This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Steven Loomis, IC3
to remember
Rockwell, Norman (PMOF), PO3.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Born in Manhattan, New York City
Last Address In 1953, he moved to Stockbridge, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Date of Passing Nov 08, 1978
Location of Interment Stockbridge Cemetery - Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Norman Percevel Rockwell
Petty Officer 3rd, U.S.N.R.F., WWI
Illustrator for Ashore and Afloat
NAVY RATE AND RANK: PAINTER/VARNISHER THIRD CLASS, U.S.N.R.F. Awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom
In 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I, Rockwell decided to join the navy. He was assigned to the camp newspaper, and he was able to continue doing his paintings for the Post and other publications. When the war ended in 1918, Rockwell was granted an immediate discharge.
Rockwell was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina during his stint with the Naval Reserves during World War I. Due to his physique, he never saw active duty, but was instead a morale booster. He drew cartoons and did layouts for the camp newspaper, Ashore and Afloat.
During this period, he also drew and painted protraits of his comrades and commanders.
Other Comments:
Norman Rockwell, PAINTER/VARNISHER THIRD CLASS, U.S.N.R.F.
A skinny, young sailor reported in to the hot and humid Naval Training Camp at the Charleston Navy Yard on 23 August 1918. Being from New Rochelle, New York, the Lowcountry South Carolina weather must have been a eye opening experience for the young artist.
Norman Rockwell was twenty-three years old when he attempted to enlist in the United States Navy in 1918. He was underweight on his first attempt and so he had to resort to the “tried and true” method recommended by recruiters of stuffing himself with bananas, donuts and all the water he could swallow. Shortly afterward, Norman was officially a sailor!
His original orders were to take him to a base in Ireland, where he would paint insignia on airplanes, but a German submarine off the East coast detoured his ship to Charleston, SC. While awaiting a duty assignment, several personnel noticed his portraits drawn while waiting and he was assigned to draw cartoons and making layouts for Afloat and Ashore, the Charleston Navy Yard’s official publication. The work only took him two days a week and the rest of the time he could work on anything he wanted as long as it related to the Navy. Shown above is the cover for the Saturday Evening Post published 18 January 1919.
USS Hartford, receiving ship at Charleston Navy Yard 1918.
Seaman Rockwell survived the 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic while stationed at Charleston and eventually moved his studio on the base to the Commanding Officer's site of employment on the USS Hartford, Admiral Farragut's famous Civil War ship -- "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
World War II
In 1943, during the Second World War, Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms series, which was completed in seven months and resulted in his losing 15 pounds. The series was inspired by a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, in which he described four principles for universal rights: Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, and Freedom from Fear. The paintings were published in 1943 by The Saturday Evening Post. The United States Department of the Treasury later promoted war bonds by exhibiting the originals in 16 cities. Rockwell himself considered "Freedom of Speech" to be the best of the four. That same year a fire in his studio destroyed numerous original paintings, costumes, and props.
An American Patriot
During his long career, he was commissioned to paint the portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. For "vivid and affectionate portraits of our country," Rockwell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America's highest civilian honor, in 1977 from Gerald R. Ford.
