Master Sergeant Charles R. Norris was born on 10 May 1931 in West Virginia. He enlisted in the US Army at age 19. He served in Laos and Vietnam prior to being assigned to the Army Advisor Group supporting the RI Army National Guard. Charlie was the dedicated advisor to Company D, 16th SF Gp, RIARNG. His Special Forces experience and knowledge were assets that he generously shared with the members of the unit. He bonded with the men and his presence was always welcome. He returned to Vietnam for his second tour. The Military Assistance Command Vietnam-Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) scheduled a promotion board that was to be conducted at the Command & Control North (CCN) Forward Operations Base (FOB) 4 located in Da Nang. The FOB normally had a population of about 89; however, on the night of 23 August 1968, there were about 160 because of the promotion board. The base had well-known shortcomings in base security which left it vulnerable. The CIA had warned of imminent ground attack; however, the Base Commander did not act on the warnings. At about 0230 on 23Aug68 about 100 sappers from North Vietnam’s Special Operations Brigade penetrated the perimeter of the base and attacked with satchel charges, RPGs and AK-47s catching most of the men asleep. This resulted in a greater loss to Special Forces in a single battle (64 killed or wounded) than any other incident in the history of United States Army Special Forces. MSG Charles R. Norris was one of the men killed that night. He was the husband of Erma Norris and father of three children. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 51, Grave 2427.
