Talk:Michael E. Thornton

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 23:53, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Last serving MoH recipient?
According to a source I read, he was the last Medal of Honor recipient to serve with the Armed Forces after earning the Medal of Honor. Is this confirmable, and should it be included? Orville Eastland (talk) 23:58, 5 October 2009 (UTC)
 * No, Gordon Ray Roberts is still serving in the Army. — jwillbur 16:05, 7 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the info, but Colonel Roberts did leave the army for a time and reenlist later, according to the article. I do appreciate the help- I didn't know that before!Orville Eastland (talk) 01:03, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

Either this entry or the Norris entry is wrong.
The entry on Michael Thornton contains the following statement:"For these actions, Thornton was awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was formally presented to him by President Richard Nixon during a ceremony at the White House on October 15, 1973. The man Thornton rescued, Thomas Norris, survived his wounds and was awarded the Medal of Honor during the same ceremony for his April 1972 rescue of LtCol Iceal Hambleton and 1stLt Mark Clark from behind enemy lines." So according to this entry, Thomas Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor in October of 1973. However the Wikipedia entry for Thomas Norris states the following:"Norris received the Medal of Honor from President Gerald R. Ford in a White House ceremony on March 6, 1976." Either Norris received his Medal of Honor from Richard Nixon in 1973 or from Gerald Ford in 1976. Obviously one of the entries has to be wrong. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.141.154.28 (talk) 02:18, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

NDSM ?
Not meaning to nitpick, but how did Lieutenant Thornton earn a National Defense Service Medal with two bronze service stars? He should have one star on the award for serving in Vietnam (the original medal) and during the Gulf War (one service star).

The only other two times the NDSM was awarded was for Korea and the War on Terrorism - which he was too young for the former and had retired well before the latter. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.208.149.67 (talk) 02:51, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
 * That's a valid question I'm not sure I would have to look at the sources to see where it came from. Kumioko (talk) 03:10, 7 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Three possible explanations are

The person who wrote the article got it wrong; or

The additional device was authorized for Grenada or Operation Claw; or

There's a photograph of Lt. Thornton somewhere wearing improper decoration. That seems the least likely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.213.142.170 (talk) 05:52, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

For Additional Sources Check PMML Holdings
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library has information in its holdings on Thornton. He is also currently featured in the Museum & Library's exhibit on Navy SEALS, entitled SEAL The Unspoken Sacrifice, which is scheduled to run through December 2014. TeriEmbrey (talk) 15:01, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

Requested move 27 June 2018

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Not moved. There is a clear absence of consensus following extended discussion, and a reasonable policy-based argument that the current title is the most natural disambiguation for this subject. bd2412 T 00:38, 30 July 2018 (UTC)

Michael E. Thornton → Mike Thornton (Medal of Honor) – Biographical entries for Medal of Honor recipients usually depict, as the main title header, the recipient's name in the same form that it appears in the Medal citation. Exceptions are made, however, in cases where the recipient becomes known by a shorter or revised name — Alvin York, not Alvin C. York or Audie Murphy, not Audie L. Murphy. In the same manner, Michael E. Thornton has become better known as "Mike Thornton" — he uses "Mike" in the title of his website and "Mike Thornton" is the pen name he uses on the cover of his book. A related RM is currently active at Talk:Mike Thornton (politician). Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 22:36, 27 June 2018 (UTC) --Relisting. bd2412  T 19:24, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
 * While I see that there are many articles in the category of Medal of Honor recipients with this disambiguator, it strikes me as suboptimal, since he is not a Medal of Honor. What about "(sailor)" which is also in use for some articles in the category? Or "(sailor, born 1949)" given the existence of Michael Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1884)? Dekimasu よ! 01:23, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * There have been discussions at the various WikiProjects regarding these possibly suboptimal disambiguation forms — in sports, particularly, hundreds of players are described as "(baseball)", "(basketball)" or "(volleyball)". As for the use of "(sailor)", there are scores of those under Category:Olympic sailors by country. Although some editors create military articles with randomly individualistic parenthetical qualifiers, WP:WikiProject Military history has been using standard qualifiers for recipients of all military awards — as depicted at Category:Recipients of military awards and decorations. It is particularly true of the Medal of Honor {John Andrews (Medal of Honor)} under Category:Recipients of United States military awards and decorations and Category:Recipients of the Medal of Honor, the George Cross {George Abbott (GC)} and the Victoria Cross {William Addison (VC)} under Category:Recipients of United Kingdom military awards and decorations.   Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 03:38, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * As for the earlier Michael Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1884), we can create the analogous main title header Mike Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1973).   Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 04:00, 28 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Go with Michael Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1973), note he is called "Michael Thornton" in press reports. In ictu oculi (talk) 09:10, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
 * As noted in the nomination, WP:WikiProject Military history has been listing the names of Medal of Honor recipients in the same form as those names appear in the Medal citation. The 19th century Michael Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1884) had no middle initial, while the 20th–21st century Michael Thornton is cited as Michael E. Thornton, which is the article's current main header. However, since tens of thousands of Wikipedia biographical entries differ from each other solely by middle initials, it would seem that the form Michael E. Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1973) would be overly specific.
 * Also, while occasionally mentioned in the media as "Michael Thornton", it is clear that subject's own form of his public name is "Mike Thornton" . Thus, following the examples of such past Medal of Honor celebrities as the above-mentioned Sergeant York or Audie Murphy, the main header of his article should indicate Mike Thornton (Medal of Honor) or Mike Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1973). Perhaps a listing at WP:WikiProject Military history may generate additional input.   Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 14:01, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

Note: Announcement of this discussion appears at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history. Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 14:01, 29 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Comment I would have though Michael Thornton (sailor, born 1949) would do the job neutrally. There is no-one at that title. This use of Medal of Honor as a disambiguator seems POV to me. He is not a MoH. It has been largely dispensed with for Victoria Cross recipients for that reason. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 10:44, 2 July 2018 (UTC)
 * As mentioned above (Category:Olympic sailors by country), the qualifier "(sailor)" has been used in scores of main headers delineating Olympic competitors rather than military men: Keith Barker (sailor), Warren Brown (sailor), Alex Cooper (sailor), Danielle Dube (sailor), Peter Gordon (sailor), Norman Jones (sailor), Walter Jones (sailor), Christopher Nash (sailor), John Voss (sailor), David Wright (sailor), etc, to name but ten.   Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 19:05, 3 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Support per nom. Appears to be his common name and uses the standard disambiguator for MoH recipients. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:33, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose per WP:NATURAL. He's referred to as Michael E. Thornton or Michael Edwin Thornton in a number of reliable sources, including on his own website. There's nothing wrong with the current setup. Station1 (talk) 07:55, 11 July 2018 (UTC) Or just move him to plain Mike Thornton since he's the primary topic for Mike or Michael.|Michael_E._Thornton|Michael_Patrick_Thornton|Michael_B._Thornton|Michael_Thornton_(Medal_of_Honor,_awarded_1884) - Station1 (talk) 08:07, 11 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Comment If renaming is appropriate, the new article name ought to be meaningful. Not sure why two have commented that he is not MOH, since he is. Thus, "sailor" is unhelpful and inappropriate. Re-naming this article to align with the earlier Michael Thornton (Medal of Honor, awarded 1884) would only compound the mistake made given to this earlier, unnecessarily complicated article name, since Michael Thornton (Medal of Honor) is certainly unique. Since the WP convention appears to use the name given in the MOH citation, then Michael E. Thornton (Medal of Honor) appears suitable. — btphelps (talk to me) (what I've done) 16:26, 18 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose per Station1's WP:NATURAL argument. -- Tavix ( talk ) 18:49, 18 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose per Station1. Dekimasu よ! 21:02, 24 July 2018 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

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