| Littleton, Colorado, USA | HOME ARTS CLUBS CALENDAR HISTORY ABOUT LCN |
|
||
|
||
|
|
Norm Stangl
On the horrifying day of Pearl Harbor, Norm was in Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife and young child. He was drafted and he was not looking forward to going to war, but he was proud to serve his country and his family because he knew what he had to do. For basic training Norm went to Camp White in Medford, Oregon. The most important thing he learned there was that a command was a command and there were no "ifs" or "buts". One of Norm's responsibilities was serving on the machine gun crew during the invasions. Also, after beach heads were established, he drove a supply tractor. At Leyte, in the Philippines, Norm and his buddy were caught off guard by a Japanese bomber that hit his area with a large bomb. They ran for a foxhole and Norm never made it. His buddy got to the foxhole, but was suffocated by the sandy soil that caved in on him. Norm was wounded in the head and back from the bomb's shrapnel. He was not able to receive medical treatment until the next day. Another soldier pulled out some of the shrapnel from his body. Norm received the Purple Heart because he was wounded. He also received the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Theater Service Medal,. and the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with two bronze stars. He was finally discharged on October 16, 1945. The war affected his life in that he learned how precious life is and how fast you can lose it. Norm is now 79 years old and is a bus driver for the elderly. Even today Norm is serving, by sharing his story of his war days, and driving for senior citizens. Regarding his war experience, Norm said, "The older you get, the prouder you feel."
More Biographies:
Send comments about the Memories of WWII pages to Phyllis Larison |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Please read the Littleton Community Network Policies LCN Web pages are compiled and maintained by LCN volunteers. Send comments and corrections to lcnmaster@littleton.org Littleton Community Network Copyright © 1996-2008 |
| Last page update: March 2, 2008 12:12 PM |
Norm
Stangl was born on January 4, 1922 in Coon Rapids, Iowa. In September,
1941, before he entered the service in 1942, Norm married a young woman
named Rita. They raised a family of two children and they now have five
grandchildren. Some of his jobs after the war included farming from 1946-1962,
U.S. letter carrier from 1962-1985, public school employee from 1985-1991,
custodian from 1991-1993, and from 1994-2001, a bus driver for senior
citizens. 
After
basic training, Norm went to Northern California to prepare to go overseas.
Norm served in the Army's Combat Engineer Unit. He was in combat and fought
in several battles. His ranks were private first class and later, technician
fifth grade. He fought at Attu and Kiska, Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands,
Leyte Island in the Philippines and Ryukyus. At Attu, Norm's unit, Company
A, which consisted of about 180 men, fought against the Japanese on Engineer
Hill after 500 Japanese soldiers broke into the camp at daybreak. The
Japanese came into the camp shouting and shooting; most of them died from
suicide grenades or shots from U.S. troops. Norm was in a foxhole, shooting
at the enemy, with the rest of his unit.