Norm Bing
Age: 95
Born: Dec. 30, 1915
Hometown: Hollywood
Residence: Palm Desert
Military branch: U.S. Navy
Years served: 1940-51
Rank: Retired as Commander
Family: Wife Kay (deceased); four children, Nancy Sieck of Oakland, Ore., “Spud” Bing (deceased); Cathy Curtis of Bangkok, and Larry Bing of Palm Desert; seven grandchildren.
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If not for a twist of fate in 1912, U.S. Navy veteran Norm Bing might not be around to share his World War II experiences.
His mom was supposed to sail from England aboard the RMS Titanic to join her husband in Hollywood.
Ticket in hand, she planned to make the transatlantic crossing with a friend and her two young children — but the friend wasn't able to come up with enough money in time to buy the tickets.
Unwilling to travel alone, his mom exchanged her ticket and delayed her trip.
The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage. Only 710 passengers — of the more than 2,200 aboard — survived.
His mom lived to be 106.
After Bing graduated from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles in 1933, he began taking pre-med classes at Los Angeles Junior College.
This was right in the middle of the Great Depression.
“We lost our home and had to move to San Diego.”
Bing picked up whatever work he could, including driving a beer truck and working as a stevedore.
But he desperately wanted to attend college. He saved up some money and was able to transfer his junior college credits. He entered the University of Southern California in 1937 and was soon immersed in chemistry, physics and psychology.
He was a walk-on football player during the Howard Jones era. The famed coach won four national championships while at USC.
Bing played for a year on the practice squad.
“I got my nose broke three or four times,” he said, laughing.
Bing graduated from USC in 1939, joined the Navy in March of 1940 and was commissioned a probationary ensign in the supply department. He served as a dispensing officer, authorizing bills and checking contracts for the 11th Naval District in San Diego.
Contracts were coming in like crazy — orders for ships and Navy planes — in anticipation of U.S. entry into World War II.
After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Bing applied for a permanent position in naval supply and was sent to Harvard, where he completed a six-month program.
In late 1942, Bing was assigned to Ford Island Naval Air Station in Pearl Harbor, where he set up and managed a supply center.
He had to clear out the warehouses to make room for incoming supplies.
“All the aircraft parts were being sent to Ford Island,” he said. “Every part of every plane the Navy had. Some parts were obsolete. We had no place to put them.”
He had to find sailors to help unload the hundreds of crates from the ships.
In some cases, those crates contained aircraft parts that had to be assembled on the spot. Once these planes were put together, they were loaded onto aircraft carriers to be used in combat.
Those included the F4U Corsair and F4F Wildcat fighters.
Bing improvised when vital parts weren't available.
One time, they ran out of tail wheels.
“Nobody else on the island had tail wheels. We made them out of wooden ammunition crates. We laminated the wood. It worked.”
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II on Sundays. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
