Remembrances of Henry (Hank) Norman, class of '59
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On May 26, 2009 (the day after Memorial Day) Marinell Roberts Mendoza forwarded to me an e-mail she had received the previous day from Boyce Honea. You may remember Boyce from the class of '59 and/or more recently as the Basketball coach at Milby for many years. Retired now, he and wife Sandra are living in Corpus Christi, close to their children and 4 grandchildren. They work for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Boyce says, "It is "part time pay" for pretty much "full time work", but we enjoy it and believe in it."
What follows is an e-mail exchange between several former Milbyites from various classes. It is both moving and uplifting. You can add your comments at the bottom of the page. Thanks, Marinell, for sharing this with us. Karla
Related post - Veteran's Day Essays, click here
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From: Coach Honea
Sent: 5/25/2009 11:26:31 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Making Milby Proud - Fallen Buffs
Dear Buffs,
Good morning and may the Lord bless you and your family on this Memorial Day.
At church yesterday, Sandra and I enjoyed a wonderful, yet emotional Memorial Day service. I got thru the service OK until the end when a young man played taps. I couldn't hold back the tears. Luckily Sandra had already got the Kleenex out. What raced thru my mind was the day in 1968 that all my Milby friends stood and wept as we buried our good friend Henry Norman. The "21 gun Salute" and the playing of taps at his Memorial service seemed fresh in my memory.
Henry Norman was one of 21 Buffs that gave their lives in Vietnam. Henry was one of 101 Milby Buffs that gave their life in battle for our freedom. Here is the count of Milby Buffs killed in action: WW 2 - 67; Korea - 11; Vietnam - 21; Somalia - 1; Iraq - 1.
More about Henry: Henry, like me, went by his middle name. His first name was Marion so you can see why he chose his middle name. He was one of the best athletes to come out of Milby as he lettered in Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track. In the Marines he went by "Hank". The guys in our class (59) were really too old to be drafted during the war. Besides, Henry and several of us were already married. But Henry surprised us all when he told us he was joining the Marines. We gave him a hard time and told him he was crazy, but it was just something he wanted to do.
One day we got the word that Henry was going to be on TV that night. Sure enough on the news that night, there was a special on the war and they talked to Henry as he was in a fox hole directing artillery fire in Khe San. He looked good in his new mustache. Sandra and I watched the tape of his interview this morning. The next day we were all shocked to hear that our good friend and mighty Buffalo, Henry Norman, had been killed. Henry was killed on March 30, 1968. Let us have a moment of silence to all of our fallen heroes of our nation and a special moment of silence for our 101 Fallen Buffs.
If you have a Fallen Buff friend why don't you tell us about him?
In Christ, Boyce and Sandra ('59)
PS - If you have never visited the beautiful Black Granite War Memorial at Milby, with all 101 Fallen Buffs on it, you really need to put that on your must do list. The class of 59 will visit Milby on Oct. 17th at 10AM as part of their 50th year reunion celebration. You all are all welcome to join us as we will certainly be observing Milby's war memorial.
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Here is a photo submitted by Frank Heide, taken at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. Notice the reflection of the photographer - a moving image.
Here's the comment that Frank sent along with this photo of Henry's name on the Memorial in Washington, D.C.:
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From: Coach Bear
Sent: 5/25/2009 2:46:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Making Milby Proud - Fallen Buffs
When Darla and I went to the Vietnam Memorial to pay respect to Henry's name Darla was surprised that we were the only two people on the entire Mall. I reminded her that it was nine degrees BELOW zero. Ah, those good ol' South Houston girls! We could not find Henry's name, so I called Mom (which I knew was a mistake when I heard her voice) to learn after all these years his first name was Marion. Very emotional when we found Henry's name, but also the picture that I cherish the most from the trip. The last time I was at Park Place Baptist, the scoreboard in the gym still had Henry's name on it. For those of you who have not seen Black Hawk Down, it is a movie in which a Milby student is killed. Watching that movie and realizing he walked the same halls that we did is very moving.
Coach Bear
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In a message dated 5/25/2009 3:08:33 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
Jon Dansby wrote:
I visited the Vietnam Memorial in 2005 and Shake and I have a picture with our hands on Hank's name. I was in Qui Nhon, Vietnam the day Hank was killed. I found a book in the library (Khe Sanh) that gave an account of Hank's death. His captain, Ken Pipes, was beside him when he was hit by shrapnel in the chest (Pipes said his flak jacket was unzipped). He said Hank died instantly.
I always think about Hank on Memorial Day. Shake still mentions his name on any military related occasion. The last time I saw him was at North Texas U. He escorted Elliot Cundieff and me around the campus (1963). It was nice he took the time.
For you non-military guys, Khe Sanh was the Gettysburg of Vietnam. LBJ swore we would never relinquish Khe Sanh, it was sacred ground because so many Marines died there. LBJ pulled out 2 months later.
For you military types I've never understood how the North Vietnamese Army got from North Vietnam to our outpost (Quin Nhon) without being detected. During TET we never received a word of warning. What's the deal?
I remember Floyd Solomon, Richard Honey and of course, Davis Butcher. Jon
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From: Coach Honea
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 3:41:56 PM
Jon,
Thanks for sharing that about Henry's Flak jacket being unzipped. I had never heard that. That is just like him. It just gives me another reason to still be mad at him. In the foxhole interview, he was the only one who did not have his helmet on. I guess he thought he was indestructible. Boyce
From: Jon Dansby
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 14:32:23 -0700 (PDT)
I sent out a copy of the page from the book that has the eyewitness account by Capt. Ken Pipes. It may be on the Internet. Accounts of Hank's other exploits are also mentioned in the book.
Most of the guys in my unit didn't zip up their flak jackets (I did). I don't think it was bravado it was just more comfortable. Vietnam was fought by draftees. Rules are bent and broken by draftees. That recent picture of a soldier on the line with just his boxer shorts on was a common sight in Vietnam. Nobody puts on his pants in a firefight. Ask Barentine.
I think the interview was by Dan Rather. He spent years out in the brush with the Marines.
A good book on Vietnam is Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow. Jon
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From: K Bass
Sent: 5/26/2009 10:11:00 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Making Milby Proud - Fallen Buffs
I remember most Richard Honey and James McIntyre younger Brother who was an artist and was married with a pregnant wife. He was to leave Viet Nam that day, there was a firefight and he went back to help and was killed.
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From: Wally Sisk
Sent: 5/26/2009 10:13:22 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Fwd: Making Milby Proud - Fallen Buffs
Boyce and Sandra--Thank you for the poignant reminder of Henry Norman--Henry and I became great friends after he graduated and I was still in Milby--I have thought about Henry a great deal over the years-and I still miss his friendship--for me there continues to remain a great sadness in my life--the old adage, "The good die young" for Henry should read "The Best Die Young." I continue to have a great brotherly love for Henry--I knew him for many years before I really got to know him--as a side note, I use to love to see him play football--what a runner--what a leader--He was capable of big time college ball--that it did not happen, I believe, contributed to his untimely death, as he should have been in college--Henry Norman--one of the greatest Buffs for all times. I miss him. Wally
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Can anyone tell me if Henry married and if so, whom? I believe I know but I'd like to confirm it. Henry's mom worked for a time in my dad's bookstore and the families were friends through Park Place Baptist. I also remember looking up to Gene, his older brother. Now, a personal reflection from a common experience. Why do I think of Henry Norman when the weather turns cold or when I have walked too long? Here's the story:
In my senior year (fall of '57)I served with Paula Cihat as head cheerleaders for the buffs. We had a non-district game against Hamilton in Hamilton. Not an athlete, I was a hyper individual who tended to over-react on the sidelines. My head was always in the game. We were getting beat by six points and the final seconds were ticking away. Henry was in the game as quarterback. In one final play he scampered around the backfield looking for a receiver to accept the "hail Mary." Not finding one, he ran pretty much the distance of the field to the winning touchdown. I was so out-of-control excited that I ran down the sidelines with him until I stepped in a hole where the field irrigation spigot was housed. Not realizing I had ruptured my Achilles tendon, the trainers wrapped my ankle very tightly with tape. We got on the bus and drove back to Houston. By the time we arrived my ankle had swollen to the point that the tape had to be cut off. To make a long story short, I kept replaying the agony and the ecstacy of that scenario and finally decided the ecstacy was worth the agony. To this day my right foot is larger than my left.
That is why Henry Norman is carried indelibly in my body and heart. Thanks to all for these remembrances. Randy Lofgren
Posted by: Randy Lofgren | June 07, 2009 at 10:45 AM
As I read these wonderful tributes to a fallen buff, Henry Norman, I remembered the name but not the face. Long ago, I lost my annuals to mildew and had nothing to spark my memory. I decided to google his name to see what would come up. For those of you who are interested, I found this link:
http://www.virtualwall.org/dn/NormanMH01a.htm
If I'm reading the info correctly, it is a virtual wall set up by his nephew, Gene Norman. Those of you who left such touching tributes to him on the Milby blog, may want to go to the link and repeat your remembrances.
Posted by: Jody Bugg | June 09, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Jody, this link is WONDERFUL. It was so good to see pictures of Henry as he looked when he was a little older than the last time I saw him (which was probably about the time he graduated from Milby). I sent an e-mail to his nephew, thanking him for sharing his family's love for and memories of Henry, and gave him a link to this post. Since he has established a memorial to his uncle I thought he and others in his family would like to know that his high school friends also remember Henry with respect and love.
FYI - my brother Randy (see his comment above) had emergency surgery last Tuesday night. The night before, we sat laughing with Randy and Jeanine at our grandson's Little League tournament. His complicated situation with a recurring heart problem and cancer plus conflicting meds, etc. make it extremely complicated to determine the next step.
Randy has been under the care of great doctors here in Waco, and a top cancer specialist in Dallas. At the moment he is undergoing a series of modified chemo treatments, waiting until surgery is again an option, but hoping by then it will not be necessary. Of course, Randy is incredibly upbeat and positive - in fighting mode - kind of like that cheerleader running along the sidelines, tasting victory. We all covet your support and prayers. Karla
Posted by: Karla Lofgren Davis | June 10, 2009 at 07:09 AM
[I got this comment and a photo from Frank Heide today (08/26/09). I have added the photo up near the top of this post, after Boyce Honea's first e-mail about Henry Norman. KD]
Frank wrote:
Wonderful comments on the blog site regarding Henry Norman. He was the ultimate BMOC.
It's so terrible he had to die so young, yet he had to do what he had to do. He had so much to live for.
Regarding the football teams, if Milby had had an exceptional coach & staff in 1957-1958 when we had the likes of:
Henry Norman, Keith Huggins, Jimmy Jones, Les Fullerton, Danny Walker, Kenneth Kipp, Boyce Honea, Don Mitchell & a young, tough running back named Jon Dansby, we could have gone to State each year. I regret I can't remember the names of some of the other great players.
I'm attaching a photo taken at The Wall in DC if you want to add it to the site.
Regards, Frank Heide
Posted by: Frank Heide's Comment | August 26, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Frank Heide, You probably don't remember me, but I introduced you to your first wife Laurie McGovney at Sam Houston State. I would love to reach her and catch up. Please let
me know how I can reach her. She was my college roommate. Thanks, Sharron Longmire
I REALLY MISS HER and wonder how she is and where she lives.
Posted by: Sharron Longmire | November 21, 2009 at 08:30 PM
Frank;
I remember the trips back & forth to Sam Houston State. I had forgotten Laurie's name until I read iton the recent post.
Pete Reed
Posted by: Pete Reed | August 23, 2010 at 02:49 AM
Henry married Charlotte Norman, my aunt. I am Genes son.
Good reading.
Gene Norman
Posted by: Gene Norman | March 18, 2014 at 03:21 PM