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Lake County loses a humble Korean War hero

Lake County has lost a humble hero with the death last Saturday of Gurnee resident Francis E. Normoyle.

Those close to him eventually would learn the truth about the medals for heroism as a Navy corpsman in Korea. But Normoyle preferred to be quiet about the past and when asked would say he was doing his job.

Normoyle, 89, was employed 42 years by OMC/Johnson Motors in Waukegan, retiring as a customer service manager. His service in the Korean War is noted in his obituary, but the dates and circumstances are not, and few knew the background that unfolded there between September 1950 and March 1951.

In November 2013, Normoyle explained his disposition for the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.

"I'm the type of person that I never talked about my experiences," he told the interviewer.

"A little story about (that). I used to do a lot of fishing and my friend and I went up to Canada. We've been on the Great Lakes, we've been down to Kentucky, and he didn't know until I retired in 1994 that I had been awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star," he continued.

"Purple Heart?" the interviewer asked.

"Purple Heart. He didn't know that I had earned them because we never talked about it," Normoyle said.

That fishing buddy is Paul Baumunk, a Vietnam veteran and former Lindenhurst mayor who has known Normoyle since 1972. Baumunk is chairman of the village's Veterans Memorial Commission.

"He was an extremely humble individual," Baumunk said. "Frank never thought of himself as a hero. He was an unselfish man who just did his job."

A Seattle native, Normoyle, served as a hospital corpsman in the Navy from 1948 to 1952. In September 1950, he was attached to the Marines and sent to Korea.

Ten days after landing, during a battle for Seoul, Normoyle, under heavy fire, removed two of three Marines from an unprotected position. While going for the third, a bullet ricocheted and hit Normoyle in the face, shattering 10 teeth and severely cutting his tongue.

Despite bleeding profusely, he reached the third man and pulled him 60 yards by the collar to safety. He was awarded the Silver Star.

"I guess I was in shock, but everything happens so fast that, you know, you just - you're trained to do a job and you do it," he told the interviewer.

After recuperating for two months, Normoyle was sent back. In March 1951, he braved an intense barrage of mortar, automatic weapon and small-arms fire to aid six wounded Marines. Aware another wounded man was 100 yards up a steep slope, Normoyle crawled through sniper fire to assist and get him to safety. He was awarded a Bronze Star with a Combat "V" for valor.

No one knew about the medals until Normoyle's wife, Marie, found them in a box in a closet when she was preparing a slideshow for his retirement, Baumunk said.

"If you met Frank, you met a friend. That's how he conducted himself. He was someone you felt comfortable being around," Baumunk said.

Over many years, Normoyle missed only two veterans' ceremonies in Lindenhurst, Baumunk said: The first was when he gave testimony for the Library of Congress, and the second this past May when he was too ill to attend.

During those ceremonies, Normoyle is always mentioned, Baumunk said.

"We always make a comment about Frank's service to our country," he said. "You never know who a true hero is."

Besides his wife, Normoyle is survived by two daughters, a son, several grandchildren, a brother, and brother-in-law.

A visitation is 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Gurnee Salata Funeral Home, 4190 Old Grand Ave., Gurnee. A second visitation is at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick Church, 15000 Wadsworth Road, Wadsworth, with Mass at 11 a.m.

Francis E. Normoyle
Korean War veteran Frank Normoyle at the Lindenhurst Veterans Memorial. He died last Saturday at 89. Courtesy of Paul Baumunk
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