Retired Army Air Corps Col. Robert K. Morgan, pilot of the famous Memphis Belle, the first World War II bomber to complete 25 missions, spoke Thursday at Mississippi State University. Erin Wahlers, president of the MSU chapter of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, introduced Morgan as, “the man who flew the Memphis Belle,” the name of Morgan’s book.
As Morgan got up to speak, he was met with polite applause from the audience. He wore a brown bomber jacket adorned with the famous George Petty design of a woman in a bathing suit that decorates both sides of the Belle’s nose. Morgan said his copilot gave it to him several years ago.
As he told his amazing story, Morgan’s blue eyes seemed to sparkle with a life that belied his 83 years. One moment, he was a grandfather telling enchanting stories of days long past; the next, he was a soldier captivating his audience with tales of life or death struggles.
Morgan told his audience he chose to go into the military in 1940 while still a student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance. He said that as a student of history, he was fairly certain the United States would become involved in World War II sooner or later.
“I began to consider what I wanted to be doing when that happened,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t swim very well, so that cut out the Navy; I didn’t like the idea of crawling through the mud, so that left me up in the air,” he said with a smile.
Morgan joined the Army Air Corps in November of 1940. On Dec. 12, 1941, just five days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he pinned on his pilot wings and the bars of a 2nd lieutenant.
Morgan said he chose to be a bomber pilot rather than a fighter pilot for two reasons.
“First off, flying across the country one time, I couldn’t find my way back to the base. I couldn’t find a railroad or a mountain or anything to tell me where I was, and I had heard that bomber pilots had a navigator with him. That was for me,” he said.
“Secondly, I thought it would be more team-minded of me to have a crew. I thought it would be more interesting than going up there alone,” he added.
In September of 1942, Morgan and his crew met their plane for the first time. Like the other crews, they wanted to name and decorate their B-17 Flying Fortress and each of the men had a different suggestion. Morgan said he wanted to name the plane Memphis Belle after Margaret Polk, his wartime sweetheart, but the other men would not hear of it.
However, after treating one of his crew members to a night on the town and more than a few beers, he convinced him to go along with him. As each of the other men had their own suggestion, Morgan won out over the rest with a vote of two, and history was made.
Cpl. Tony Starcer added the finishing touch by painting George Petty’s design of the bathing suit-clad woman on the nose of the Memphis Belle.
Petty, who painted a series of pin-up girls for Esquire Magazine known as “Petty Girls,” based the Belle design on his daughter.
In October 1942, the Belle flew to Bassingbourn, England, for practice missions. Their first combat mission came on Nov. 6, 1942. They bombed submarine pins in France.
In the following three months, the United States was losing 82 percent of its planes, and moral was low. Morgan said it was a difficult time.
“It was tough when you had breakfast with three guys, but you ate you dinner alone because they were gone,” Morgan said.
“It became even more difficult serving as a flight leader because I had to write the letters we sent back to their families,” he said.
The command generals said the first crew to fly 25 missions without getting shot down would be allowed to go home. Morgan and his crew were determined to make it.
“Before we went out on a mission, we’d stand outside of the plane, sort of like a football huddle I guess, and we would say, ‘Guys, if only one airplane comes back from this, it’s going to be us,” Morgan said.
Although none of the crew sustained serious injuries, the Belle took her share of punishment in the months to follow. She lost at least five engines, had both her wing tips shot off, almost lost her tail and was riddled with more bullet holes and flak holes than could be counted.
But she never went down.
On May 17, 1943, after shooting down at least eight enemy fighters and damaging 17 more, dropping more than 60 tons of bombs over Germany, France and Belgium and logging in almost 150 hours in the air on missions, the Memphis Belle finished mission number 25. Morgan and his crew knew they were going home.
“I’m still trying to figure it out,” Morgan said. “It wasn’t that we were any better than the others, or that we had any more experience. We flew the same formations as our wing mates. Many of them went down; we didn’t. I’m still trying to figure that one out.”
Morgan and his crew went on a public relations tour of the United States. They visited more than 30 cities and received a heroic welcome in every one of them. Morgan said he was glad to be able to encourage the American people who were sacrificing so much for the war effort.
“These people were working in a factory 14 to 16 hours a day to make bullets, fabric and tanks,” Morgan said. “I knew it wasn’t just the military that was fighting this war; it was the people at home, too.”
After the tour, Margaret Polk and Morgan broke off their engagement on friendly terms, and Morgan went back to war, this time flying the new B-29 bomber.
Morgan, in the Dauntless Dotty led the first B-29 attack on Tokyo. He went on to fly 26 missions over Japan before going home on the advice of Gen. Curtis Lemay.
“Gen. Lemay told me, ‘Morgan, you’ve been lucky for 50 missions. Don’t you think it’s about time you go home?’ I thought he was right,” said Morgan.
Morgan continued to serve in the U. S. Air Force Reserves until retiring in 1965.
Today, besides making personal appearances around the world, Morgan still holds an active pilot’s license and works in the real-estate business.
He and his wife Linda, who is a pilot, are also animal welfare activists.
Morgan goes to visit the Memphis Belle at her home, the Memphis Belle Pavilion, in Memphis, Tenn. once a year.
“I climb up in her and daydream a lot. ‘Thank her for bringing me back,” he said.
As Morgan left the stage, he was met with more than the polite applause an audience gives a speaker ; he was met with a standing ovation.