Melvin Joseph Norton was born on July 13, 1922 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. He was the son of Joseph Coleman Norton and Bertha Myrtle Wade Norton. He joined the Air Force soon after graduation from high school in Virginia. His plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire while strafing and bombing Japanese installations in French Indo China. With his plane crippled, he managed to gain sufficient altitude so he could parachute to safety. Upon landing he was engaged in enemy fire and killed. He is now buried in the Pima Cemetery, Pima, Graham County, Arizona, USA.

2lt Norton was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com