US Army Lt. Norman Ashton Garrett was born in Rockville, Maryland on October 27, 1879, the son of John W. Garrett (1852-) and Mary Jane Thompson (1856-1916) in Rockville, Maryland. In 1880, Norman was living with his parents in the home of his maternal grandfather Morris Thompson, a farmer in Rockville. By 1900, he was still living with his parents while his father was supporting his family as a police officer in Baltimore. That same year, Norman had joined the work force as a "type setter." But by 1910, Norman had relocated to the small town of Bagdad, Florida where he was boarding with Peter and Ermalinda Rosasco. Peter was the manager of the Bay Point Lumber Mill and Norman worked for him as his bookkeeper.
The Rosasco family fortune began when William and Albert Rosasco accepted an invitation to visit an Italian lumber mill owner in Pensacola by the name of Giovanni Parodi. Giovanni offered to financially back the Rosasco brothers in the timber business that was now booming in northwest Florida. They accepted his entrepreneurial offer and in 1904 became the owners of “Rosasco Brothers-Pitch Pine Exporter.” Their business connections expanded after William met and married Miss Adolphine Bronnun, daughter of a Danish immigrant who operated the Bagdad Sash and Door Company in Santa Rosa County. As business boomed, the Rosasco boys decided to further expand their business back in Genoa. They set up the “Rosasco Brother’s Steamship Company” so they could ship Escambia’s abundant yellow pine lumber back to Genoa for a huge profit. Money flowed into the Rosasco coffers to the point that Albert built a huge mansion in Genoa and boasted that President Teddy Roosevelt once spent the night there. Back home, William and Peter were still managing the Bay Point Mill in Bagdad, another acquiescent from the benevolent Giovanni Parodi along with 68,000 acres. As trade flourished, they purchased three more steamers by the names of the Unione, Escambia, and the Santa Rosa, which they used to ship manufactured goods from Genoa back to the US. Eventually, Peter became the president of the Bay Point Mill, while his two older brothers expanded into banking and development. Everything they touched was successful until 1914 with the outbreak of World War I.
It was into this business world that Norman connected himself with the Rosasco brothers. Five years after his move to Bagdad he married a young Pensacola girl by the name of Miss Norma Bazzell (1896-1985). She was the daughter of William Bazzell (1854-1904) and Sarah Oldmixon (1860-1928) as her father was a well-known bar pilot plying the waters off Pensacola. The young couple would marry in Mobile, Alabama on February 24, 1915, before heading for Pinewood, Florida wherNore Rosasco had sent him.
As WWI brought havoc to the Rosasco brothers, it also brought a wave of patriotism to a generation of Americans. Riding this wave, Norman enlisted in the US Army and was assigned as a lieutenant with Company "D" of the 325th Infantry Regiment, with 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 which were young with no prior military service. The regiment embarked on the SS Khyber on April 25, 1918 in New York City and sailed for Europe. 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 10, the regiment attacked the Cornay Ridge, then continued across the Aire River in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Here, 1st Lt. Garrett was killed in action on October 14, 1918. He was buried in the Argonne American War Cemetery but was disinterred and shipped home to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on September 8, 1921.
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