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| An honor flight for Linwood's Bob Norton |
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| Wednesday, 21 October 2009 | |
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Cliff Buchan News Editor Bob Norton has traveled the world in his 94 years. London, New York City, Casablanca, and points near France and Italy. Even the South Sea Islands, the Panama Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar. Bob Norton has seen them all, but not with the eyes of a tourist or someone there for recreation and fun. Norton’s city visits and ports of call were as a Navy sailor during the battles of World War II. It was a military career that carried him to North Africa, the invasion of Sicily and the mainland of Italy, the D-Day invasion of Normandy and the efforts to reclaim the Philippine Islands during the war on the other side of the world. One place Norton has never been is Washington, D.C. But that will change this weekend as the Linwood Township man and close friend Mark Holl will make the trip. Early Saturday morning, the two will board a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport and wing east, with the goal of checking off one more city on Norton’s lifetime passport. The goal is a visit to the National World War II Memorial now in its fifth year and a popular destination for veterans and family members of those who fought the war to end all wars. Honor flight Seeing the memorial and some of the other historical points in the nation’s capital has long been on Norton’s to do list. The chance of doing so seemed to be less possible, however, as the years passed. For the past two years, Holl and former Wyoming area resident Dale Sandahl, now of Rosemount, worked to get Norton included in one of the “Honor Flights” that transport World War II veterans to Washington. With the backlog long for those waiting for the special flights, Holl and Sandahl took matters into their own hands. “Dale is the driving force behind this effort,” Holl said last week. “We’re going to have our own honor flight for Bob.” The two have dug into their own pockets and friends and family members are helping out with donations to pay for the trip and a one-night stay in a popular D.C. hotel near the memorial. The trio of men have been friends since meeting at the Wyoming Men’s Prayer Breakfast in 1983 shortly after Norton and his wife, Violet, moved to the area from Sioux City, IA. Over the years Norton has stories of his life travels and his friends sensed a desire by Norton to see the memorial that recognizes all those who took part in W.W. II. “He’s one of my best friends,” said Holl, 52, a Lindstrom resident and 1976 graduate of Forest Lake High School. “I look up to him.” The two plan to spend Saturday afternoon touring the memorial and historic points in Washington, including other mouments, memorials and Arlington National Cemetery before flying home on Sunday night. A Storied Past Norton was in his late 20s when he enlisted in the Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The native of Afton, IA, was a college-trained pharmacist. “I was a pharmacist before I went into the service,” Norton said. Before shipping out from New York City for North Africa in late 1942, Norton was assigned as a pharmacist mate aboard an LCT (Landing Craft Tank) attached to the U.S.S. Philadelphia, a cruiser that steamed for Morocco and Casablanca. He was one of two pharmacist mates assigned with a medical doctor. He functioned as a medic for a group of 12 LCTs which each carried a 12-man crew and hauled men and equipment to beach landing zones. Norton trained in North Africa before moving out in the campaign to capture Sicily and eventually land at Salerno Beach on Italy’s coast. His LCT was among the first to hit the beach at Salerno on Sept. 3, 1943 carrying British troops that suffered heavy casualties in the on-shore fighting that followed. For 30 days, Norton helped shuttle men and equipment to the mainland. The landings usually came under enemy shelling. By 1944, Norton’s unit had made its way to England. Now as a chief pharmacist mate, Norton prepared for the D-Day invasion of France that would come on June 6, 1944. Norton’s vessel carrying troops and radio equipment was 100 yards from shore at Omaha Beach on D-Day when the boat was swamped by seas sent rolling by the big Allied gun boats moving off shore. “It was the third time that we had trouble,” he said, recalling the D-Day swamping and two previous incidents from the Italy campaigns where his LCT was disabled forcing one island landing and a night of waiting for rescue when his ship broke apart in rough seas. Norton and his crew were safely rescued from the water off Omaha Beach. They were placed on a hospital ship and returned to England. After a 30-day stay in Scotland, the unit was sent back to New York City on the Queen Mary, the top luxury ocean liner of its time. After arriving in New York, Norton was assigned as chief pharmacist mate aboard a destroyer that was sent to the South Pacific in late 1944. Norton’s ship was tasked with convoy duty as the war effort continued to wrest control of the region from the Japanese. He was training for the invasion of Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped on two cities in Japan in August 1945, ending the war. He was sent home and released from the military. A Good Trip Norton says he is looking forward to the trip and thankful to the efforts of his close friends who are making it possible. Violet Norton will remain at home with their son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Gloria Norton. Bob and Violet moved to Minnesota 26 years ago to be near Scott and Gloria and their seven children. A daughter, Sheila, lives in Milwaukee, WI. After leaving the Navy in 1945, Norton returned to Sioux City but soon moved to Worthington, MN, where he ran a meat processing plant. He eventually returned to Sioux City and resumed his career as a pharmacist. He worked another 18 years in Sioux City before retirement called in 1983. Holl says the effort to get Norton to Washington is not the big story. The real story, he says, is Norton, his service to country and fulfilling a dream of one day seeing the memorial. Holl is also excited about the trip and the chance to spend time with a man he has come to love and respect. Getting Bob Norton there will mean much to Norton’s many friends watching from home. “It’s just a seed that has grown,” Holl said of the effort to form this special honor flight. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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