Halbert Ernest Norton

Their Story

Halbert Ernest Norton was born on July 29th, 1913, to Charles and Euterpa Miller Norton. He was born in West Grove, Iowa.^[1] He lived in Moulton, IA, and worked at International Harvester in East Moline, Illinois, when he registered for the draft at twenty-seven years old in 1940.^[2] On July 9th, 1942, Norton entered service with the United States Army to serve his country in the battle against the fascist Axis Powers in World War II.^[3]

What can be gleaned of Norton’s service comes from his World War II service compensation certificate, and his obituary. According to Norton’s obituary, he was stationed in North Africa and France during his service in World War II.^[4] According to his compensation certificate, he was a soldier of the 394th Infantry Regiment, which belonged to the 99th Infantry Division.^[5] The 99th Division saw most of its action in France and Germany, so perhaps Norton’s station in North Africa was a waypoint towards his deployment to France. While in France, the 99th played an active role in the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last-ditch attempt to push the British and Americans out of France:

Attacking through the Ardennes Forest in eastern Belgium on December 16, hundreds of German tanks and several hundred thousand German troops broke through the thinly held American lines. Although the Germans advanced as much as 50 miles in some areas, the Ardennes offensive was short-lived. Despite taking dreadful losses, US forces managed to delay the enemy sufficiently to permit reinforcements to be moved into position to halt the German drive.

Thanks to the efforts of the stalwart American and British defenders of the Allied position in France, the Germans were held at bay long enough for the First and Third US Armies to sweep in and force them to retreat.^[6] Norton’s Bronze Star and Silver Star medals were perhaps awarded to him for his service during this battle, which saw some of the fiercest fighting in the Western Front.

After the German offensive was broken at the Bulge, Norton and the 99th Division pushed Eastward toward victory. The 99th advanced into the Rhineland, where it saw some fighting in the Ruhr area of Germany. The Division then moved into the German state of Bavaria, where it liberated a string of concentration camps:

The unit reported on May 4, that it had ‘liberated 3 labor camps and 1 concentration camp.’ The concentration camp was one of the ‘forest camps’ (Waldlager) tied to the Mühldorf camp complex. The 99th Infantry’s report stated that 1,500 Jews were ‘living under terrible conditions and approximately 600 required hospitalizations due to starvation and disease.’^[7]

Norton’s role in the liberation of the downtrodden victims of the Holocaust gives profound meaning to the epitaph on his headstone, which reads: “FRIEND TO ALL.”^[8] The 99th was located in Bavaria at the time of the German surrender, and thus the end of the War in Europe.^[9]

Halbert Norton received his honorable discharge from the Army on January 9th, 1946.^[10] He returned to his native Iowa and married Trilla Johnson a year later. He spent the remainder of his working life at Case IH, John Deere, and American Air Filter. He is remembered as a loving father to his daughter and stepson, and “quite a character, he enjoyed putting garlic on all his food, smoking cigarillos, and drinking Jack Daniel’s ‘for medicinal purposes only.’” He passed away on March 15th, 2006 at Genesis Medical Center in Silvis, IL.^[11] He leaves a legacy of heroism in combat, and mercy toward those who were oppressed by a fascist, genocidal regime.