Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Captain

Unit:

3rd Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Forces

Awarded on:

August 28th, 1942

Citation:
"For extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight between Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands, and Iloilo, Panay, Philippine Islands, on April 8, 1942. Receiving orders to evacuate personnel and government property, Captain Thorne, although he was suffering from malaria, loaded his passengers in the baggage compartment of a pursuit airplane and took off at night through enemy machine gun fire which was sweeping the airdrome. After bombing enemy positions in the vicinity, he proceeded, without navigational aids or night flying equipment, with a greatly overloaded pursuit airplane through three hundred miles of enemy territory and safely brought his plane and passengers to their destination."