Leo Thorsness, decorated POW in Vietnam with McCain, dies

FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2016, file photo, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Leo K. Thorsness, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, is seen at a presidential campaign event in Clear Lake, Iowa. Thorsness died of leukemia in Florida on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, according to his wife. He was 85. Thorsness was once cellmates in a Vietnamese prison camp dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton" with U.S. Sen John McCain. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2016, file photo, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Leo K. Thorsness, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, is seen at a presidential campaign event in Clear Lake, Iowa. Thorsness died of leukemia in Florida on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, according to his wife. He was 85. Thorsness was once cellmates in a Vietnamese prison camp dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton" with U.S. Sen John McCain. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

By Associated Press May 5, 2017 1 min read

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Retired Air Force Col. Leo K. Thorsness, a highly decorated war hero who was cellmates with U.S. Sen. John McCain in a Vietnamese 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 Vietnam War and was a prisoner of war for six years in a camp dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton.”

He was awarded the military’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor.

The Minnesota 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.