SAN BERNARDINO: Ceremony held for school honoring WWII hero

From The Press-Enterprise: SAN BERNARDINO: Ceremony held for school honoring WWII hero
Vernice Moran, sister of World War II hero Capt. Leland F. Norton, was crestfallen when Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino closed in 1995 and the facility's name became San Bernardino International Airport.

"My mother was upset that everything was falling apart," said Moran's daughter, Kathy Coats.

Coats said she wished her mother had lived to see Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony for Norton Elementary School, which the San Bernardino City Unified School District plans to open in 2012.

"She would have been ecstatic," Coats said.

Coats and other relatives were among approximately 100 dignitaries, elected officials and school district employees who turned out for the ceremony honoring the San Bernardino native on the site at Mountain View Avenue and 7th Street

Construction on the school has been under way for about two months.

"It's a good honor and I was so glad Arlene had written the letter," Coats said.

In a 2009 letter to the district, Arlene Barton, a member of the auxiliary of American Legion Post 14, which once stood on the site, proposed naming the school for Norton . Her wish was granted last year.

"This man had given his life for this city and I felt it would be a good spot for a veteran's name," Barton said.

Norton was killed when his Army Air Corps bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Amiens, France, in 1944. Seriously wounded, he kept the plane airborne long enough for two crewmen to bail out. Norton, 23, and another flier went down with the plane. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and other decorations.

In 1950, San Bernardino Air Force Base was renamed in his honor.

Stater Bros. Chairman Jack Brown brought along poster boards that show photographs of memorabilia from Norton's military career. Brown said he plans to donate the posters to the school. The supermarket chain's corporate headquarters hosts a display of that memorabilia, and the distribution center is located on the former air base grounds.

"I never want the name and heroics of Capt. Norton to fade from our memories," Brown said.