William F. Thorng

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to William F. Thorng (6145127), Private, U.S. Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Company D, 517th Parachute Combat Regiment Team, 13th Airborne Division, near Col De Braus, France, on 6 September 1944. While reconnoitering defensive positions, Private Thorng, lead scout for his company, was the first to discover an impending enemy counterattack. At that time, being in the process of deployment, the company was unprepared to cope with an assault by a numerically superior force. Private Thorng, with cool daring, left his sheltered position and dashed through the hail of mortar and artillery fire toward the enemy, firing his sub-machine gun. His prompt aggressive action alerted the company, and allowed his officers time to establish a defense. During a subsequent operation, Private Thorng, again bravely exposing himself to furious enemy fire, advanced on a machine gun nest. Seizing the rifle of a fallen comrade, after shrapnel had damaged his own, he pressed forward amid the falling shells. After inflicting severe casualties on the enemy and causing them to withdraw, Private Thorng was fatally wounded. The gallantry of Private Thorng’s action exemplifies the traditional valor of the American Soldier under fire.