The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle; Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot

New York: Dutton, 2001. Sixth Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. [10], 388, [1] pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Sticker inside front board. Inscribed by the author (Morgan) on the title page. Inscription reads To Dan Best wishes to another WWII Army Air Corps vet. Robert 11/01. A journey into the heart of war above 20,000 feet is told by the leader of the first bombing crew to survive twenty-five daylight missions over the danger-filled skies of occupied France and Nazi Germany and return to the United States. Robert Knight Morgan (July 31, 1918 - May 15, 2004) was a colonel and a Command Pilot in the United States Air Force from Asheville, North Carolina. During World War II, while a captain in the United States Army Air Forces, Morgan was a bomber pilot with the 8th Air Force in the European theater and the aircraft commander of the famous B-17 Flying Fortress, Memphis Belle, flying 25 missions. After completing his European tour, Morgan flew another 26 combat missions in the B-29 Superfortress against Japan in the Pacific Theater. Leaving active duty after World War II, he continued to fly in the Air Force Reserve, achieving command pilot status. Among his military awards were the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters. He retired from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of colonel in 1965. The Memphis Belle was the second heavy bomber in the Eighth Air Force to complete 25 combat missions in the European Theatre; and was the first to return to the United States as part of a publicity campaign to sell war bonds. In those missions, all of which were daylight raids, the Memphis Belle flew 148 hours, dropped more than 60 tons of bombs and had every major part of the plane replaced at least once. Morgan and his crew were the subjects of a 1944 film documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. Derived from a Publishers Weekly article: Made famous in a 1944 William Wyler documentary—and inspiring a 1990 movie starring Matthew Modine, Harry Conick Jr. and Eric Stolz—Morgan, a B17F "Flying Fortress" pilot, here fleshes out his own story, together with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Powers. Morgan's depression-era childhood in Asheville, N.C., was cushioned by his mother's friendship with Cornelia Vanderbilt, who stepped in when the family went bust. Fond of fast cars and women, a grown-up Morgan joined the Army Air Corps in late 1940 and found that he had a natural talent for flying. In spite of less than perfect eyesight, he was chosen to pilot the newly developed Flying Fortress, designed to take flak and keep flying. When he met Memphis-born Margaret Polk, the two fell in love and planned to marry. On every mission over Germany and France, Morgan flew the Memphis Belle with a photo of Polk taped to the instrument panel, which made for great publicity. After 25 harrowing daylight missions, the crew endured an exhausting 31-city U.S. tour, which ruined Morgan's marriage plans and led to his assignment as a B-29 Superfortress squadron commander. He flew 26 missions over Japan in 1944 and early 1945 before being rotated home. His search for the woman to replace his deceased mother led him through several marriages and engagements, which he chronicles in detail. Morgan also recounts the tale of the Memphis Belle itself, which went from being a vandalized and forgotten plane to a national treasure. Fans of military memoirs will like the first-person straight talk and action.