Kammala wannan jumla: Aikin farko na Norton daga West Point shi ne zuwa 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division a matsayin kwamandan kamfanin. Daga nan sai ya koma Makarantar Sojoji a cikin kaka na 1942 don halartar Kwamandan Kwamandan Kwamandan da Jami'an Jami'ai da kuma Parachute Course. Bayan kammala karatunsa, ya ba da rahoto ga Rukunin Jirgin Sama na 82 a Arewacin Afirka. Ba da daɗewa ba aka ɗaukaka shi zuwa babban jami'in na 2d Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Watanni biyu bayan haka, an sake inganta shi, zuwa S-3 ( jami'in gudanarwa) na Rundunar. Ya yi na farko na hudu na tsalle-tsalle a matsayin jami'in zartarwa, ya shiga cikin
Mamayewar Sicily. Bayan ya koma Arewacin Afirka, ya yi tsalle na biyu a cikin Salerno, Italiya, yana hana sojojin Jamus da ke kokarin kai hari ga sojojin amphibious na Amurka. Tsalle na uku shi ne don tallafawa mamayewar Normandy a ranar D-Day, 6 ga Yuni 1944 lokacin da ya jagoranci mutanensa a cikin duhu a kan St. Mere-Eglise, Faransa. A watan Yuli na wannan shekarar, ya dauki umurnin na 3rd Battalion; an ci gaba da shi a watan da ya gabata zuwa G3 na 82d Airborne Division. Norton ya yi tsalle-tsalle na hudu a watan Satumba, a Netherlands don karɓar iko da gadoji daga iyakar Holland zuwa Arnhem a matsayin wani ɓangare na Operation Market Garden.