Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: 2stony on April 29, 2004, 03:55:41 PM
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Here's part of a message I got at work today.
"Bob fell last Wed at the Asheville Regional Airport and broke his neck. He fell face down on the pavement. He's been in ICU at Mission Hospital since and is holding his own. He's heavily sedated and has not opened his eyes for three days."
I hope that this pilot of the "Memphis Belle" recovers fully. I have met him twice and he is a most gracious person.
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wow
he just signed two photos for my son as he was a featured speaker at his high school about 3 weeks ago..
wishing him & his the best
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Here's to a full and quick recovery.
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Sad very Sad
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Best wishs for a speedy recovery.
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From the CAF mail server:
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All,
Following is the obituary from the Asheville Citizen-Times for Col. Robert
Morgan, pilot of the B-17 “Memphis Belle.” The news in Memphis said that his
family made the difficult decision to remove life support. I know that we will
all keep his family in our prayers.
Melissa Davis
Cameron, NC
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Memphis Belle pilot dead at 85
By Asheville Citizen-Times
May 16, 2004 12:25 a.m.
Col. Robert Morgan, an Asheville native and commander of the famed Memphis Belle
B-17 bomber that flew combat missions over Europe during World War II, has died
in an Asheville hospital, his wife Linda Morgan said. Col. Morgan, 85, fell at
the Asheville Regional Airport April 21, after attending an air show recently
and had been hospitalized since.
"He fought a hard battle but he just had a lot of things against him," Linda
Morgan said.
Col. Morgan came down with pneumonia last Monday and that combined with a
massive infection contributed to his passing according to his wife.
"I want to thank each and every one of the people at Mission/St. Joseph's that
contributed to his care. They were phenomenal," she said. "He got the best care
anyone could get they are incredible, compassionate people."
Col. Morgan’s family was with him when he died.
The Memphis Belle was a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress in which Morgan and
his crew flew 25 combat missions in daylight over Nazi-occupied France and
Germany.
This occurred when 82 percent of the bombers in their bomb group were shot down
in the first three months of combat beginning in November 1942.
Morgan put that into perspective by saying "you have breakfast with 10 guys,
then you have dinner with only two. My crew and I aren't heroes, we
didn't do anything any better than any other bomber crew. We were just damned
lucky."
On Nov. 24, 1944, he made history when his B-29 named "Dauntless Dotty" was
chosen to lead the first B-29 raid on Tokyo.
It was the first U.S. raid against Tokyo since Doolittle's in 1942 in B-25s.
Morgan went on to command 25 missions over Japan.
Tentative plans are for a memorial service at Trinity Episcopal Church in
Asheville on Saturday. The family will release more details later this week.
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Wow, I have his book. Read the first few chapters but got sidetracked.
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I got an email this morning on Robert Morgan's death. I have been lucky to meet him twice, most recently in 2002. I will always remember him as a gracious and patient person.
<<>> to a true American hero!
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:(
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I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Morgan just this past August. It was over 110 F out that day but he sat outside just about all damned day.
I got the chance to shake the man's hand, ask him a few dumb questions and generally just shoot the breeze.
You are most definately right stony, his patience and soft-spoken demeanor really impressed me.
Colonel Morgan