Flag flies for Superior brothers

Three of four Superior brothers who served their country during and right after World War II will be remembered with a flag raising ceremony at 9 a.m. Friday in front of the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center. All are welcome to attend the public event for Albert, Royal and Robert Nord.

S. Sgt. Albert L. Nord left a Great Lakes freighter to become a B-17 Flying Fortress crewman in 1943. By April of 1945, the waist gunner had flown close to 35,000 miles on Eighth Air Force missions against vital German targets.

Sgt. Nord aided in delivering explosives against key Nazi war plants, oil refineries, marshaling yards and military positions. He flew with bomber formations over Berlin and other German cities on the Rhine. His crew was forced down in Belgium after their bomber had been badly battered over Mainz, Germany Dec. 18, 1944, and narrowly escaped capture during the Ardennes break when German paratroops were dropped only a few miles away.

Nord earned the air medal and four oak leaf clusters for his service with the 390th bomber group.

After returning home from the war, he married Elsa Reinikinen in May of 1947 in Superior. The couple was married for 57 years and had eight children together – Albert Jr., Karen, Sherry, David, Thomas, Anita, Paul and Janice. They also had nine grandchildren.

The couple resided in Superior all their lives until Nord passed away in November of 2005. He was active in bowling at Village Lanes, cribbage at the Belgium Club and bingo at the Moose Club. He was a member of Pilgrim Lutheran Church and a member of the VFW Post 847. Nord retired from Chicago Northwestern Railroad in 1982, where he was a clerk at the Itasca Yard.

Royal Nord was only 17 when World War II ended in 1945, but he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Galveston, Texas. After his discharge, the Central High School graduate became a policeman for the city of Milwaukee. He and his wife Caroline had three children – Barbara, Daniel and Roger.

Robert F. Nord was an inspector with the Wisconsin State bureau of grain inspection.

A lifelong Superior resident he was born March 6, 1923, a son of Albert Sr. and Anna Nord. He served with the U.S. Armed Forces from 1943-45 and had been a member of the VFW Post 847, a member of AFSCME Local 1031 and also a member of Hammond Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Robert and his wife Beverly resided in East End and they had four sons, Steven, Joseph, Frederick and Erick and five daughters, Robin, Penny, Amy, Christa and Gretchen. Robert passed away on Feb. 3, 1975 at home. He is greatly missed by family and friends.

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