Norman Elliott was born in November 1926 and raised in East Hartford, Connecticut. He had an older brother. Their father worked for Royal Typewriter. They did not have much during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], but neither did anyone else. Elliott was 15 when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was working as a paper boy at the time. No one knew where Pearl Harbor was and had never seen a Jap [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese]. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings and there is a break in interview.] He was assigned the best corner to sell newspapers, and when the extra edition about Pearl Harbor came out, he made a fortune. He was too young to enlist at the time, but as soon as he and his friends were old enough, they could not wait to join up. Elliott enlisted in the Navy in December 1943, just after his birthday. His parents were happy to sign for him to go in [Annotator's Note: as he was only 17 years old]. He did boot camp in Sampson, New York [Annotator's Note: Naval Training Station Sampson in Seneca Lake, New York] for a very short time. He trained on rifles and became an instructor.

After boot camp, Norman Elliott was assigned to a newly-commissioned ship, the USS Pasadena (CL-65). From the Boston Navy Yard, they brought it to Trinidad for shakedown [Annotator's Note: a cruise to evaluate the performance of a naval vessel and its crew]. The ship was a light cruiser. They went to Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii], stopping first in Long Beach [Annotator's Note: Long Beach, California]. Throughout the war, the ship was assigned to to 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleets, as well as Task Force 38. They were the flagship of a two-star admiral. Elliott's duties mostly consisted of painting and cleaning, as well as doing gun watch, four hours on and eight hours off. He was a trainer on the gun mount, responsible for making the guns move right or left. In all the time he spent on gun watch, the gun was never fired. He was friends with the baker on board, and helped him bake bread sometimes. He was able to take some bread to his fellow crewmen. One of the bakers was a Native-American who got drunk one night and tried to put someone in the oven. He was court martialed and replaced, with Elliott ending up in the bake shop. It was the best job on the ship. Everyone tried to get on their good sides to get more food. For General Quarters, he was then assigned to the lower handling room of a 40mm gun mount [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon]. The Pasadena primarily escorted aircraft carriers. They would do three days out, and then come back to an anchorage at Mogmog in the Ulithi island chain [Annotator’s Note: Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands]. There, they would pick up provisions and refuel before going back out. Every one or two months, they could go ashore and would be given three cans of beer and plays cards and swim. It was all they could do, as it was a deserted island.

Norman Elliott and his ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Pasadena (CL-65)] saw some action while in the Pacific. They had a lot of air and kamikaze attacks. Their only action at sea was during the Battle of Leyte Gulf [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23 to 26 October 1944; Leyte Gulf, the Philippines]. They assisted landings and did bombarding at other places as well. They were off the coast of Japan when the war was coming to an end. They were bombing Japan. One of their major bombardments was in one of the islands above Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan], possibly Honshu [Annotator’s Note: Honshu, Japan]. They were in Tokyo Bay, not far from "Big Mo" [Annotator's Note: the USS Missouri (BB-63)], when the surrender papers were signed. There was a large typhoon that resulted in the loss of three destroyers. The Japanese surrender was announced on 15 August [Annotator's Note Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], but the fleet remained on high alert and at their stations, not sure if the Japanese would do something like at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Elliott remained there for about three months before being shipped home, arriving in Seattle [Annotator's Note: Seattle, Washington] on 7 December 1945.

After Norman Elliott was discharged from the Navy, he did not go back to school. He joined the 52-20 club [Annotator's Note: a government-funded program that paid unemployed veterans 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks] for a while until he got a job as a chauffeur for a record salesman. Eventually, Elliott was asked if he wanted to be a salesman, working on commission selling records and phonographs. He was good at it. He moved to Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California] and continued to work for a record company for about a year before returning to New York. His mentor, Izzy, came to his wedding and was a great guy. Elliott was transferred to Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] in 1950 or 1951. He started his own business recording music and selling those records. Eventually, he ended up working in floor care. He had the company for 54 years until he sold it with his son, he also served in the Navy [Annotator’s Note: Elliott served aboard the USS Pasadena (CL-65) in the Pacific during World War 2]. He retired around 1975. He is proud of his service. There is no patriotism in the country today like there was back then. He is disappointed in today's generation, but it is still a great country. He considers himself lucky to have been successful in life. His family supported him. There is nothing in the world that he wants and does not already have. His only wish is that more people felt the way he does about our country and this world.