Deep Roots Family Tree Blog

Stories Behind the Stars is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3.

I’ve spent the last few weeks learning about Stories Behind the Stars, Fold3, and brushing up on my history and military knowledge. It’s safe to say that I have a lot of work to do. A lot of history to learn…why didn’t I pay attention in school…? A lot of military terminology to try to remember. I should really make a cheat sheet…

Anyway, this was my first story for Stories Behind the Stars, and it started out a little…plain. Very barebones in the beginning. I was a little discouraged when I couldn’t find a whole lot of information about the gentleman I was tasked to write about, Norman H. Lilly. I focused on the facts, there was very little meat to it. In other words, it was boring…

Then I found it. I cannot for the life of me remember how I came across it. I definitely found myself a little out of my element because I my knowledge of world history is lacking severely and the military terminology is tripping me up at times. But I’m learning!

I flipped to page 140 immediately to check to see if Norman was in any of the roster lists. I did find him in two different places. The first was a list of soldiers that were part of Company A.

The second of the page tells us Norman’s fate. The book that these images are from gives a play by play of what Norman would have endured from Boot Camp to the battles that caused his death. It’s not 100% clear which battle fatally injured him, but it does suggest that he was taken off of the battlefield live and somehow made it to medic, but ultimately succumbed to his wounds. Norman was just barely an adult when he was forced to fight for his country.

For the story below that was added to Norman’s memorial on Fold3, I felt like I was back in college writing a final paper. Focusing on the facts. Gathering as many sources as possible to tell an accurate story without including any assumptions or unconfirmed facts. I wanted to use the blog as an opportunity to document the process of finding all the information I did and how I felt throughout the process.

I’m pretty happy with it, for my first one and I enjoyed it the entire time. I’m honored to be able to bring these veterans back to life.

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Norman Harold Lilly was born in Wisconsin on December 12th, 1923 to John Lilly (1989-1975), a painter/construction worker, and Helen Lilly, nee Schultz, (1900-1979), a housewife and mother. He had three older siblings Helen, Raymond, and Elmer, and four younger siblings, Marion, Arthur, Betty, and Luell. His father, John, was born in Hungary, with the rest of his family coming from Wisconsin. He married Lorraine Berg and had one daughter, Sandra Lee Lilly. 

Norman was drafted into the United States Army on June 30th, 1942 when he was 18 years old. According to his draft card, he had a light complexion, brown hair, gray eyes, and stood at about 5’8”. He went through training at Camp Phillips, Kansas, and Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. On September 5, 1944 he boarded a boat and after eleven days, arrived in France. 

Norman and the rest of the 114th Infantry Regt. 44th Infantry Division, relieved the 79th Division on October 18th and joined the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions near Fort de Manonville. This was also the first day of combat for the 44th Division. On October 24th, the 114th engaged in a close combat firefight and afterwards, Company A went on patrol when they were ambushed from behind by German soldiers. Lt. Arthur Chantry ordered that his troops open fire on the enemy, winning a minor battle, and led the Company back to their lines.  According to the book “With The 114th in the ETO”, Norman was part of Company A.

There were many casualties between November 11th to the 14th, as patrols were ambushed by German soldiers and intense shelling. On November 13th, the 44th Division launched an attack with the 114th Infantry with little movement towards their objective. Two attacking regiments were stopped by the enemy in a large wooded area close to the village of Leintry, where many more soldiers were killed. This is when, on the 14th of November, the 114th Infantry received orders to attack by the following morning to clear the woods of any enemies and seize a wooded hill on the north of the division zone, which they succeeded in doing after two days of fighting in the frigid cold. 

“With The 114th in the ETO” suggests that Norman was wounded sometime between October 24th and November 15th. Norman died in France on November 16th, 1944. He was considered a battle casualty and died from wounds he sustained during the war. His body was shipped home in 1948, and was buried in the Sunnyside Cemetery in Lannon, Wisconsin, where his family is also buried. 

For his service to our country during World War II, Norman received a Purple Heart. 

Thank you, Ssg Norman H. Lilly, for your service to our country.  

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project www.storiesbehindthestars.org

This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen member’s name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at thesleepwatcherAK@gmail.com SBTS Project/Milwaukee/Wisconsin

References:

• 1930 United States Federal Census
• 1940 United States Federal Census
• U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31380787/norman-h-lilly
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
• With The 114th in the ETO written by Lieutenant Joseph S. Hasson, Historian

You can volunteer too by going to the Stories Behind the Stars website.