The man with a purple heart
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become a perpetual human target for the enemy. Sadly one day his family received that dreaded call. A truck Norman was riding on had run over a land-mine and he had been injured and was being flown to a hospital. He eventually ended up back at Fort-Bragg in North Carolina.
Quickly the family flew to be by his side, and it was then that he and his high school sweetheart decided to marry. After months of recovery, Norman was honored for his excellent service in the military and was discharged from the Army in 1968, but not before giving him the honor of a purple heart. Together he and his new wife returned back to their small hometown in Colorado and started their new life together.
Norman never had idle hands and he began building his wife Judy her dream house. It became a way of life for him and something he could do as he slowly recovered from his injuries. It wasn’t easy for them. The high school sweethearts had so much to deal with, and Norman had constant nightmares, and flashbacks about the Army life. As they struggled to overcome the mental and physical setbacks, they were also fighting the fact that he also could no longer have children. They decided to adopt and brought a baby from Cambodia into their lives, Jason.
One day when Norman went to the dentist for jaw pain, they found out that he had contracted bone cancer. They linked it to “Agent Orange,” a deadly gas the United States troops used to kill in Vietnam while fighting on the ground. It was as if a bullet had hit him right in the heart. Norman went to Utah to live with his daughter and began treatment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. On a shelf in the living room there is a pile of automotive magazines; Norman never gave up his love for cars. When cancer got him so down and out that he could barely move, he lay in bed and looked at those magazines. Ultimately, in 1986, cancer took Norman’s life.
Norman was a brother, a father, a son, and a friend to all who knew him. He was a football star, a sergeant, a contractor, and a dreamer. He was friendly and outgoing and honest and caring. He was everyone’s favorite grandfather and uncle. He loved to teach people things and share his talents. He could be called upon for anything you needed. Today his memory fills the hearts of many. Not only did he leave us memories of good days gone by but he left us his purple heart.
Quickly the family flew to be by his side, and it was then that he and his high school sweetheart decided to marry. After months of recovery, Norman was honored for his excellent service in the military and was discharged from the Army in 1968, but not before giving him the honor of a purple heart. Together he and his new wife returned back to their small hometown in Colorado and started their new life together.
Norman never had idle hands and he began building his wife Judy her dream house. It became a way of life for him and something he could do as he slowly recovered from his injuries. It wasn’t easy for them. The high school sweethearts had so much to deal with, and Norman had constant nightmares, and flashbacks about the Army life. As they struggled to overcome the mental and physical setbacks, they were also fighting the fact that he also could no longer have children. They decided to adopt and brought a baby from Cambodia into their lives, Jason.
One day when Norman went to the dentist for jaw pain, they found out that he had contracted bone cancer. They linked it to “Agent Orange,” a deadly gas the United States troops used to kill in Vietnam while fighting on the ground. It was as if a bullet had hit him right in the heart. Norman went to Utah to live with his daughter and began treatment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. On a shelf in the living room there is a pile of automotive magazines; Norman never gave up his love for cars. When cancer got him so down and out that he could barely move, he lay in bed and looked at those magazines. Ultimately, in 1986, cancer took Norman’s life.
Norman was a brother, a father, a son, and a friend to all who knew him. He was a football star, a sergeant, a contractor, and a dreamer. He was friendly and outgoing and honest and caring. He was everyone’s favorite grandfather and uncle. He loved to teach people things and share his talents. He could be called upon for anything you needed. Today his memory fills the hearts of many. Not only did he leave us memories of good days gone by but he left us his purple heart.