My deepest condolences to Norm's family. I first met Norm when we were Air Force ROTC cadets at UCLA.  I was a graduate student in Computer Science and Norm was a junior in Engineering.  I was not a bright student - just stubborn and persistent.  Lew Alcindor was part of my class and yet I never had the time to see him play - I was too busy trying to get through the Engineering program.  I did not go to my first basketball and football game until I was graduate student.

You could never find Norm without Bill North.  We became friends through AFROTC.  Now I know what "band of brothers" means.  Norm was so very enthusiastic and out going.  He understood how hard it was being an Engineering student. 

I had not seen Norm or Bill after I was commissioned in 1972 until our 50th reunion in 2022.  It was so wonderful to get together and see where our careers had taken us.  I was expecting to see Norm at the reunion in Las Vegas this year and did not know he was in ill health.

 I will always treasure our friendship.  Rest in peace good friend!

Norm, like many of his AFROTC comrades was involved in their honor fraternity, Arnold Air Society.  As such, they held a national meeting every year with about 800 cadets from schools across the country.  In 1972, the meeting was in Dallas, Texas.  In order to get there, we were lucky enough (?) to find transportation from a Air Reserve Unit that happened to be flying from the West Coast to Dallas on a very vintage C-124.  Note that these aircraft had the nickname "Old Shaky."   

The flight took about 5 hours, and while the initital part of the flight went fine, by the time we got over the Southwest U.S. it became quite bumpy.  Norm and several others got airsick, like really, really airsick.  All the color had drained from Norm's face and all he could do was lie down and try to rest.

The meeting was very fun, and we enjoyed meeting a lot of the cadets and attending the lunches and banquets.  We even ran into a younger and only then a two-star, Chappie James.  He was wearing the usual blue Air Force uniform, with his many ribbons, and not surprisingly for Chappie, brown cowboy boots.  Not exactly standard issue.

When it came time to leave and go back to California, we knew we were going to have to endure another 5 hours on old shaky.  When we got on the bus to take us to Navy Dallas (the airfield), we presented Norm with a 50 gallon trash can liner, as his personal barf bag for the trip back.  He loved it. 

Mines not such as a story, but an amusing anecdote as told by my mother, Barbara (Guiles) Thompson. 

When my mom was growing up, Norman and his brother, Howard, would come over and visit my mom and her two older sisters. After dinner, my mom’s sisters would pair off with Howard and  they would go out leaving my mom and Norman at home..  This used to annoy my mom because  she never got to be with the “cool kids,” and was always stuck at home “babysitting Norman as she would jokingly call it. 

Every time there was a family reunion, my mom and Norman would joke about this every time. 

Here is a story Norm wrote a few years ago about our meeting at UCLA in 1973 and time dating in Westwood and around the Los Angeles area.  He wrote it for the column "LA Affairs" which "chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expression in the LA area."   It's a good memory for me so I wanted to share it.

LA Affairs - The History of Science and Romance 

by Norman Guiles

      Somehow I manage to make it to my senior year at UCLA with few dates and no current girlfriend, an all too common state for Engineering majors.  Numbers are against me: many hours needed to study and few girls in core classes.  Fortunately, the wise old "Deans" feel the need for their charges to learn more than formulas and experimental methods.  Classes in English, philosophy, psychology and history are thus mandatory.

      UCLA is roughly split into two academic areas: South Campus for the technical schools, and North Campus for most everything else.  Unlike many techies, I  usually enjoy my ventures into North Campus. Even with more girls there, you still need to pick classes that fill as many 'breadth' requirements as possible to graduate remotely on schedule.  The History of Science' is thus quite popular for engineering majors and other techies, counting for both 'Science and Society' and 'History.'

      Alas, upon my arrival, there are over a hundred guys and a mere three girls in the class.  Shyness and the sheer number of guys prevent me from getting a seat next to the girl who has really caught my eye until after the midterm exam.  Searching for a brilliant opening line, I say to this beautiful, tall blonde, "What did you think of the test?" She replies, "I thought it was fair." Not exactly a Casanova start, but somehow we are able to keep talking. I discover Sharon is also a senior carrying a heavy course load to graduate on time.  Eventually I nerve myself to ask her on a date. She replies with the breath-taking word "Sure."  Then: "But I'm commuting to school from my parent's place in Pasadena."  I say "No problem," hoping this chance at romance will be worth the infamous rush hour commute through 'The Stack' intersection of freeways in DTLA from where l live in Westchester, near LAX. 

      My treasured Honda 305 motorcycle probably does not seem a good idea for a first date, so I borrow my folks' old Buick and head for Pasadena.  Traffic is tolerable, but I can't split lanes the way I like to on the Honda, so I'm a little late and frustrated by journey's end.  "Is Sharon here?" I say to the boy who answers the door. "I don't think so," he replies. I'm worried and wondering if I got the right address. "Can you check?"  About this time, Sharon comes to the door, slightly red-faced, and says, "I'm sorry about this, some friends of my parents are here from out of town and I didn't hear you knock."

      After brief introductions to everyone, we are on our way.  Sharon looks great, and I'm relieved that things seem okay after the initial confusion.  The movie is brooding and dark, but we seem to 'click' discussing it afterwards.  I guess it went even better than I'd thought, because when we meet in class again a few days later, Sharon asks me to the office Christmas party at the place she works part-time.  Alas, after eagerly agreeing to go to the party, I have to bailout at the last minute.  Macho guy that I am, I figured that the two wisdom teeth I had already scheduled  for removal the morning of the party would present no problem.  Wrong! I know Sharon is usually quiet and polite, but I sense echoes of disbelief in her voice when I phone to say I'm in too much pain to go on our date that evening.

      School is over for Christmas break by then, but I call her again soon after the Winter Quarter starts. She declines the first date I propose, but fortunately for me, she hadn't prepared herself for the possibility that I would immediately propose another date on a different day, so she finally says yes.

      We date pretty steadily after that: Watching street performers while waiting in line for a movie opening in front of the classic marquee tower at the old Fox theater in Westwood; scrambling to grab up our picnic blanket and jump on the motorcycle when the unnerving buzz of a rattlesnake intrudes on our romantic lunch in an isolated patch of spring flowers in the Malibu hills.  Dates all followed by my motorcycle drive home thru 'The Stack.'

      My commuter dating ultimately pays off in a way we joke about to this day.  Sharon lives in the front half of a duplex her parents own and they live in the back, where we all meet occasionally for drinks or dinner.  One evening when I am getting ready to go home, Sharon's mom says "I worry about you on these late night motorcycle trips home, why don't you spend the night?"  Sharon is taken aback a bit, but then she smiles and says "So Mom, you're asking my boyfriend over to spend the night with me?"  Her mom splutters, "I meant like on your couch or something."  We all laugh, but I do start spending the nights - on the couch (well at least at first).

      We've had many adventures since then, but some of those same freeways now connect us to our own children in Encinitas and Tucson, as well as to Sharon's mom in Pasadena.

We do try hard to avoid rush hour though.