Norman was a paratrooper in the U.S. 82nd 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles" and fought in Normandy on D-Day. Not long after the war, he married Lydian Miller, began a family, and was as a truck driver and mover for Fleishmann's Furniture in Syracuse for many years. Lydian's tragic death in November, 1960 at age 36, left him a widower with five small children. He married Marion Walsh Ford, a widow with two children, on July 7, 1962.

Excerpts from "D-Day Dawned to Rain of Fire" in Syracuse Herald-American, Sunday, June 5, 1994:
"Between 1:30 and 2:30 a.m., the 16,000 paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd "All American" 101st "Screaming Eagles" and 6th British "Red Devils" airborne divisions seized landing zones on the eastern and western ends of the 60-mile beachhead. On board the SS Princess Maude, the men of the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion were fed breakfast. Norman Capels of DeWitt led a parachute squad of the 101st Airborne Division near the village of Angoville-au-Plain. Capels landed in a swamp near Route 13, the main road through Normandy. 'You could hear the shots hitting the plane, you could feel the shrapnel hit the plane, because we went in low. They jumped us at 300 and 400 feet, which was almost on the ground. ...It was so dark you couldn't see nothing. I landed in a swamp.' The men clicked brass children's toys that resembled crickets so they could identify one another at night. The Germans, Capels said, 'were shooting like hell. They were shooting from behind trees. They were all around fields. Couldn't see nothing, you were practically blind. Dark, night. Everybody shooting at you. It was pretty rough.'
"Much went wrong on Omaha: high seas swamped tanks; clouds obscured the bombers' targets; troops were cut to pieces by German fire. U.S. soldiers landed simultaneously on Utah. There, the troops suffered only 197 casualties battling a worn-out Nazi unit the surrendered when the Americans closed. At 7:10 a.m., U.S. Rangers scaled cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, swept past the resistance and into the woods. They destroyed five howitzers that could have bombarded the beaches. The British landed at Gold and Sword beaches at 7:25 a.m. The worst glitch occurred inland of Sword when the British 3rd Division failed to take Caen, a vital Normandy town, and nearby high ground. The Canadians hit Juno beach around 8:00 a.m. In an hour they had overcome the defenses. British and Canadian forces suffered 3,650 killed or wounded. By that time, about seven hours after they landed, Capels' paratroop unit was attacked in the hedgerows of Normandy. 'The Germans came a packing, a whole bunch of them,' he said. 'We had quite a bunch, too, by this time, and we just shot them to pieces. We had built up a skirmish line. They were attacking us. Then (the commander) was running up and down yelling 'Cease fire.' They were trying to surrender. They had to, they were getting slaughtered.' By the end of the day, the Allies controlled areas of all five landing beaches."
"Fifty years after the invasion, Capels reflected on the day that would become part of legend. 'It makes me feel good to think I had been there. But I wouldn't take a million bucks to do it again."

Obituary for Norman A. CAPELS, died February 17, 2001
Norman A. Capels, 82, of Deerfield Road, East Syracuse, died Saturday at James Square Health & Rehabilitation Centre. He was born in Syracuse. He retired in 1980 after 37 years as a truck driver with I. Fleischman & Sons Furniture Co. He was a communicant of St. Matthew's Church, a life member of 101st Airborne Association and a member of Eastwood Senior Citizens Club. He served in the Army during World War II and led a parachute squad of the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Normandy. He received a Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars, the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross and the Jubilee of Liberty Medal from the governor of Normandy. Survivors: His wife, the former Marion J. WALSH; five daughters, Janet KELLY and Linda DRAZEK, both of Liverpool, Ellen CAPELS of Syracuse, Norma DenBLEYKER of Clay and Patricia THOMS of North Syracuse; two sons, Joseph Capels of Colorado and David Ford of North Syracuse; three sisters, Betty STOLUSKY of Guilderland, Helen BARTHOLOMAY of Rochester and Catherine SPIES of Liverpool; 10 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren. Services: 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Forani & Cline Funeral Home and 9 a.m. in St. Matthew's Church, East Syracuse. Burial, Onondaga County Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Calling hours, 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home, 206 Kinne St., East Syracuse. Contributions: Alzheimer's Association of CNY, 441 W. Kirkpatrick St., Syracuse 13204.
[source: Syracuse Herald-Journal, February 18, 2001]

• Married: ABT 1946

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• Married: 7 JUL 1962

1. Title: Obituary, Syacuse Herald-Journal, Syracuse Online Obituaries <http://www.syracuse.com>, for Norman A. Capels, 3/18/01
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