D
estined to be a plumber because his
grandfather and father had been,
Philadelphia native Norman Waldman
was thrown a curve ball when drafted in 1943
at the age of 18. He went to Georgia for basic
training as a machine gunner, and signed
up for the airborne division mainly because
it was double pay. After making it through
the rigorous training, he was assigned to
the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment and
trained in Alliance, Nebraska.
The new
regiment was
sent to the
resort town
of Port Rush,
Ireland, where
they bunked
in the homes
of generous
Norman and his wife, Marie, have been
married 67 years.
villagers for
six months.
Their next stop was Nottingham, England,
where they stayed in tents in the Robin
Hood-famed Sherwood Forest. He admits his
first nine months of the service were pretty
easy, but in the spring of 1944, the Allies were
getting ready for the invasion of France and
the whole regiment could feel that something
big was about to happen.
And, it certainly did. On the night they
received their orders, his full regiment was
told to get in full gear and ammo and they
boarded a plane to Normandy. In the early
dawn of June 6, 1944, Norman Waldman
took his first and only official combat jump.
With the clouds and smoke from anti-aircraft
fire, his plane missed its drop target and
the unit was scattered throughout the area.
Waldman was able to see that other soldiers
who jumped before him were heading into
fiery explosions below, so he gave a little tug
to his straps and directed himself toward a
hedgerow. In his first and most important
streak of luck, Waldman hit a patch of
brambles, which, while prickly, were not
laden with mines.
Waldman was able to stay alive and defend
himself during intense direct combat for
the next few days and helped his unit and
comrades hold two bridges on the Douve
River before being captured on June 9, 1944.
About half the regiment didn’t make it, many
perishing in minutes, still more throughout
the next two days.
The killing of several German soldiers in
the battle stayed with him for a long time.
“They were the same as me,” he said, “young
and scared, and just trying to stay alive.”
During combat, he was hit by shrapnel
and taken to the German field hospital after
being captured. “I was never abused,” noted
Waldman. Maybe it was luck again, or just an
unknowingly wise decision to teach himself
German from a book while in training, as
Waldman was sent to Dresden and served
as a POW interpreter where he remained
through the bombing of Dresden in February
1945. “It was better than the work camps,”
he said. Later, his training and experience as
a plumber led him to work in a POW camp
building homes for German people who had
been displaced because of the war.
After 11 months and 2 weeks as a prisoner,
he and four other Americans were liberated
by the Ukrainians. He and his comrades
opted to fight with the Ukrainian Red Army
because they had guns and were allies of the
United States. He fought in the last battle
of the war in Prague and saw the horrible
devastation in Berlin. Shortly after, he crossed
the Elbe River to the American side carrying
his only possessions, which included a
Russian hat and an automatic pistol he still
has to this day.
Upon returning to the United States,
he finished his four-year military term in
Fort Benning and helped with the officer
candidates’ school. Suffering from PTSD,
which was an unknown condition at that
time, Waldman returned to plumbing but still
felt the patriotic urge to continue to serve his
country. He joined the Army Reserve Corps
and was put in charge of the tradespeople
in the engineering group. He later switched
to the Air Force where he became a Master
Sergeant in charge of the construction crew of
the air group.
Trying to acclimate to his new life, he was
invited to a local barbeque where he met his
wife, Marie, over a shared steak dinner and
they have been married now for 67 years.
Marie always encouraged him to pursue
more, so while working as a plumber, he went
to college at the University of Pennsylvania
an