News, Citizen Profile, Glen B. Norris, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by: Craig Franklin of The Jena Times, Jena, LaSalle Parish, La. Glen B. Norris - Citizen Profile Wednesday, April 4, 2001, page 3B A Times-Signal Feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute This country boy from Rogers returned from WWII as hero He was just a country cowboy from the woods of Rogers, but he came back from World War II a hero. After experiencing the pains and agony of war though, he was just glad he made it back period. Glen B. Norris was born on January 14, 1922, in Rogers. His father, George B. Norris was a rancher u , but actually did much more. Along with handling all the family cattle, Mr. George was the local veterinarian, blacksmith and a logger." My dad did just about everything," Mr. Norris said. "One of the things I remember the most is how active he was in church though." The Norris family, which had six children, five boys and 1 girl, was headed up by their mother Mae Corley Norris. She had her hands full, taking care of the house and cooking and cleaning for the large family. For a while the family attended Magnolia Baptist Church, but when Mr. Norris was around 9 years-old, the family started attending Nebo Baptist Church. "I remember we had to walk 8 or 10 miles every Sunday for church," he said. "After the morning service, we'd stay at friends during the afternoon until the evening service, then we'd walk home, making it back home around 11 or 11:30 at night. The next morning, we'd be back up at 5 (a.m.) and start working." Mr. Norris attended school until the ninth grade, when he quit to help his dad with the livestock, working in the fields and working in the logging woods. "We had a 15 acre field we planted with peas, done a lot of logging, and ran about 200 head of cattle," he said. "We also tended to my sister's stuff, which was about 250 head and my grandmother's stock, which was about 500 head. Everybody stayed busy, working 10-12 hour days everyday." During the 1930's, Mr. Norris recalled life was hard for everyone, and people were literally starving to death due to the lack of food. "My father fed half of the community," he said. "He'd let them come and get all they wanted from his fields. He was a genuine man who did all he could to help others." When Mr. Norris was six years-old, his dad gave him his very own brand, which was a major thing to young men during that time. From that time in 1928 until today, the brand "77" has always meant Glen Norris. Along with working with his father, Mr. Norris also hired out to work with other ranchers in the area. "Back then, I could ride a horse just like an Indian, and could do just about anything on my horse," he said. "I remember there were two things you didn't do back then. You didn't lend your horse and you didn't lend your gun." He started out working for about 35 cents a day, then finally got up to 50 cents a day. "If you had a real good horse and a couple of good dogs, you could get up to $1 or $1.25 a day," he continued. "But it was from daylight to dark and hard riding and hard work." For entertainment, the Norris boys would participate in rodeos, and would win most of the calf roping events. "We had a rodeo pin in Trout and we would put on rodeos up until 1942 when the war broke out," he said. "We made a little money, not much, it was more for the pleasure of the people and to put on a show for the people." On November 8, 1942, Mr. Norris officially joined the U.S. Army. He left the small community of Rogers and his peaceful life and headed for basic training. Eventually, he would see some of the worst fighting during World War II and was part of several major campaigns. One of the interesting things about Mr. Norris, is the fact that during the entire time he was in the Army, he kept a detailed journal about what was going on. Today, he still has that journal. It has weathered rain, sleet and snow, accompanied him in many fox holes during heavy shelling, and has even had the blood of other men spilt on it during that time. The pages read like a best selling novel, and a part from the Bible, it is one of the most moving works of literature anyone could read. In the journal, are found these words written about his first few months in the Army: "Once I was a happy man, but Uncle Sam called for me and my happy days were over. I was examined in the month of November and went to the Army December 3, 1942. That was a sad old day." After traveling by train to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training and other Army bases, he was eventually put on a ship and traveled 10 days and nights to North Africa where he joined with the 91st Calvary. Over the course of three years, Mr. Norris would be apart of the invasion of Sicily, make the invasion and fight across Italy, through Naples and into Rome, and was in fact apart of the first outfit to hit Rome. Throughout his war time, he was awarded five major battle stars and also awarded the bronze star (for bravery in action). He was present when Mussolini (one of Hitler's right-hand men) was assassinated, shot down a German airplane with a 50 caliber machine gun, and was instrumental in several battles in defeating the Germans. But out of all of this, the greatest thing he is thankful for is simply making it back home alive. Out of 150 men in his company, only 4 or 6 made it back to the states alive. "I remember when we finally got back to the states, they had a big band playing for us and thousands of people there," he said. "But the first thing I did was fall on my face and kiss the ground and thank the Lord that I made it back home." While serving with C Company, Mr. Norris was a scouthead, and traveled ahead of the infantry to scout out the path, take out snipers lying in wait, and report back to the infantry. "Sometimes we'd be 10 or 12 miles ahead of infantry," he said. "We were out there alone and had to survive the best we could." Aside from the fear that he went through during this time, the hardest part of war to Mr. Norris was the fact that he had to kill people. "I know it was war and it had to be done," he said. "But you don't know how many times I've gotten down and asked the Lord to forgive me for killing." Mr. Norris said that even today, some 60 years later, he can still vividly recall men that have died or men he has killed or seen killed. led during those three years in WWII. He also remembers eating anything he could to survive while on missions. "Many times we'd go without food for three or four days and sometimes two or three days without sleep," he said. "It was hard, hard times. I still remember the first time I ever had dog meat." One night while on patrol ahead of the infantry, Mr. Norris and his two co- scouts came upon three Germans sitting around a fire watching something roast on a stick. At the time, Mr. Norris' group had not eaten in days and they all were very hungry. They rushed the Germans, captured them, and then tried to figure out what kind of meat was roasting on the fire. When they couldn't decide, they made the Germans eat some of the meat first, and when they didn't get sick or die, they ate the rest of the meat. After they finished, they found out the food they had just eaten was dog meat. Along with little sleep and little food, Mr. Norris remembers some terrible battles that he still can't figure out how he survived. The following are words penned in his journal, concerning a battle in Italy on a certain hill:"It was a hill named Hill 65. We sure did have a tough time there. We stayed there about two weeks before we could get a release. That was the worst hill we had been on." "Everyday we was on it, it sleeted and snowed on us. We was laying in those fox holes full of water and mud. We held the hill but we had a tough old go. I spend my birthday laying in mud and water knee deep and it was snowing. I was so cold I couldn't hardly talk. Stuff like that is what a fighting soldier goes through." "Each day the Jerries was feeding us plenty of lead and they was getting their share of it too. Then we left Hill 65 and went to cassino front. We fought there and held the line rest of the winter. The winter was awful bad. Plenty of sleet and snow." "We lay in the fox hole in cassino until our clothes was froze stiff. But with the Lord's help we made it through." At another battle, he writes this account:"We always go for days without shaving or eating much, but the good Lord would be with us. No one knows what a fighting soldier goes through. I have been in my hole and looking at the pictures I love so well and wishing I was at home. About that time, you would hear shells coming and your heart would be in your mouth just wondering if it is going to hit you." "You hope and pray it don't, but it comes closer. You would raise up and look around and see if your buddy got hit. It's a sad old story, but us fighting boys knows what was." "I have been in my fox hole, where the water and mud would be running over me and wishing that I could go deeper. It would be raining and snowing. You would be laying there two-thirds froze to death. I wish they would stop shelling, but they keep on shelling. No one knows what it is until he has been in it." Speaking of how hard the war was, he wrote: "Lots of the people back in the states don't realize what war is. It is a terrible thing and a hard life to live. You are a lucky man if you make it through. The good Lord just has been with me." All throughout his journal are accounts such as these, giving those who have never experienced war somewhat of a glimpse of what these brave men went through. He writes in his journal that the sweetest words he ever heard while he was serving in the Army came in 1945: "We stayed at Camp Shelby for three days before I got my discharge. I got it on Thursday, November 8, 1945, at 5:25 o'clock. That's what I had been waiting for for 35 months and 13 days." "One day that I never will forget is Nobember 8, 1945. I left Camp Shelby the next morning heading for home. I left there at 8:00 o'clock and that night I got home around 9:30 o'clock." When he got home, he walked in the home in Rogers he'd been dreaming about every since he'd left three years earlier. "It was a wonderful reunion," Mr. Norris said. "We didn't have any telephones, so I couldn't call them to let them know I was coming home. But when I walked in, it was a wonderful reunion. Jesse (his brother) had just gotten married and his new wife was there." "I just thanked the Lord for bringing me home," he continued. "I was the only brother that went. "After the Army, Mr. Norris said he tried to start his life back over. He married Katherine Breland in 1947, and together they raised two boys and three girls. Both of his sons turned out to be preachers, and are well known in the Jena area. Gary Norris and Byron Norris, who both reside in the Nebo Rogers area. After working in LaSalle Parish for a while, he moved to Shreveport in 1951 and began working for the post office there. "I was making big money then," he said. "I was making a little better than $1 per hour - that was big money back then." In 1957 he moved back to Rogers and started carpentry work. It wasn't until 1990 that he really slowed down and stopped working as much as before. During those 30-plus years, Mr. Norris performed his carpentry work on many homes and business in LaSalle Parish. "I built a lot of houses," he said. "From Rogers to Jena, I guess I built two- thirds of the houses." He also was the head carpenter on projects like the new LaSalle Parish Courthouse, the Jena High School gymnasium, additions to LaSalle General Hospital, and the (then) LaSalle State Bank. In fact, most people in LaSalle Parish know him best from his carpentry work. He is known as a good carpenter, and also for the fact that when he showed up for a job, he and his crew would put in a hard days work, wasting no time and completing a project. "They (my old employees) used to call me the ‘old slave driver'," Mr. Norris said. "If they didn't work, they didn't stay. If you didn't work you went to the house - it was as simple as that." He explained that he is just an old country boy who was brought up on hard work, and he believed that people that worked for him should work the same way he did. Today, he has slowed down quite a bit. While he still gets out his hammer and does jobs from time to time, mostly he does work around his house and he loves to fish and hunt (deer and ducks). "I guess the last big project I helped out on was the building of Nebo Baptist Church's new building," he said. "I guess I donated two or three months of work on that." Although he helped built the new sanctuary, Mr. Norris actually attends Hurricane Creek Baptist Church, where he has served as a deacon since 1957. "I was raised up in a good Christian home and that's how all of us children raised our children," he said. "We brought up our children in church and now they are bringing their children up in church. They believe and live it." And Mr. Norris lives what he believes as well. All of his life he has strived to be the example that God would have him to be to others. "I still go around the country and help people," he said. "The Lord has certainly been good to me so I can't help but be good to others." From a country cowboy to a decorated hero of WWII, Mr. Norris is one of LaSalle Parish's greatest residents who still believes in the fundamental truths this nation was founded upon. His life is a portrayal of a true American - a deep committed faith in God, family and country, with the self-sacrificing service which has always put others first and himself second. This week, we salute Mr. Glen Norris. May God raise up more men of his statue to return our nation to its fundamental roots. Caption under photo: Glen B. Norris, life-long Rogers resident, stands next to the uniform he had during his service in World War II with the U. S. Army. He also holds in his right hand the coveted Bronze Star (given for bravery in action), and in his left hand he holds something even more valuable. This small Bible was carried abd read by him during the three years he served overseas. (See story.)