Undated, unidentified clipping in a scrapbook at the Saranac Lake Veteran's Club.Born: August 24; 1918
Died: June 10, 2000
Married: Rose Bruchan
Children: Sharon Van Nortwick, Marie Van Nortwick , Geraldine "Jerrie" Walsh, Miles Van Nortwick Jr
Robert Miles Van Nortwick was a World War II veteran. He was a son of Mrs. D. F. Van Nortwick of 46 Lake Flower Avenue.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 12, 2000
R. Miles VanNortwick
SARANAC LAKE - R. Miles Van Nortwick, 81, of 46 Lake Flower Ave., Saranac Lake, died Saturday, June 10, 2000 at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.
Born on Aug. 24; 1918 in Saranac Lake, he was the son of David and Edna (Dubray) Van Nortwick. He married Rose Bruchan on Sept. 27, 1945 in Denver, Colo.
Mr. Van Nortwick was a lifelong resident of Saranac Lake and was employed as an electrician with Ray Brook State Hospital for 22 years. He was later employed, at Uihlein Mercy Center in Lake Placid and at Whiteface Mountain until his retirement in 1979. Mr. Van Nortwick, was a former member and coach of the Saranac Lake Pee Wee Hockey Association. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, boating, hiking and camping in Pine Pond, all with his children. He was known for his many trips to Mount Pisgah, taking his children and many neighborhood children with him.
He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the United States Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters. Mr. Van Nortwick was also a member of St. Bernard's Church in Saranac Lake.
Survivors include his wife of Saranac Lake, two daughters, Marie Van Nortwick of Bloomingdale and Geraldine "Jerrie" Walsh of Tupper Lake; one son, Miles Van Nortwick Jr., of Saranac Lake; two sisters, Beulah McGann of Saranac Lake and Jeanette Shatraw of Saranac Lake; three grandchildren, Erin/Walsh of Tupper Lake, Adam and Jennifer Van Nortwick of Saranac Lake and several, nieces; and nephews. He was predeceased by one daughter, Sharon Van Nortwick; four brothers, Archibald, Gordon, Daniel and Quentin Van Nortwick, and two sisters, Bernadine Gilfoy and Geraldine Hubers.
Calling hours will take place from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A Bible Vigil service will, take place 8 at p.m. on Monday. A Mass of Christian burial will take place 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday at St. Bernard's Church in Saranac Lake.
Memorial contributions may be made to High Peaks Hospice in care of Fortune-Keough Funeral Home.
Excerpt from Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 11-12, 2017
Brothers in service: Van Nortwick family sent three overseas during WWII
. . . [I]t was Robert who distinguished himself most in the war. Although he went to flight school, he didn't care for it and became a waist gunner instead of a pilot. As a waist gunner, he performed an act of bravery that was in all the papers at the time.
In April 1944, Van Nortwick's plane, a B-24 Liberator, was on a bombing run over Truk atoll in the Pacific Ocean. He later wrote a description of the incident:
"Out on one of our bombing raids I could see a light in the bomb bay and knew we didn't want the enemy to see this and start shooting at us 17,000 feet in the sky. I notified the pilot, then inspected the situation myself. The nut that held the 24 volt wire was arching [sic: arcing?] 5 feet from a fuse for a 250 pound bomb of which there were 16. The bomb bats were both open and I walked across a 6 inch catwalk to find out what was wrong. I saw what was wrong, then bent the 1/2 cable and put it back on the terminal. I returned to my waist gunnery position and informed the pilot we had electrical problems."
Van Nortwick was wearing his flotation device, a parachute and an oxygen tank as he walked across the catwalk.
Van Nortwick's act saved the life of everyone on the plane. Newspaper reports at the time noted that it wasn't the Liberator's only mishap, as the bomb bay doors wouldn't close, the automatic pilot went out, and the plane nearly ran out of fuel. When it finally reached the runway in the Marshall Islands, the plane "keeled over as if exhausted."
When the war ended, Van Nortwick married Rose Bruchan, a first-generation immigrant whose parents came from Austria. He worked for a railway express company, delivering goods from the railroad depot, the later at Ray Brook Sanatorium. He also worked at Whiteface Mountain as an electrician.
"Every summer he took up on a camping trip to Pine Pond," Walsh remembered. "Probably my earliest recollection of anything about the war was when we were back in the woods on a camping trip. He'd say, "If the enemy captures you while we're in the woods, only give them your name, rank, and serial number.
"We knew our names, and we were all privates in Dad's eyes. And then, of course, he'd laugh," [said his daughter, Jerrie Walsh]. #
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