Norman Prince: A Volunteer who Died for the Cause he Loved
9781465683182
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
It is fitting that the record of a young life of high aspiration, of fine achievement, and, finally, of supreme self sacrifice on a world’s battlefield, should be permanently preserved, not only for the satisfaction of those near relatives and friends who deeply mourn its tragic and untimely end, but for the sense of pride and rapture of soul which the contemplation of such a record everywhere inspires. Grievous as it is to see a young and happy life cut off at the threshold of a promising career, there is compensation as well as consolation for such a fate when the fine fervor of youth, thoroughly imbued with a loyal and patriotic spirit, has won for its possessor the well deserved plaudit of living and dying a hero. Such was the fate and such the reward of the subject of this memoir. Norman Prince was the younger of the two sons of Frederick Henry and Abigail (Norman) Prince. He was a grandson of Frederick O. Prince, an eminent citizen of Massachusetts and a Mayor of Boston, and of George H. Norman, a distinguished citizen of Newport, Rhode Island. He was born August 31, 1887, at Pride’s Crossing, Massachusetts, receiving his early education under private tutors in this country and in Europe and completing his preparation for college at Groton, where he passed five happy and helpful years. He was graduated, with honors, at Harvard College in the class of 1908, taking the academic course in three years and receiving a cum laude with his degree of Bachelor of Arts. Entering the Harvard Law School immediately after his college graduation, he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws three years later. He was admitted to the bar and subsequently began the practice of law in Chicago, coincidentally devoting much of his time and attention to the study and practice of aviation at a time when flying was popularly regarded as a mere sport rather than a practical utility in this country. This was a diversion from his more serious work at the start, but foreseeing the ultimate possibilities of aeronautics for practical purposes, and becoming an enthusiast in its scientific development, he neglected the practice of his intended profession, and being enabled to provide the necessary funds for experimenting with various types of flying machines, he tested their comparative advantages for aerial navigation. He possessed an exceptionally quick intelligence and applied himself with zeal and diligence to subjects that interested him. From his early boyhood Norman had been passionately fond of manly outdoor sports, more particularly those connected with equestrianism. He loved hunting, polo, and kindred activities, and he thus developed qualities of sportsmanship that proved useful to him in his later experience in aviation. His courage andenthusiasm enabled him to undertake aerial flights that appalled less intrepid amateur navigators, but which were a joy and an inspiration to him from the beginning. Among his associates in amateur sports he had the reputation of being absolutely fearless. “I never knew a pluckier fellow,” said one of his schoolmates, recalling the days of their earlier companionship.
