United States Air Force Officer. He was the pilot who flew the first required 25 combat missions during World War II over Holland, Belgium, Germany, and France with the last being on May 17, 1943. He flew the "Memphis Belle," a B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, for 148 hours and dropped more than 60 tons of bombs on his targets while stationed with the 324th Squadron, 91st Bomb Group in Bassingbourn, England. The "Memphis Belle" was named in honor of his sweetheart, Margaret Polk, a native of Memphis, Tennessee. He attended the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, before entering the United States Army Air Corps in 1940. He earned his wings and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on December 12, 1941. He received his advanced training at Walla Walla Army Air Base in Washington and assigned to the 91st Bomb Group. While stationed at Walla Walla, he met Polk, who was visiting her sister and brother-in-law, an Army physician stationed at Walla Walla. Before he was deployed to Europe, the young couple received a moment of fame after their photographs with the plane appeared in the newspapers. Upon reaching the first required 25 missions, he was sent stateside and, using their notoriety, assigned to sell war bonds on a tour with Polk. By the fall of 1943, he and Polk were "only friends," the war bond tour was finished, and he was deployed at the rank of Major to a second combat tour with the Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific Theater. He flew the Boeing B-29-40 BW Superfortress from Isley Field in Saipan. He named this plane "Dauntless Dotty" after his fourth wife. On November 24, 1944, he led his first mission to bomb Tokyo, Japan, which was the first attack on the Japanese capital since the "Doolittle Raid" on April 18, 1942. He completed 26 missions over Japan before being sent home on April 24, 1945. He left active duty after World War II, but continued to fly in the Air Force Reserve reaching Command Pilot status. The Army Air Corps became the United States Air Force in 1947. As a highly decorated pilot, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters. After he retired from military service in 1965 at the rank of Colonel, he had lecture tours, telling the story of the "Memphis Belle" and other war stories. Two films were made about the "Memphis Belle." The first was "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress," a 1944 documentary film of the last mission, and the second was in the 1990 British-American fictitious drama, "Memphis Belle," starring, in his debut, Harry Connick Jr. Morgan co-authored a book about some of his experiences, "The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle," with Ron Powers. The "Memphis Belle" found a home in the city of Memphis from 1946 until October of 2005, when the worn aircraft was transported to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. In October of 2011 at Veterans Plaza in Memphis' Overton Park, a memorial to Margaret Polk and the crew of the "Memphis Belle" was unveiled. The memorial included a huge piece of limestone with an intricate relief sculpture of the airplane and crew members. On the back of the stone is a plaque with the detailed story of their historical achievements. To the right of this memorial in honor of a Memphis' hometown girl, Margaret Polk, a bronze statue was erected showing a life-size version of her from the knees up with her head tilted toward the sky and her right hand shading her eyes from sun, as if she was watching the skies for her namesake bomber to return. On the back of the statue's limestone base, there is a plaque telling of the couple's love story and the "Memphis Belle." Although some sources state he was married five times, he was actually married six times: First, and not counted by some sources, at age 15, he married 13-year-old Doris Newman on June 6, 1931, and divorced her a week later. Second was to Alice Rutherford Lane; divorced by 1940. Third was to Martha Lillian Stone; divorced by 1942. Fourth to Dorothy Johnson in 1944; they had four children and divorced in 1974. Fifth was to Elizabeth Thrash in 1979, who died in 1991. Sixth to Linda Dickerson in 1992. On April 22, 2004, he attended an airshow at the Asheville Regional Airport when he had a serious fall. He was diagnosed with a fractured cervical vertebra and had a rapid decline with pneumonia, leading to respiratory failure and being placed on a ventilator. After his condition critically deteriorated, the ventilator was removed. He was cremated and his ashes were interred. At the funeral service, B-52, B-17, and P-51 United States Air Force aircrafts did flyovers as a tribute.
United States Air Force Officer. He was the pilot who flew the first required 25 combat missions during World War II over Holland, Belgium, Germany, and France with the last being on May 17, 1943. He flew the "Memphis Belle," a B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, for 148 hours and dropped more than 60 tons of bombs on his targets while stationed with the 324th Squadron, 91st Bomb Group in Bassingbourn, England. The "Memphis Belle" was named in honor of his sweetheart, Margaret Polk, a native of Memphis, Tennessee. He attended the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, before entering the United States Army Air Corps in 1940. He earned his wings and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on December 12, 1941. He received his advanced training at Walla Walla Army Air Base in Washington and assigned to the 91st Bomb Group. While stationed at Walla Walla, he met Polk, who was visiting her sister and brother-in-law, an Army physician stationed at Walla Walla. Before he was deployed to Europe, the young couple received a moment of fame after their photographs with the plane appeared in the newspapers. Upon reaching the first required 25 missions, he was sent stateside and, using their notoriety, assigned to sell war bonds on a tour with Polk. By the fall of 1943, he and Polk were "only friends," the war bond tour was finished, and he was deployed at the rank of Major to a second combat tour with the Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific Theater. He flew the Boeing B-29-40 BW Superfortress from Isley Field in Saipan. He named this plane "Dauntless Dotty" after his fourth wife. On November 24, 1944, he led his first mission to bomb Tokyo, Japan, which was the first attack on the Japanese capital since the "Doolittle Raid" on April 18, 1942. He completed 26 missions over Japan before being sent home on April 24, 1945. He left active duty after World War II, but continued to fly in the Air Force Reserve reaching Command Pilot status. The Army Air Corps became the United States Air Force in 1947. As a highly decorated pilot, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters. After he retired from military service in 1965 at the rank of Colonel, he had lecture tours, telling the story of the "Memphis Belle" and other war stories. Two films were made about the "Memphis Belle." The first was "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress," a 1944 documentary film of the last mission, and the second was in the 1990 British-American fictitious drama, "Memphis Belle," starring, in his debut, Harry Connick Jr. Morgan co-authored a book about some of his experiences, "The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle," with Ron Powers. The "Memphis Belle" found a home in the city of Memphis from 1946 until October of 2005, when the worn aircraft was transported to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. In October of 2011 at Veterans Plaza in Memphis' Overton Park, a memorial to Margaret Polk and the crew of the "Memphis Belle" was unveiled. The memorial included a huge piece of limestone with an intricate relief sculpture of the airplane and crew members. On the back of the stone is a plaque with the detailed story of their historical achievements. To the right of this memorial in honor of a Memphis' hometown girl, Margaret Polk, a bronze statue was erected showing a life-size version of her from the knees up with her head tilted toward the sky and her right hand shading her eyes from sun, as if she was watching the skies for her namesake bomber to return. On the back of the statue's limestone base, there is a plaque telling of the couple's love story and the "Memphis Belle." Although some sources state he was married five times, he was actually married six times: First, and not counted by some sources, at age 15, he married 13-year-old Doris Newman on June 6, 1931, and divorced her a week later. Second was to Alice Rutherford Lane; divorced by 1940. Third was to Martha Lillian Stone; divorced by 1942. Fourth to Dorothy Johnson in 1944; they had four children and divorced in 1974. Fifth was to Elizabeth Thrash in 1979, who died in 1991. Sixth to Linda Dickerson in 1992. On April 22, 2004, he attended an airshow at the Asheville Regional Airport when he had a serious fall. He was diagnosed with a fractured cervical vertebra and had a rapid decline with pneumonia, leading to respiratory failure and being placed on a ventilator. After his condition critically deteriorated, the ventilator was removed. He was cremated and his ashes were interred. At the funeral service, B-52, B-17, and P-51 United States Air Force aircrafts did flyovers as a tribute.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8762939/robert_knight-morgan: accessed
), memorial page for COL Robert Knight Morgan (31 Jul 1918–15 May 2004), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8762939, citing Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, Black Mountain,
Buncombe County,
North Carolina,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
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