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His World War II Service and Sacrifice

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His World War II Service and Sacrifice Son, Brother, Uncle, Farmer, Soldier, Hero September 6, 1921 – May 24, 1945 His World War II Service and Sacrifice S/Sgt Norbert Herman Springman September 6, 1921 – May 24, 1945 His WWII Service and Sacrifice Prologue … World War II was the deadliest war in history, with over 20 million military personnel and 40 million civilians killed during the six years of declared war (Sept 1939 – Aug 1945). In America, 16 million citizens served in the military during WW II, and 417,000 of them died. Now approaching 70 years after Japan surrendered in August 1945 to formally end WW II, there are only 1.7 million American WW II veterans still living. They are dying at a rate of 740 per day. We owe it to those WW II veterans still alive, to those who have died since the war, and especially to those who were killed in combat during the war, to remember and honor their service and sacrifices. This is the story of one of those individuals. Staff Sergeant Norbert Springman was shot down while flying a combat mission in a B-29 Superfortress bomber over Tokyo, Japan, on May 24, 1945. He was declared Missing in Action (MIA), and a year later declared Killed in Action (KIA) when no trace of him was ever found. This describes the life and times of Norbert, as told by his brother Clair to Clair’s oldest son, Mike, and as documented in articles and letters from that period and in subsequent histories. It also indicates where Norbert is memorialized at multiple museums, memorials and Internet archives. His ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten. In the beginning … Norbert was born to Charles and Ida Springman on September 6, 1921 on a farm between Wilmont and Lismore in southwest Minnesota. He was the oldest of 8 2 children, followed by Joe, Clair, Jean, Elaine, Wilfred (Willie), Carol and Harold (Harry). Though he attended school (for 10 years) and Catholic church at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Wilmont, his address on his driver’s license and draft registration was Lismore. Norbert (at right, holding sister Elaine) with father Charles and siblings Clair, Joe and Jean (ca. 1931) According to one of his contemporaries (cousin Maynard Sieve), Norbert was a positive and very intelligent person, seemingly without many cares. His life was filled with amusement and humor. You couldn’t be around him very long before he had you laughing. He enjoyed funny stories, silly antics and odd things that happened to people. (Writer’s note: Typical Springman! Whenever they would get together for a family event, Ida and her children would tell stories, do impressions of their favorite local personalities, and generally laugh the afternoon or evening away. Norbert would have fit right in, and probably would have been the ringleader!) Life was not a serious matter to him, at least in his pre-Army years. He liked going dancing. Maynard noted one Saturday night at Lismore’s Ritz Ballroom where Norbert brought Harriet Hoffman as his date. By the end of the evening, he was dancing with Harriet in his stocking feet and with his chin on her shoulder. Another night, he picked up Maynard in his 1936 Ford coupe for a dance in Fulda, Minnesota. Norbert’s date that night was Coletta Johanning (who eventually married a good friend of Maynard’s, Ray Lonneman). It had rained during the day and the road was muddy, but Norbert skillfully navigated his coupe through the ruts. All cars at that time had manual stickshift transmissions, and Coletta wanted to know how 3 that worked. Norbert took great pleasure explaining the concept to her, coming up with words never found in any dictionary to explain all the parts and functions of the transmission. He did it all with a serious tone and sober face, with Coletta never realizing she was being “had”. Norbert enjoyed baseball, but had limited playing experience. Norbert and Clair would frequently shag fly balls or pitch to each other on the farm. Joe was never involved as he didn’t have much interest in baseball. Norbert liked pitching, and he and Clair appeared about equal in talent level. Norbert pitched for the St. Kilian Saints, with Clair as his battery mate. He also played softball with a neighbor, Clarence Majeres, who would eventually be his “employer” and a factor in Norbert getting drafted into the Army. Charles & Ida’s children at their St. Kilian corner farmhouse, 1943 Back: Norbert, Joe, Clair; Middle: Carol, Elaine, Jean, Willie; Front: Harry When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Norbert was 20 years old and eligible to be drafted into military service. Instead of waiting around to be drafted, he enrolled in a trade school in the Twin Cities area and began learning skills needed to work in defense plants. While enrolled at the school, his dad began experiencing heart problems, and Norbert left the trade school and returned home to help on the farm. This meant his draft status was established as either 2-A (registrant deferred in support of the national interest) or 3-A (registrant deferred because of hardship to dependents). When neighbor Majeres became sick and needed help with his farming operation, Norbert went to work for him while brothers Joe and Clair continued working the 4 Springman farm. It wasn’t long before the local Nobles County draft board, through a report from an unidentified informant, discovered that Norbert was no longer working on his own family’s farm. The draft board reclassified him 1A (available for unrestricted military service), making him immediately available to be drafted. Upon getting drafted, Norbert had to leave his family, friends and rural lifestyle, hopefully only temporarily. He had some female acquaintances, including Harriet Penning, Sally Fehring (the hired cook at Clarence Majeres’ farm, who helped out after Mrs. Majeres had a baby), and Marjorie Kramer from Adrian. He had been dating Marjorie, but no real emotional ties had yet developed. (He visited her occasionally while on weekend leave while he was stationed in Sioux Falls during training. She eventually married Virgil Balster.) His 1936 Ford Coupe had to stay behind. Of most concern, he had to leave his parents and siblings, who were obviously concerned about their oldest son/brother heading off to war in a far-away place. According to Maynard, Norbert’s parents were somewhat despondent that one of their own was taken for military service. The rest of his family and his friends accepted his leaving because at that time, if you were healthy and young, you were expected to fight for and protect your country. Because every family in the country had members in the military, there was little sentiment opposing entry. Norbert was just doing his patriotic duty. Norbert’s Nobles County military draft group, November 1942 (Norbert: front row, far right) 5 Entering the Army Air Corp … Norbert was drafted into the Army on November 29, 1942. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps and began basic training in St. Petersburg, Florida. He attended the Army Air Forces Technical School at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, earning a Radio Operators and Mechanics diploma on June 21, 1943. He then continued his training at Boca Raton, Florida; Fort Meyers, Florida; Great Bend, Kansas; and Kearney, Nebraska. Norbert was assigned to 20th Air Force, 73rd Bomb Wing, 498th Bombardment Group (VH), 875th Bombardment Squadron (VH = Very Heavy). The mission of 20th Air Force was to attack the Japanese homeland from bases in the Pacific on islands captured from Japan. The only aircraft capable of performing this long range mission with a suitable bomb load was the newly developed Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Training for the B-29 aircrews occurred at multiple Army Air Fields in the Midwest. Norbert’s 498th Bomb Group was assigned for training at Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, from April 13 to July 13, 1944. There weren’t enough B-29s available initially for all aircrews to perform their training, so second-line B-17Fs and B-17Gs, which were the workhorse bombers in the European theater, were pressed into service as training surrogates for the B-29s. Norbert trained primarily in B-17s during May and June 1944, transitioning to B-29s beginning in June. From July 1944 on, he flew only in B-29s. 6 Norbert’s crew embarked overseas on October 20,1944 via San Francisco and Oahu, headed for the Marianas in the central Pacific, to the island of Saipan, 1,460 miles from Tokyo (see maps of the Pacific area following the crew photos). The crew (two photos below) consisted of: Pilot: Major Gerald Robinson, Riverside, CA Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Adolph C. Zastera, Sacramento, CA Bombardier: 2nd Lt. Paul D. O’Brien, Dayton, OH Navigator: 2nd Lt. Eric Schlect, East Mauch Chuck, PA Flight Engineer: 2nd Lt. Daniel Murphy, Cleveland, OH Radio Operator: Sgt. Eugene P. Florio, Chicago, IL Elect/Radar Spec: S/Sgt. Norbert H. Springman, Lismore, MN Gunners: Sgt. Joseph D. Corcoran, Long Island, NY Sgt. Joe L. McQuade, Gallup, NM T/Sgt. Fauad J. Smith, Des Moines, NM Sgt. John Devaney, Columbus, OH Battlin’ Betty and Major Robinson’s crew Note: This photo was taken upon arrival at Saipan. Maj. Clark (standing, right) was not a member of the crew, but accompanied them on the ferry flight from the U.S. 7 The “official” photo of Major Gerald G. Robinson’s B-29 crew Back: Zastera, O’Brien, Robinson, Schlect, Murphy Front: Springman, Devaney, McQuade, Corcoran, Florio, Smith An airstrip capable of handling heavily-loaded B-29s (Isley Field) was built on Saipan after allied forces defeated the island’s Japanese defenders in June/July 1944.
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