John Cary Morgan

JOHN CARY MORGAN (1914 ~ 1991). Medal of Honor Recipient John "Red" Morgan was born on August 24, 1914, in Vernon, Texas. He attended the New Mexico Military Institute, Amarillo College, West Texas State Teacher's College, and the University of Texas at Austin, where he made his first solo flight in an airplane.

In 1934, Morgan set off for the Fiji Islands, where he worked on a pineapple plantation and in a gold mine. He returned to Texas in 1938, hoping to join the Army Air Corps, but was turned down because of his poor academic record and began work for Texaco in the oil fields. There he injured his neck; an injury that kept him from serving in the military when the draft began. Undeterred by his physical rating with the American military, Morgan joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He received pilot training in Canada before transferring to the Royal Air Force in England to fly with one of the Eagle Squadrons, which were made up of American volunteer pilots. Morgan served in the British military for one year, flying twelve missions as a pilot Sergeant.

When the U.S. Eighth Air Force began operations in England it absorbed all Americans serving in the RAF. Morgan was assigned to the 326th Bombardment Squadron of the 92nd Bombardment Group as a flight officer on March 23, 1943.

On July 28, 1943, while acting as a copilot on a mission over Kiel, Germany, Morgan's formation was attacked by a large group of enemy fighters. During the fighting the pilot of Morgan's plane received a massive blow to the head which left him slumped over the controls unconscious. Morgan seized the controls and, struggling against the weight of the pilot, brought the plane back into formation. The blast that had injured the pilot also destroyed the plane's communication system, so Morgan could not call for assistance. The same explosion also ruptured the oxygen lines to the rear of the plane, causing the waist and tail gunners to pass out. When Morgan stopped hearing the guns he assumed the crew had bailed out and prepared to fly the rest of the mission unassisted. He held the pilot off the controls with one hand and with the other hand kept the plane flying in formation for two hours before the navigator could provide assistance. Morgan's actions that day not only aided the success of the mission but also returned the plane and its crew to base, and for his actions he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The events of this mission later inspired the novel Twelve O'Clock High! by Sy Bartlett.

Morgan continued to fly combat missions and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He was shot down over Berlin in March 1944 and spent fourteen months as a prisoner of war. Morgan left the military in 1945 and married Chris Ziegler in 1947; they had one son. He served again during the Korean War, retiring permanently from the military in 1954. Morgan then returned to Texaco as a truck driver and eventually became division manager of the International Aviation Sales Department. He died of a heart attack on January 17, 1991, in Papillion, Nebraska and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: The Medal of Honor in Texas," Capitol Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas. Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmowh.html, September 26, 2005. Wings of Valor II, http://www.homeof heroes.com/wings/part2/08_morgan.html, October 11, 2005.