock of its small arms arsenal.
Here s What You Need to Remember: As U.S. forces streamed out of bases in the United States bound for Southeast Asia, few would have imagined the M16 rifle, which seemed to have such a rosy future, would encounter such controversy.
The M16 rifle is one of the most iconic weapons of the post-World War II era. American fighting men have carried the M16 in one form or another into combat for more than fifty years, from Vietnam to the present day. The story of the original M16, whose descendants the M16A4 and M4 carbine today fight in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State, goes all the way back to the 1950s and the institutional soul-searching that came after another war Korea.