Story Corps - Norman Walter

Storycorps has come to Charleston. What a wonderful project! Sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Archive, the project captures America's history through personal storytelling.

Today, we had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Norman Walter. What a great man and a wonderful human being!

Norman is a father who raised two daughters, both of whom graduated from Michigan State University. He was a devoted husband to a wife who was the first female graduate from West Virginia University's civil engineering program. Sadly, Mrs. Walter passed away in 1997.

Mr. Walter is a former glass cutter, having worked at Libby Owens Ford's mammoth glass factory which once sprawled beneath five tall stacks in the Kanawha City section of Charleston. The art of glass cutting was taught to him by his father and is a trade with its roots in the European craft unions, handed down from generation to generation.

Norman is a World War II veteran, who fought in Europe as a member of the U.S. Seventh Armored Division - and who fought in the infamous Battle of the Bulge - to ensure America's freedom, mine and yours. He tells of sleeping in the cockpit of his tank ... and of the fear ... and the cold. The stories still evoke strong emotions for him. He wishes that no man or woman should ever again have to experience what it's like to fight a war.

Norman is a retired farmer, who ran an egg farm called White Feather Farms, for over 20 years here in the Kanawha Valley. He delivered eggs all across the Kanawha Valley, bringing fresh eggs directly to customers' doorsteps via station wagon in similar fashion as the milkman from bygone years.

Norman is a photographer who has taken photos of Europe and the United States, especially fond of photographic the flora and fauna of West Virginia.

I cannot begin to do justice in recounting the wonderful stories that he shared. Nor can I do justice in attempting to describing what a great American he remains. On the eve of Independence Day, I am thankful to Norman Walter, and the thousands of other great men who fought to defend our freedom in WWII.

Norman, I honor you and salute you!