Missing airman finally laid to rest

Antipodean Andy · Apr 22, 2008

Burial at last for World War II soldier who went missing almost 65 years ago - The Flint Journal Online News - Michigan Newspaper - MLive.com

FLINT, Michigan -- They thought he was lost at sea.

But a bone fragment, wedding band and graduation ring dug up from the deep soil of a faraway jungle will let Army Sgt. Robert Morgan have a funeral nearly 65 years after his death.

On Thursday, the recently identified remains of the World War II radio operator-- whose plane crashed Dec. 4, 1943 when he was 20 years old -- will be buried at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly.

"I always wondered where he was, if he was at the bottom of the ocean or crashed in a jungle, always wondered," said brother Donald, 76, at his Flushing home, sitting at a kitchen table covered with pictures of his older brother. "I always prayed that they would find out what happened to him."

Donald Morgan was only 11 years old when he came home from a movie and found his parents grieving over a telegram that said his only sibling had gone missing in the South Pacific.

"It was devastating," he said. "He was my only brother. I had a hard time for years after that."

It was about midnight and a rainstorm had hit New Guinea as Robert Morgan, a Flint native, and 10 other men returned from a mission attacking a Japanese convoy on that December night.

Suddenly, their bomber aircraft smashed into the side of an unseen 5,000-foot mountain. None of the men were ever found.

"He'll be coming home today," Donald Morgan said of his brother minutes before the Army National Guard delivered a casket to Flushing displaying a uniform and gloves, pictures and medals Sgt. Morgan would have earned.

"It was really emotional. I cried like a baby when I saw it," he said afterwards.

Until near her death at age 89, their mother Clara always left the porch light on.

"She was just holding out hope," Donald Morgan remembered, sliding open a box holding his brother's Purple Heart inside. "She always thought, 'He's going to come home and we ought to leave a light on for him.'"

Donald Morgan always thought about his brother, who he described as a good student who loved flying and airplanes, but he never expected the phone call that came in 2004.

A Department of Defense official told him that natives had found his brother's crash site, scattered plane parts in the midst of mounting undergrowth and foliage on the side of a mountain in New Guinea.

Shortly after, a nurse showed up at Donald and wife Patricia's home to draw blood for a DNA sample that would help identify any remains.

"I thought, 'Oh my gosh -- they finally found him,'" Donald recalled.

Last year, after search crews had sifted through mounds of dirt that turned up teeth, jack knives, money and other veteran belongings at the site, a small piece of bone confirmed a match for Robert Morgan.

Four other men were also positively identified.

That wasn't all.

Donald pulled out plastic bags containing the silver band from when his brother secretly got married on a visit home, a brass 1941 Central High School graduation ring and faded dog tags.

"It looked like they were mining for gold the way they dug up that crash site. They went through every inch of it," he said, showing pictures sent to him of crews working with metal detectors and other tools.

"This puts closure to his life and puts me at ease."

More than 70,000 World War II veterans are still reportedly missing, according to the Department of Defense, which works to identify discovered remains.

During Robert Morgan's visitation today, there will be an open casket holding a uniform and his picture. A memorial and burial for him and the other men also is planned for this summer at Arlington National Cemetery.

Donald Morgan, a former prisoner of war who fought in the Indochina War and who is undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer, has reserved a spot at Great Lakes National Cemetery to be buried next to his brother someday.

"They spent a lot of time and a lot of effort to find these guys and bring some closure," he said. "I'm bewildered and really grateful they were able to do this.

"They want all of the American people to know they haven't given up on these soldiers."
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Sgt. Robert Morgan
• Graduated from Central High School in 1941 and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces later that year.

• Died at age 20 after his plane was lost in the South Pacific over New Guinea Dec. 4, 1943 during World War II.

• His family was notified last year that his remains had been identified.

• Visitation from 5-8 p.m. tonight at Rossell Funeral Home, 307 E. Main St. in Flushing.

• Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Robert Catholic Church, 310 N. Cherry St. in Flushing.

• Burial at Great Lakes National Cemetery, 4200 Belford Road in Holly with full military honors.
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Antipodean Andy · Apr 22, 2008

I think it's fair to say he was crew on a Lib or B-17. B-24 as it turns out:

B-24D-60-CO "The Swan" Serial Number 42-40475

spidge · Apr 23, 2008

Andy in West Oz said: ↑

Burial at last for World War II soldier who went missing almost 65 years ago - The Flint Journal Online News - Michigan Newspaper - MLive.com
Click to expand...

A very sad story.

See what I said about those 5,000 feet high mountains in New Guinea that were really 5,500 feet!

Kyt · Apr 23, 2008

Nice to see one more crew laid to rest properly. Nice bit of research Andy

Antipodean Andy · Apr 23, 2008

Meh, just posted other people's work!

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