Norton, Bruce

Bruce Norton was born March 3, 1948 in Providence, Rhode Island. He grew up in the community of Scituate and had an idyllic 1950-60s childhood with friends and family, albeit one set against the backdrop of the Cold War.  After graduating from high school, he attended Northeastern University for a few years before deciding to leave and join the US Navy, where he trained as a corpsman. Time in Vietnam followed – two tours to be exact. Bruce was assigned to the 3rd Force Recon, and their task was to be the eyes and ears of the 3rd Marine Division, scouting out the enemy’s movements, often north of the DMZ and behind enemy lines. On his second tour he served with First Force Recon. Bruce was involved in 24 long range patrols during his time in country, and he experienced the fullness of combat in each and everyone of those, from firefights to the jungle conditions to incredible extractions – and more. As a corpsman he also dealt with wounded comrades, doing his best to keep men alive in what were often very difficult conditions. Bruce himself was seriously wounded near the end of his second tour, spending several months in the hospital before returning to the U.S. Bruce returned to school after his time overseas, and then became a career Marine, from which he retired as a major in 1992. Extensive work as a tactician and historian with the USMC followed, and that took him into the 2020s, after which he became a full time author specializing in military history. Crestwood students were very fortunate to meet Bruce via zoom in May 2026.