Weber, Norman L.
Army 2nd lieutenant

Norman L. Weber, age 24, from Madison County Anderson, Indiana .

Parents: Thelma Weber
Spouse: Thelma Weber

Service era: World War II
Military history: 401 Glider Infantry 101 Airborne Division

Date of death: Saturday, September 30, 1944
Death details: On September 17, 1944, elements of the newly formed First Allied Airborne Army (the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the British 1st Airborne Division, and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade Group) launched the first phase of Operation MARKET GARDEN. This operation was an effort to bypass the Siegfried Line defenses along Germany’s western border by seizing bridges in the Netherlands, by which heavier forces could then advance across the Rhine River. The landings employed a mix of glider infantry and paratroopers; the 101st Airborne was tasked with taking the bridges at Son and Veghel, while the 82nd would take the bridges at Grave and Nijmegen. However, Allied troops faced unexpectedly well-organized German resistance and experienced difficulty linking up with the friendly forces that were supposed to join them at the bridgeheads. Poor weather also limited the effectiveness of Allied air support. After several days of fierce fighting, the opposing lines stabilized with Allied forces holding south of the Rhine in what became known as the Nijmegen Salient. The operation’s ultimate objective, which was entering Germany in the north by crossing the Rhine, was not fulfilled until early 1945.
Second Lieutenant Norman L. Weber, who entered the U.S. Army from Indiana, was serving with Company G of the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), 101st Airborne Division, at the time of Operation MARKET GARDEN. For the operation, his unit landed around Nijmegen on September 23, 1944. The glider soldiers assisted in taking and holding the bridges at Grave and Nijmegen, before assaulting strong German positions in an area known as the Kiekberg Woods. During the fighting there over the next several days, Company G sustained particularly heavy casualties, with several men reported as missing in action. Communications breakdowns, thick vegetation, and nighttime combat contributed to the difficulty of accounting for missing soldiers, one of whom was 2LT Weber. German records do not indicate that 2LT Weber was ever taken prisoner, and subsequent searches of the battlefield areas associated with Operation MARKET GARDEN were not able to uncover any trace of his remains. Today, Second Lieutenant Weber is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
Cemetery: Unaccounted For

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Anderson Herald (1945)