Thornton, Larry C.
Air Force Chief master sergeant

Larry C. Thornton, age 33, from Bonneville County Idaho Falls, Idaho .

Parents: Cliff Thornton

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, December 24, 1965
Death details: On April 10, 2012, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Chief Master Sergeant Larry C. Thornton, missing from the Vietnam War. Chief Master Sergeant Thornton entered the U.S. Air Force from Idaho and was a member of the 4th Air Commando Squadron. On December 24, 1965, he was a crew member aboard an AC-47D Spooky gunship carrying five other crew members on an armed reconnaissance mission against enemy targets in southern Laos. The aircraft crashed during the mission in Savannakhet Province and CMSgt Thornton was killed in the incident along with the other crew members. In 1995, a joint U.S./Laotian team investigated a reported location in Savannakhet Province that led the team to the Spooky’s crash site and recovery of aircraft wreckage. The team re-visited the site from 1999 to 2001, and again in 2010 and 2011, and recovered human remains, personal items, and military equipment. Modern forensic techniques were able to identify CMSgt Thornton among the remains recovered.

Source: National Archives, UPI (1965), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency