Norman Wesley Ballard was born on June 4, 1919 in Cooperstown, NY to Walter T. Ballard (1891-1940) and Fleda May Gibson (1889-1977). His parents were married on April 5, 1910 in Albany, NY. He was the youngest of their three children which included Gertrude (1911-1990) and Theodore (1916-1982). His dad was a plasterer and mason and was born in Cooperstown, NY, moving to Rome, NY in 1920. His mom was born in Guilford, NY and was living in Mt. Upton, NY at the time of her marriage to Walter. Norman grew up in Rome, NY, living on Cayuga St. and attending Rome schools.

He enlisted in the army in December 1937 and served in the Philippines. His service number was 6906830. After completing his obligation he returned to Rome, NY and worked at Revere Copper and Brass, Inc.. He registered for the newly instituted draft on October 16, 1940 in Sherrill, NY. He was 6'-2" tall and weighed 185 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. He enlisted again just after Pearl Harbor and did his training at Ft. Bragg, N.C. In March 1942 he was promoted to Corporal while with the Field Artillery Replacement Center there. He married Hazel Shuffler (1924-2005) of China Grove, S.C. on May 16, 1943 in Concord, Cabarrus County, N.C. They have a child together, Neal. His mother's obituary notes that his brother Theodore also lived in China Grove so he must have moved there later because in March 1944 Norman received a furlough from Fort Bragg and returned home to Vernon Center to visit his brother.

He was sent overseas to England in April 1944 as a replacement and joined the 175th training for their role in D-Day. They landed on Omaha Beach on June 7, a day late due to the chaos on the beaches, and they immediately captured Isigny a key objective. From there they participated in two key battles, Hill 108 just outside St. Lo, France and then the siege of Brest. Sgt. Ballard was killed in action on August 31, 1944 as the 175th was fighting its way toward Brest. September 1, 1944 Morning Reports for his company from 2 miles southeast of Plouzane, France list him as KIA. He was buried on September 2, 1944 in the St. James Cemetery (now known as the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial). Sgt. Ballard is awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

https://29thdivisionassociation.com/ accessed on October 29, 2025.

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Cenotaph record: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15421486/norman-ballard: accessed October 27, 2025), memorial page for Sgt Norman Ballard (1919–31 Aug 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 15421486, citing Evergreen Cemetery, Lee, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by Mark Peebles (contributor 46514135).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56351907/norman_wesley-ballard: accessed October 29, 2025), memorial page for Sgt. Norman Wesley Ballard (4 Jun 1919–31 Aug 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 56351907, citing Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-James, Departement de la Manche, Basse-Normandie, France; Maintained by MAJ Jimmy Cotton (contributor 48803557).

Headstone Inscription and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949. Microfilm Series A1 43, NAID: 7408555. Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1918–ca. 1995. Record Group 117. The National Archives in Washington, D.C.

National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001, Record Group 92: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Series: General Correspondence Relating to Organizations, File Unit: 314.6 T/O (European) Weekly Burial Reports 104, Report No. 104: October 01, 1944.

Leonardsville, The Otsego Farmer, Cooperstown, NY, November 17, 1944, pg. 8

Mrs. Felda M. Ballard obituary, Boonville Herald, Boonville, NY, September 7, 1977, pg. 9

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

News of Our Men and Women in Uniform, The Brookfield Courier, Brookfield, NY, November 16, 1944, pg. 1

Year: 1930; Census Place: Rome, Oneida, New York; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0042; FHL microfilm: 2341354

Supporting Documents