SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Retired Air Force Col. Leo K. Thorsness, a highly decorated Vietnam War hero who was cellmates with U.S. Sen. John McCain in an enemy prisoner camp, has died at age 85.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society says he died Tuesday. The cause wasn't disclosed.Thorsness enlisted in the military in 1951. The pilot was shot down during the war and was a prisoner for six years in a camp dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton." He was later awarded the Medal of Honor.
McCain released a statement saying: "One of the greatest honors of my life was serving with Leo."
The Walnut Grove, Minn. native met his wife after enrolling at South Dakota State University in 1950. He was South Dakota's Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1974, losing to incumbent Democrat George McGovern.He was a legislator in Washington state and later moved to Florida.