Charlie Norwood Charles Whitlow Norwood Jr. (born July 27, 1941), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing the 9th District of Georgia (map). He was born in Valdosta, Georgia, was educated at Georgia Southern University and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and was a dentist before entering the House. Norwood served as a Captain in the United States Army from 1967 from 1969, beginning with an assignment to the U.S. Army Dental Corps at Sandia Army Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1968 he was transferred to the Medical Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, and served a combat tour at Quin Yon, An Khe, and LZ English at Bon Son. During his tour, he participated in experimental military dental practices that are now standard procedure for the armed forces. Norwood was one of the first participants in the Army's outreach program that delivered dentists to forward firebases in lieu of transferring patients to rear treatment areas. He also provided some of the first field-based dental treatment of military guard dogs, and assisted in non-dental trauma care in Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals.
In recognition of his service under combat conditions, Norwood was awarded the Combat Medical Badge and two Bronze Stars. After Vietnam, Norwood was assigned to the Dental Corps at Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he served until his discharge in 1969. He remains a member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Military Order of the World Wars.
