Hero to lead parade

The Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce announced Friday that Tom Norris, a Medal of Honor recipient, is this year's Fourth of July parade grand marshal.

Serving in Vietnam as a Navy SEAL, Norris completed an unprecedented ground rescue of two downed pilots deep within heavily-controlled enemy territory in Quang Tri Province.

A five-man patrol located one of the downed pilots at daybreak and returned with him to the forward operating base (FOB).

After a devastating mortar and rocket attack on the small FOB, Lt. Norris led a three-man team on two unsuccessful rescue attempts for the second pilot. Finally, a forward air controller located the pilot and notified Norris.

Dressed in fishermen disguises and using a sampan, he and a Vietnamese person traveled throughout that night and found the injured pilot at dawn. Covering the pilot with bamboo and vegetation, they began the return journey, successfully evading a North Vietnamese patrol.

Approaching the FOB, they came under heavy machine gun fire. AFter calling in an air strike, which provided suppression fire and a smoke screen, they were able to reach the FOB.

Six months later, in October 1972, Norris sustained a near-fatal head wound in action and was rescued by his fellow Navy SEAL, Michael Thornton.

As a result of the head injury, Norris was retired from the Navy. To recover from this injury, he spent three years in the hospital and underwent many major surgeries over a six-year period.

Norris received the Medal of Honor from President Gerald R. Ford in a White House ceremony on March 6, 1976.