Medal of Honor Recipients Visit Barrington High School

At first glance, the two men on stage at Barrington High School on July 22 appeared to have little in common: Michael Thorton, a robust 62-year-old from South Carolina and Rodolfo Hernandez an 80-year disabled Hispanic from California.  But their wartime circumstances have united these men like brothers.   

Both Medal of Honor recipients, Thorton and Hernandez joined 35 other war heroes who have received the nation’s highest military honor, to take their stories to Chicago-area high schools on Friday. Their goal is to spread the word to younger audiences that selflessness in defense of freedom is a worthy calling. 

“I know Rudy agrees with me, when I say this medal is not about us,” said Thorton,  “It’s about serving something bigger than us; a call to duty in the name of freedom.”

Thorton walked the stage telling his story in a booming, animated voice, then, as the band of brothers do, leaned over to help a sitting Hernandez struggle to read his account.  

After sustaining major head injuries during his act of valor in the Korean conflict, the former Cpl. Hernandez had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat and read.  In 1951, when his platoon came under ruthless attack, Hernandez forged ahead through enemy fire despite a serious head wound sustained by grenade exchange.  When his rifle failed to engage, Hernandez charged his foe with a bayonet killing six of the enemy and momentarily halting the assault, enabling his platoon to retake lost ground. 

“A few months after I learned to walk, I was told to get ready for a trip to Washington, D.C.,” said Hernandez, in a hushed, halting voice. “I still couldn’t talk but my brother went with me and that helped. I felt pretty good in a smart looking uniform and a bald new look.  We went to the White House where President Truman decorated me with the Medal of Honor.”

In 1972, Navy SEAL Thorton, despite taking a bullet to the back, found strength to kill two Vietnamese soldiers who were standing over his commanding lieutenant’s presumably dead body. Thorton than swam out to sea for two hours dragging the lieutenant and another wounded Navy SEAL to safety. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard M. Nixon.

Summer school students and parents packed the BHS auditorium for a rare opportunity to meet the distinguished war heros. 

“It’s just an honor to be in the same room with these men,” said Robert Hamilton, a member of the U.S. Military Police during the Korean conflict. “I’ve been a civilian police officer most of my life and haven’t seen a fraction of what these men have been through.”

Hamilton was joined by his granddaughter, Shelby Perkins, a senior at Barrington High School.

The Medal of Honor is the military’s highest award for valor in action against an enemy force. Congress has recognized, 3,454 men and one woman for such extreme acts of valor, and only 85 recipients are living today.  

After a day of high school visits, the 35 recipients were honored Friday evening at a black-tie gala at the Barrington Hills Sanfilippo estate. Medal of Honor recipients will visit Arlington Park racetrack in honor of Military Appreciation Day on Saturday.