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Victor "Vic" Rudolph Norgord
Lilah Crowe2019-12-31T09:04:01-06:00
- Name: Victor "Vic" Rudolph Norgord
- Location of Birth: Trout Lake Township, Itasca County, Minnesota
- Date of Birth: March 8, 1908
- Date of Death: January 12, 1970
- Parents: Jacob Norgord & Maria (Soronen) Norgord
- High School and Class: 1924 Grand Rapids High School, Grand Rapids, Minnesota
- College:
- Highest Rank: CPL (Corporal)
- Branch: Army
- Other Branch:
- Date Sworn In: April 21, 1942
- Place Sworn In: Chicaco, Illinois
- Date of Discharge: October 19, 1945
- Place of Discharge: Galesburg, Illinois
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- Military Awards:
EAME (European African Middle Eastern) Theatre Ribbon
Good Conduct Medal
Distinguished Unit Badge with Oak Leaf Cluster
- Military Highlights:
WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
State: Illinois
Name: Victor Rudolph Norgord
Race: White
Age: 32
Birth Date: March 5, 2908
Birth Place: Bovey, Minnesota, USA
Residence Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA
Registration Date: October 16, 1940
Employer: Winner Roofing Co., Chicago, Illinois
Weight: 174
Height: 5-9
Complexion: Light
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown
Other Characteristic: Glasses
Next of Kin: Jacob Norgord, father, RR #1, Bovey, Minnesota
WW II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
Name: Victor R. Norgord
Birth Year: 1908
Race: White
State of Residence: Illinois
County or City: Cook
Enlistment Date: April 21, 1942
Enlistment State: Illinois
Enlistment City: Chicago
Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Branch Code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Grade: Private
Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted men)
Source: Civil life
Education: 4 years of high school
Civil Occupation: Carpenters
Marital status: Single without dependents
Height: 68
Weight: 146
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - December 18, 1942 - "Bovey Service Men's Club: Thank you very much for the diary I received last week and the letter I received today from Mrs. Wayne Kangas and Mr. C. A. Wagner. It is very nice to have you people write to me and we appreciate it. I did miss deer hunting season and wish I could have been there, but we haven't the time for that now. There will be other hunting seasons when we get back and the deer are getting a break now, so they will be plentiful. I think most of us, in the service from northern Minnesota, are glad that we lived there and had a chance to hunt, fish and rough it as that experience is coming in handy now. Even the little experience I had with sporting guns is coming in handy for me as I'm learning to be an armorer on our planes. Wendover Field is situated at the western edge of the Great Salt Lake desert, and our outfit will be here for a while. This is where they used to make those record speed runs with racing cars on the salt flats which stretch out to the east as far as the eye can see. The food has always been very good in all the camps I have been in and we are exceptionally well clothed and treated, so we have not a thing to worry about. You citizens at home are doing a wonderful job of backing us up and it will not be long before the enemy feels the full weight of our joint enterprise. I'm getting the Bovey Press and really enjoy the Service Men's section and the news from the people at home. Hoping to see you again soon (if I get a furlough) and wishing you a Merry Christmas. I'll keep on trying to be your soldier. Victor Norgard."
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - March 12, 1943 - "Dear Sirs: I've been getting your paper right along, but would like to have my address changed so that it would reach me sooner. I enjoy reading the Service Men's Page immensely and get a big kick out of John Unger's and his friend's argument over the merits of their respective home states. Although I don't see how Obie could possible win, especially if he should come up to Minnesota for a fishing or hunting trip. Thanks, Ann, for your letter and the interest you take in our soldier boys. Wishing all of you a lot of good luck and hoping to see you soon, I remain your friend, Pfc Victor R. Norgard."
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - March 17, 1944 - "February 23rd. Dear Friends: Hello to everyone from over here in England. Just received a letter from the Service Men's Club and Mrs. J. C. Martin. Have been getting letters from there and the Bovey Press and the Reader's Digest. Thanks a lot, folks, all of you, for what you have done for me. Sure helps the old morale to hear from home. It's nice to come in from the "line" and find letters on your bunk in the evening. I'm still working on B-17s or "Flying Fortresses" as you know them. I like my work as an armorer and have learned a little about guns right along. Our new planes are sure getting classier and better than the ones I first worked on back in the States. I have a seven day furlough coming up March 7th, and will take off for Scotland to see what it looks like up there. Some of the boys have been up there and say that it's nice. Have been to London a few times, but it's rather crowded, and it's hard to get anything decent to eat. Most Englishmen eat their meals at home, if at all possible, so they have very few restaurants like we have in our cities. The blackout makes things rather difficult for getting around in the winter, when days are so short, so I haven't done too much running around since last summer. I hope we get these Heinies racked up soon, so that we can move in on Tojo with a few well placed bombs. It will be a pleasure for me to load 'em, as that job interferes with me getting back there to do a little fishing and hunting. Thanking all of you for your interest in us, I remain your friend, Victor Norgord."
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - January 12, 1945 - "December 14, 1944. Dear Ann: Thanks very much for the Christmas card which you sent. I still get the Bovey Press and enjoy reading yours and the other letters. Received two bucks from the Service Club in lieu of those cigarette lighters you tried to get. They would have been just the thing for us. I've put the two bucks away in my wallet, and when I get back there where they use American money, I'll have a steak dinner and a wee nip or two to go with it. How's that? I was in London a couple weeks ago and found out that my brother had gone to France, so didn't go to where he was at before. I was lucky to see him a month and a half ago. Christmas packages have been coming in regularly and we're getting lots of candy and fruit cake. This will be my second Christmas over here. It isn't bad here. The boys at the front are the ones who have it rough and only hope they can all spend next Christmas back there in the States. I'm still with the 100th Bomb Group and plugging along as usual. Quite a while ago I saw a picture of one of our Forts in the Bovey Press and was surprised to see it. It was the one ...(censored)... Hope you have a swell Christmas and a Happy New Year. Your friend, Victor Norgord."
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - June 8, 1945 - "NORGORD AND HAKONEN WITH EIGHTH AIR FORCE. 100th Bombardment Group (H), England, VE Day - Among the 185,000 men and women of the Eighth Air Force congratulated today by Lt. Gen James H. Doolittle, who assumed command of the Eighth in January 1944, are Cpl. Victor R. Norgord, an armament worker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Norgord of Bovey, and Lt. Howard H. Hakonen, a P-51 Mustang Fighter Pilot, 353rd Fighter Group, son of John Hakonen of Bovey. "I wish to extend my personal congratulations and my heartfelt appreciation to every one of you for the magnificent job you have done." Gen. Doolittle said in a message to all personnel. "Each of you," he continued, "may be proud of your part in the defeat of Germany. I am proud of you. The world is proud of you." The Eighth Air Force was the world's mightiest strategic bombing force. Its personnel of 185,000 was the equivalent of 12 infantry divisions and it could send 21,000 airmen in 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters over Germany at one time, a combat effort possible only through the support of tens of thousands of non-flying specialists. Since August 1942, when combat operations began, Flying Fortresses and Liberators of the Eighth dropped more than 700,000 tons of bombs on enemy targets. Fighter pilots shot down 5,250 Nazi planes and destroyed 4,250 others on the ground. Bomber gunners shot 6,000 German interceptors out of the air. The Eighth dropped an average of a ton of bombs every minute of the last 12 months. Airmen of the Eighth were the first Americans to attack Germany. The early crews flew a handful of unescorted bombers against the powerful Luftwaffe, and proved the feasibility of an American idea - precision daylight bombing over the Reich. As the Eighth grew in strength, it was assigned the task of crushing the German Air Force, which had to be done before the Allies could invade France. Bombers of the Eighth smashed Nazi aircraft production centers. Its fighters destroyed thousands of enemy planes in the air and on the ground. After beating the Luftwaffe into relative impotency, the Eighth threw its growing weight against Germany's rail system and vital resources of oil. These campaigns, in conjunction with the British Air Force and the U.S. 15th Air Force, disorganized all transport in Germany, restricted German military operations in the air and on the ground, and paved the way for the march of Allied armies across Europe."
- Wars Involved:
World War II
- MIA / POW:
- Civilian Life:
Victor Norgord was an Itasca County resident for most of his life except for a few years before and after his military service when he lived and worked in Chicago, Illinois. He married Mary Kisner in Chicago in 1945 and the couple returned to Minnesota in 1949. He was employed by the Balkan Mining Co. and Danube Mining Co.
Vic died in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and is buried in Trout Lake Community Cemetery, Bovey, Minnesota (Block 11, Lot 57). He is survived by his wife, Mary; two sons, Edward and Charles; a daughter, Marilyn; five brothers, John, Ted, Oscar, Henry, and Iver; and two sisters, Helen (Bert) Meyer and Vera (Adolph) Arneson.
- Tribal Affiliation(s):
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