President's Column. "Behind Barbed Wires"

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2 UR BIR Combs. Reeae. Wallon. Geilles. Ford. Weaver FIR Wilhena. Carnobell. Hughes. Red Morgan Co~rtesy 01 Gene Ponle "Behind Barbed Wires" I have a book called "Behind Barbed Wires" which I was given by a lifelong friend, Ed Brock of Waxahachie. Tx. Ed was a P-38 pilot and thanks to flak over Berlin. wound up in Stalag I at Barth, Germany. This book was written and illustrated by American Air Corps P.0.W.s at Barth, and was published (just for those P.0.W.s who had ordered it) in 1946 by Lt. Morris J. Roy. From this book is a chapter called "Twelve Air Routes to Earthm- here is John "Red" Morgan's story, as he wrote it in 1944 while at Stalag I : On the first maximum effort bombing mission to Berlin, Germany. I was flying Co-Pilot to Maj. Fred A. Rabo in the lead ship. a 6-17, out of England. Our crew might have been termed a makeshift one, but each position was held by a leader in his field. pack attached to my harness, which, after what seemed hours. I did. A free-falling body makes a rapid descent, so I guess I was only about 1000 feet above the ground before I pulled my rip-cord. Frankly I was pretty shaky about the chute working, but I needn't have feared, for it opened and I floated to earth. My landing wasn't gentle, but I received no broken bones or cuts-just bruises. The jerries picked me up right away, with the customary display of arms and belligerence. They weren't too friendly, but I didn't receive expected mistreatment. The worst feature of the mission I learned upon talking to Maj. Rabo. Sgt. Westcott, and Sgt. Keaton, the only other survivors of the flight. Maj Rabo, wearing a back pack, had been thrown clear of the plane; the two Sgts had seen the trouble coming and bailed out, landing in a lake nearby. The remainder of the crew with us has been wearing chest packs, which had lo be attached to a harness for jumping. They didn't make it. John Morgan's story, called "Disaster over Berlin.' lists the names of several of the crew. Thev are as foliows: BIGen. Russell Wilson. Air Exec.. M~~..F.A. Rabo. Pilot, Lt. John C. Morgan, Co-Pilot. Capt. Ken Klotz, Equipment Navigator, T/Sgt Foote, Engineer. TISgt. Kon. Radio, TlSgt Westcott, Gunner, S/Sgt Keaton. Gunner, Koske, Navigator (Bombardier and tail gunner unknown) Presented by Fred Koger, author of "Countdown.' Northboro Dallas. Tx President's Column 92ND BOMBARDMENT GROUP 1/11 CCRC MEMORIAL CORPORATION ~h'ln~s had been fairly quiet that day (March 6, 1944), with the exception of the ever-present flak 2603 CATHEDRAL DRIVE barrage: at feet. the 88 mm and 105 mm shells ST. LOUIS, MO can create a lot of damage. We'd seen a few enemy January fighters attacking Groups in our Division, but no direct attack had been made on us. Brig. Gen. Russel Wilson had Mrs John C. Morgan been flying as Air Executive up to the target, standing So. 28th Avenue behind the cockpit. We exchanged positions as we Omaha, Nebraska68123 approached Berlin. Just before 'Bombs Awayl" we received a concentrated flak barrage; shells burst so Dear Mrs. Morgan: close they were almost direct hits. The two right engines burst into flames, and a blazing fire started in the rear of Permit me to express the heartfelt sense of loss the Navigator's compartment-just under the pilot's feet. and sadness felt by every member of the 92nd Bomb It was then that Maj. Rabo displayed tremendous courage. Group Association and its member organizations at the Instead of leaving the formation he stayed on course and news of the passing of your beloved husband. John C. saw the bomb load dropped over the target before pulling Morgan. We have just received this information from one olf. The success of the mission depended on our accurate of John's crew members. Gene Ponte. Many of us are bombing. The bombardiers in the other ships dropped their stunned by the news - we having felt that with his recent bombs simultaneously with ours. move to Omaha John would be in a place of excellent care I had been holding my chute in my hand from the and would be with us for years to come. time I had left my seat, so the explosion that occurred Quite a number of us knew John personally: his after we had dropped some 1500 feet away from the crew members, his Squadron members and a number of formation found me flying through space. with my chute Group Headquarters personnel. My own memory of him is still in my arms-unhooked1 There was a loud buzzing in quite clear. I recall him at mission briefings and at my ears, but fortunately I hadn't "blacked out." intelligenceinterrogations following completion of Everything had occurred so rapidly that the natural fear missions. I recall talking to him and his crew members one has of approaching death hadn't been felt. The one about the July 26, 1943 mission to Hannover. Germany thought which absorbed my mind was to get my parachute Continued on page 3 2

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