Norman A. Moorhead

U.S. Air Force veteran remembers the shock of Kennedy’s assassination.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com


The date was Nov. 22, 1963 when John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United Sates, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Kennedy was fatally shot while riding with his wife, Jacqueline, in a Presidential motorcade.
U.S. Air Force Reserve Staff Sgt. Norman A. Moorhead of Newtown Township remembers what he was doing on that day.

“Our whole squad at Sheppard Air Force Base was on the drill pad when they came over the PA system and they said, ‘Our Commander and Chief has just been shot and killed.’”

Moorhead said he, like countless others, just simply felt ill when he heard the shocking news.
“It is something that should never have happened in my opinion,” he said.

The veteran served in the U.S. Air Force from 1963 to 1967. Some of that time was spent at Naha Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. The base was the major support during the Vietnam War.

Calling the time period in which he served “the Vietnam era,” Moorhead talks openly about how the American servicemen were treated when they came home from Vietnam. “Some of the guys that came back from Vietnam — I don’t know how to say it — but they were not very welcome.
“They weren’t treated the way they should’ve been treated and that kind of bothered me a little bit,” he said. “Everyone who was in the military was in there to fight for our country and that’s what these guys were doing. They weren’t treated very fairly when they came out. That has since changed though.”

Moorhead graduated from Council Rock High School in June 1963 and enlisted in the Air Force on Sept. 10. “I was sent down to Lackland Air Force Base to complete my basic training,” he said.

He joined the Air Force almost 50 years ago because it “was just something I planned on doing. My buddy wanted to join the Navy, but he didn’t. I wanted to join the Air Force. I had a cousin in the Air Force. That’s probably one of the reasons.”

He completed his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, before being transferred to Sheppard Air Force Base where he learned what he was going to be doing when he was in the service.

“I was on the alert crew, civil engineering squad,” he said. “That was my job when I was overseas, but there was nothing really outrageous or spectacular about it.”

Moorhead’s job had to do with generators for the bases. His title was electrical power production specialist. When training was over, he was assigned to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. From there, he went to Okinawa, Japan and was stationed at Naha Air Force Base in Okinawa in the Pacific Air Force.

“I did have security clearance to get into special buildings on the bases,” he said.

“I was on what they called an alert crew overseas,” Moorhead said. “There was myself, I was an electrical power production specialist. There was an electrician, a plumber, heating and air conditioning person."

He was at Naha for 18 months and then was discharged from the Air Force with the rank of Airman First Class at Travis Air Force Base. But his discharge paper says: “Staff Sgt. United States Air Force Reserve,” he said, noting that was a promotion.

Moorhead was in the Air Force for four years active duty and for two years inactive duty. He was first an Airman 3rd Class with one stripe and was promoted to Airman 2nd Class with two stripes. He finished as an Airman 1st Class with three stripes.

Moorhead said being in the Air Force taught him a lot about discipline and how to take care of himself.

He came home to a law enforcement career. “In January 1968, I was hired by Newtown Township as a police officer,” Moorhead said. “I was promoted to sergeant. Later, I was promoted to captain. I retired as a captain with the Newtown Township Police Force.”

There was a big retirement party when Moorhead retired from the force in May 2008 after 40 years of service.

He is a member of the American Legion Morrell Smith Post 440 of Newtown. “I have been a post commander, assistant deputy sergeant at arms and now I am the service officer.”

Each year, Moorhead participates in Newtown’s Memorial Day Parade. In recent years, he has laid the wreaths at the veterans’ memorial near Newtown Borough Hall. He lays four other wreaths, including one at the gravesite of Morrell Smith. The American Legion in Newtown is named after him.

Moorhead and his wife, Linda, have two children, Karen and Jeff. The couple will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in May 2011.