Norman C. Knodt had a long career as a helicopter pilot, and he served as a member of the C Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Norman Conrad Knodt was born on April 25, 1947 in Alameda County, California to August G. and Doris A. Knodt. He grew up in Manteca, California and attended Manteca High School where he was on the baseball team and in the band. He began attending what would later be known as California State University, Northridge in 1965. During his first semester, he got sick and missed a few weeks of school, resulting in incomplete grades for some of his classes. Soon after that, in October, he was processed for the military draft by the U.S. military and told he would be called for duty by his 19th birthday. He continued with his coursework until that point, but was not highly focused. Around that time, he met a pilot who took him for a ride over Los Angeles, California while lit up for the Christmas holidays. This ride gave him the bug to pursue pilot training. However, neither the U.S. Air Force nor the Navy would accept him for pilot training due to his lack of a four-year degree. Instead, he enlisted with the U.S. Army where he could train as a helicopter pilot. He attended primary flight training at Fort Wolters in Texas and then to Fort Rucker, AL for advanced flight training. He graduated from flight school on December 15, 1967 and was immediately assigned to the First Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam. He arrived in Vietnam on January 17, 1968.

During the Vietnam War, Knodt served as a Warrant Officer flying Bell UH-1B and UH-1C Huey gunship helicopters as a member of the C Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. His unit was located near the village of Đông Hà just south of the DMZ. The unit participated in events of the Tet Offensive including the Battle of Huế and in the area around Quang Tri. When he first arrived in Vietnam, there was thick fog and bad weather, preventing much flying and impeding military operations. His first operational flight in Vietnam took place on February 12, 1968. One of the missions he assisted with was Operation Pegasus at Khe Sanh. This was an operation coordinated between the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marines and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. His unit performed reconnaissance work searching for enemy locations and looking for possible landing zones for troops before the mission officially began on April 1. The operation landing zone was referred to as LZ Stud. Following that, he participated in Operation Delaware in the A Sầu valley. Once again, his unit was tasked with performing reconnaissance missions searching for enemy positions, sites to be used for landing zones and locating the positions of enemy anti-aircraft weapons. At the end of his tour, he was based out of Phước Vĩnh near the Cambodian border.

After returning stateside in January of 1969, he was a Bell UH-1 flight instructor at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia until June of 1970. During his military service, Knodt earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal for heroism, an Army Commendation Medal for heroism, and a Bronze Star, among other awards.

After his military service, Knodt was interested in working as a pilot for an airline, but there were no jobs available at that point. Instead, he joined the California National Guard where he was able to attend the CH-47 Chinook course as well as the CH-47 instructor pilot course. He spent three years as a flight instructor flying Boeing CH-47 Chinooks as well as Bell UH-1 helicopters, and then another three years as a Department of the Army Civilian Flight Instructor with the U.S. Army Reserves in Olathe, Kansas. He sometimes ferried Chinooks during the course of his work.

In 1981, Knodt transitioned into the civilian aviation industry when he got a job as a pilot with Columbia Helicopters based in Oregon, primarily performing helicopter logging in the Boeing-Vertol Model 107 helicopter. Due to a huge downturn in logging in the early 1980s, he was laid off by Columbia in 1984. He then found an opening in New York with Omniflight Helicopter Services which operated the Pan American Airlines Helicopter Shuttle. Knodt performed scheduled flights between heliports in Manhattan and JFK Airport as well as between Newark International Airport and JFK. He became the Chief Pilot of this operation. In September of 1987 Omniflight transferred him to Corpus Christi, Texas where he was the Director of Operations for Omniflight Offshore, Inc. which supported offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico. In February of 1989 he returned to Columbia Helicopters in Oregon, working for them from February 1989 through May 1996. During this time, he flew Boeing-Vertol Model 234 and Boeing-Vertol Model 107-11 helicopters, conducting long-line aerial crane work for industries such as forestry and oil exploration. While with Columbia, from 1991 to 1996 he was assigned to an operation in Papua New Guinea supporting Chevron Oil Company’s oil exploration and production. In May 1994 he was approved by the Department of Civil Aviation for Papua New Guina as the Chief Pilot for Columbia’s Papua New Guinea operation.

Knodt retired from aviation in 1996. His last flight was on May 19th of that year in Papua New Guinea while working on the Chevron Oil project.

In his retirement Knodt worked as a Financial Consultant for Cetera Advisor Networks. He retired from the financial services industry in December 2025. Additionally, he has served on the board of PeaceTrees Vietnam, an organization that works to de-mine former military sites in Vietnam and support community development. He regularly gives presentations about his military service and the organization's work, and has participated in trips back to Vietnam with the group.

Knodt is currently married to Joan Hammond. He has two sons and three daughters. As of 2026, he was living in Redmond, Oregon.

Biographical note derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com as well as:

• "Norman Knodt," National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/support/wall-of-honor/norman-knodt Accessed September 15, 2026.
• "Veteran Spotlight: Norman Knodt," PeacTrees Vietnam. https://www.peacetreesvietnam.org/news-events/veterans-and-gold-star-families/veteran-spotlight-norman-knodt.html Accessed September 15, 2026.