John Henry Morgan (1920 - 1944)

Born 21 Jun 1920 in Griffin, Spalding, Georgia, United States

Died 2 Jan 1944 at age 23 in Italy

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Biography

John Morgan is a Military Veteran.
Served in the United States Army Air Force 99th Fighter Squadron 1942-1944
Tuskegee Airman flying Ace

John was born in 1920 to James Morgan and Beatrice Moore. His parents were both involved in education careers at the Summerville High School in Cartersville, GA, with his father being principal and his mother, a teacher. John graduated from Summerville, and he was already an aviation cadet at the time that he registered for the draft. He graduated with Class 42-H on Sept 2, 1942. He was assigned to the 99th Fighter Squadron. On April 16, 1943, he sailed with his squadron for North Africa, traveling through Casablanca to Oed N'ja, Morocco. He flew his first combat mission on Jun 2, 1943. He was actively involved with the assault on Pantelleria Island in mid June, targeting enemy gun sites as well as escorting bombers on missions. At the end of June, his squadron became involved with flying escorting missions between tunisia and Sicily.

On Aug 14, 1943, John departed from Licata Airbase on the island of Sicily on a Patrol mission. He experienced engine trouble and was listed as missing in action. He returned to his unit on Aug 18, having been picked up by the 7th Army. ^[1].

On Jan 2, 1944, John was flying his aircraft when he experienced landing difficulty. His plane rolled past the end of the runway and into a ditch, causing his head to hit the gunsight. ^[2] He is buried at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Missing Air Crew Report # 229
2. ↑ https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=29650
3. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56312429/john-henry-morgan

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:39H8-GN2 : accessed 22 April 2021), John Morgan in household of Stanley Morgan, Cartersville, Bartow, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 23, sheet 8B, line 87, family 205, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 337; FHL microfilm 2,340,072.