EDERT, Norbert

Portrait of Norbert Edert
Registration Nr.:    V 00931 /330042
Birthday:    03.10.1933, Pétange
Father:    CharlesEDERT
Mother:    Joséphine FABER
Service entry:    29.05.1951
Contingent:    2nd
Ranks:    Caporal (1953)
                  Soldat de la 1ière Classe (1952)
                  Soldat de la 2ième Classe
Death:    03.04.2013, Brooklyn, New York (USA)

 

Prior to his military service, Norbert had a variety of jobs until he discovered his true passion for the military. As a Soldat de 2e Classe, he served in the second contingent as an assistant machine gunner, radio operator and ammo bearer. During enemy bombings, he had to repair the telephone lines at the "KING" outpost, ensuring stable communications.

Once returned from Korea in 1953, Norbert remained in the Luxembourg Army for two more years. He first tried to join the Luxembourg police, but eventually emigrated to the United States, where he joined the US Air Force as an Airman Second Class.

Initially, Norbert considered becoming a pilot, but his application was rejected due to his poor eyesight, so he decided to become an air marshal instead. He left the Air Force in 1959 and joined the U.S. Army in 1960. In May 1964, he was sent to Vietnam and served with an air surveillance detachment in Can Tho, in the south of the country. He left Vietnam in 1968 and became an NCOIC at the 8th Infantry Division Headquarters in Bad Kreuznach, West Germany. In 1970, he again returned to Vietnam as a military advisor for the People's Armed Forces in Chan Than District, Vinh Binh Province. In 1972, he left Vietnam for good.

After his retirement, Norbert visited his family in Luxembourg every year. In 2000, when Norbert was dwelling in Luxembourg during the Christmas holidays, the Luxembourg Army awarded him the honorary title of Caporal d’Honeur de l’Armée. He was the first ever to receive such an honor.

"Der erste Einsatz an der Front war, wie jede Feuertaufe, am Anfang bös, aber dann O.K. Vietnam habe ich schlimmer erfahren als den Korea-Krieg. In Vietnam war die andauernde Gefahr der Partisanen und das heimtückische Granatwerferfeuer."

Nortbert Edert in Armand, Blau, "Krieg im Land der Morgenstille", p. 112. © Blau

"A participé comme TS aux patrouilles des Luxembourgeois. Soldat d’un courage et d’un dévouement remarquables, s’est particulièrement distingué lorsque son unité occupait l’avant-poste « King » réparant continuellement les lignes téléphoniques sous les violents bombardements et assurant de la sorte une liaison constante vers l’arrières."

Lieutenant-Colonel Vivario, commanding officer in Korea, about Norbert Edert, 8.10.1952. © OJ Bn No 447.