Lt. Col. Norman E. Davis, Jr.

He was born in Wilmington, NC, on August 30, 1924, son of the late Norman E. Davis, Sr. and Myrtle Sanders Davis.

Lt. Col. Davis was a veteran of World War II and the Vietnam War, retiring from the United States Air Force in 1973 with thirty years of honorable service.  He was a member of the Retired Officers Association, the Air Force Association, the American Legion, YMCA, St. John’s Masonic Lodge #1, and Winter Park Presbyterian Church.

Norman E. Davis, Jr. enlisted in the Army Air Corp on 31 January 1943, shortly after his eighteenth birthday.

Davis completed Navigation and Radio school in Monroe, LA, was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 2 October 1944, and was shipped out to a B-24 Liberator Bomber Group to join the campaign to recapture the Philippines. He participated in more than 29 bombing missions in the Pacific Theater and was training for Operation Downfall, the proposed invasion of Japan, when the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, after the detonation of two atomic bombs.

After World War II, Davis returned to North Carolina State University to continue his education, but returned to military service in the newly formed United States Air Force, becoming a first lieutenant on 24 January 1948. He participated in the Berlin Air Lift from 1948 -1949 before being reassigned to a bomb wing in Frankfurt, as part of the US occupation force in Germany. On leave in the States, he proposed to Rosalie Lewis of Wilmington, NC. They married on the 23rd of February 1949, and she joined him in Germany and where their first son, Stephen, was born on 27 May 1950.  

 After their tour in Germany, he was promoted to captain on 15 December 1951, and assigned to a B-36 Bomber Group in Rapid City, South Dakota. Their second son, Jeffrey, was born there on 22 August 1952. Two more navigation schools later, Davis was assigned to the 308th Bomber Group at Hunter Air Force Base, Savannah, GA. Under the command of Gen. Tibbets, his crew received spot promotions for their bombing excellence. That resulted in one of the shortest peace-time ranks as Captain and one of the longest peace-time ranks as Major. While in Savannah, his third son, Gary, was born on 12 September 1958.

In 1960, Davis transferred to the B-58 Hustler Supersonic 43rd Bomb Squadron in Fort Worth, TX.  There he became the 192nd USAF Aviator to fly at Mach II. His entire bomb wing was transferred to Little Rock, AR. On 29 January 1966, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and moved into a staff position. It was then the family welcomed their fourth son, Michael, on 8 August 1966.

In December, 1968 Davis started a deployment to DaNang, Vietnam. After the one-year tour in Vietnam, he was re-assigned to 2nd Air Force Headquarters at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA. He retired on 1 July 1973. He settled in Louisiana and raised his family there until moving back home to North Carolina in 1981.

 Surviving is his wife, Jane Stewart Price Davis; sons, Jeffrey L. Davis and wife Becky of Fort Worth, TX, Gary L. Davis and wife Sue of S. Elgin, IL, and Michael L. Davis and wife Barbara Ann of Belleair, FL; grandchildren, Christopher L. Davis and wife Valarie of Hot Springs, AR, Keith D. Gore of Chicago, IL, Craig D. Gore of W. Hollywood, CA, Amanda Davis Short and husband Rusty of Little Rock, AR, Jason Davis and wife Cynthia of Burbank, CA, and Andrew Davis Rice of Belleair, FL; five great-grandchildren; a daughter-in-law, Marion Davis of Little Rock, AR; and a sister-in-law, Pat Davis of Wilmington.

 Also surviving from his wife Jane's family, are Stewart and Sallie Price, Doug and Nancy Jewell, Joe and Lesia Price, Mark and Nat Price; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Rosalie Lewis Davis, a son, Stephen L. Davis, a grandson, Bradley L. Davis, a sister, Caroline Davis, and a brother, James Carmer Davis.  

The family will receive friends from 5:30 pm until 7:00 pm Sunday, July 16, 2017 at Andrews Mortuary Market Street Chapel.

A graveside service with United States Air Force military honors will be held at 2:00 pm Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at Oleander Memorial Gardens, 306 Bradley Drive, Wilmington, NC.

Flowers are welcomed or donations may be made to a charity of individual choice.