Norman Alden Briggs was born in November 1925 in Jennings [Annotator's Note: Jennings, Louisiana]. He had three brothers, all who also served in the military, and one sister. Briggs' father, Lawrence William Briggs, owned and operated a moss factory. The moss was harvested, cleaned, cured and then sent to various other businesses to be used for things such as mattress filling and upholstery. Growing up, Briggs did not understand what the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] was, all he knew was that his family basically had nothing. He did not have any toys growing up and remembers playing with a tire as a child, which someone bought from him for a dollar. His school in Jennings had a cafeteria but he could not afford to eat there. The family's budget was calculated to the cent, if they arrived at the grocery store and something cost more than usual, they could not afford to buy it. They entertained themselves by listening to the radio. Briggs was too small to play sports and was still small when he joined the Army. He was closest to his brother L.O. Briggs [Annotator's Note: Lawrence Ogden Briggs], who served in England during World War 2. Briggs was 16 and working at a theater when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He did not know where Pearl Harbor was but wanted the war to last long enough for him to enlist in two years. Briggs' oldest brother, Harold, enlisted because he knew a draft was inevitable. The Navy and Coast Guard refused Briggs because of his color blindness. When he was inducted in Lafayette [Annotator's Note: Lafayette, Louisiana] he was given a color blindness test, and when he failed, he was assigned to the Army.

Norman Alden Briggs went to basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. Briggs was placed in the I and R, Intelligence and Reconnaissance. The Army placed him in the 70th Division, 274th Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division] at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri [Annotator's Note: in Pulaski County, Missouri] before being sent to Europe. The Army sent his outfit to Alsace-Lorraine [Annotator's Note: region of France] to take part in the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Due to being a part of Intelligence and Reconnaissance, Briggs was to be assigned to find a missing unit. A friend of his asked to take his place as he was a higher ranking and more experienced soldier. During the mission, Briggs' friend who replaced him, was killed. He was buried in Europe. Briggs was a part of Headquarters Company and mainly hauled ammunition where it needed to go for the infantry at the front line. They transported the ammo by two and a half ton trucks [Annotator's Note: two and a half ton, six by six truck, also known as deuce and a half], or the groups fighting on the front lines would send soldiers to them to get the ammo. Once in a while they needed to bring the ammo to the frontlines themselves. The driver of the truck that Briggs worked with always carried his .45 pistol [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol] in case of attack by the Germans. They moved during the night to not attract attention to themselves, although their trucks made a considerable amount of noise. Briggs carried a carbine [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic carbine] and is thankful that he never had to use it. He believes the hollow point bullets the M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] fired was the most humane way to kill someone, as they had the power to pierce almost anything. As a Louisiana native, Briggs never experienced anything similar to the cold weather common to France in the winter. He crossed the Atlantic on the Mariposa, a luxury liner turned troop transport. They landed at Marseille, France in early December 1944. They stored their weapons in Cosmoline [Annotator's Note: Cosmoline is a brown wax-like substance used to protect equipment from corrosion or rust] and had to clean it off upon arriving in France. The Army loaded the men into 40-and-eights [Annotator's Note: 40 and eight refers to European railroad boxcars which could accommodate 40 standing men or eight standing horses], with two stoves on either side to keep them warm. During the trip they were given one hot meal a day. When their boxcar stopped, they were unloaded in complete darkness, during a blackout, and ordered to march. They finally arrived in Bischwiller, Germany [Annotator's Note: Bischwiller, France] and spent the night sleeping in its city hall. Briggs was fortunate to be in Headquarters Company, as they were away from combat. To fend off the cold the Army issued each soldier two blankets and some coal. Briggs' division was left behind for mop up operations once the Americans began pushing the Germans back. Once the war in Europe ended, the military began moving people around based on how many points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] they accrued during their time. Soldiers with high points were being sent to the Pacific, and those with lower points left in Europe. The Army transferred Briggs to the 29th Infantry Regiment for guard duty in Frankfurt, Germany [Annotator's Note: Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany]. Briggs stayed on guard duty in Frankfurt until he earned enough points to be sent home.

Norman Alden Briggs came home in 1946 and married on 7 May 1947. He went to trade school using the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] for architectural drafting in Kansas City [Annotator's Note: Kansas City, Missouri]. Briggs spent some time as an architect creating plans for buildings around his home [Annotator's Note: Jennings, Louisiana]. Due to the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953], he began designing armories for the National Guard until he retired around 1979. Because of the relative safety of his assignments during World War 2, he does not have many memories that stick out to him from his service. Briggs never had to shoot anyone. His experience in the war made him more mature and understand how the world worked. He spent most of his adult life in the military and imagining his life without it is nearly impossible. He finds that as wars occur, the most recent one overtakes the old in significance. Briggs believes that military service is important, and that it should possibly be required of citizens, but he knows that would never happen. He thinks that institutions such as The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] are crucial because they educate people on experiences that they did not have. He personally did not make it a point to tell his children, four boys and two girls, about his time in the military. Briggs thinks that his military experience did not directly influence three of his sons to join, they ended up enlisting in the National Guard to avoid being sent to Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. His wife was a nurse during World War 2. Briggs is a staunch supporter of the military, and strongly believes in the discipline that it teaches. He's also thankful that he was not able to enlist in the Navy, because the first time he was on a ship he was incredibly seasick. He was on KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] on one of the ships. The mess hall was located in the very bottom of the ship, and he often witnessed soldiers become sick while trying to eat. On the ships men would be gambling to pass the time, and often become seasick but still played cards at the same time.