Morgan graduated from Christ School, an all-boys preparatory school in Arden, North Carolina, in 1936. He attended the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and entered the Army Air Corps in 1940. He earned his pilot wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12, 1941, then after advanced training at Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington, was assigned to the 324th Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group (RAF Bassingbourn approximately 3 mi (5 km) north of Royston), as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot. Morgan went overseas as part of the original group of combat crews and flew 25 combat missions over Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, between November 7, 1942, and May 17, 1943.
Memphis Belle
The Memphis Belle was the second heavy bomber in the Eighth Air Force to complete 25 combat missions in the European Theatre; and was the first to return to the United States as part of a publicity campaign to sell war bonds.[1] In those missions, all of which were daylight raids, the Memphis Belle flew 148 hours, dropped more than 60 tons of bombs and had every major part of the plane replaced at least once. Morgan and his crew were the subjects of a 1944 film documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress.
Career
Promoted to major, Morgan did a second combat tour commanding the 869th Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group of the Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific Theater where he flew the B-29 SuperfortressDauntless Dotty from Isley Field, Saipan. The aircraft was nicknamed after his third wife, Dorothy Johnson Morgan. On November 24, 1944, he was pilot of the lead plane during the first mission of the XXI Bomber Command to bomb Japan. This mission was commanded by Brigadier General Emmett O'Donnell Jr.
Leaving active duty after World War II, he continued to fly in the Air Force Reserve, achieving command pilot status. Among his military awards were the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters. He retired from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of colonel in 1965. In the later 1960s, Morgan operated a car dealership in Martinsville, Virginia called Morgan Volkswagen. He later returned to his hometown of Asheville to retire.
^The "Hell's Angels" B-17 (41-24577) of the 303rd Bomb Group completed 25 combat missions on May 13, 1943, becoming the first B-17 to complete the feat, one week before the Memphis Belle. "B-17 Flying Fortress". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
