Norman Ashton Garrett was born in on October 27, 1879, the son of John W. and Mary A. Garrett in Rockville, Maryland. There, his father supported his family as a police officer in Baltimore. In 1900, he was a young man working as a "type setter" in Baltimore and living with his parents. But by 1910, Norman had relocated to the small town of Bagdad, Florida where he boarded with Peter and Ermalinda Rosasco while working as a bookkeeper for the Bagdad Lumber Company.
Following the outbreak of WWI, Norman enlisted in the US Army and was assigned as a lieutenant with Company "D", 325th Infantry Regiment, of the 82nd Infantry Division. The regiment had few professional soldiers, but those they had were expected to train hundreds of the new conscripts, most of most of which were young with no prior military service.
Upon arrival in France, the regiment was sent to the Toul sector before taking part in the attack against the St. Mihiel salient. At 07:00 on October 10th, the regiment attacked the Cornay Ridge, then continued across the Aire River in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Here, Lt. Garrett was killed in action on October 14, 1918. He was buried in the Argonne American War Cemetery, but was disinterred in 1921 and shipped home to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The price of freedom
Grave stone in Arlington National Cemetery