Oral history of Walter Morgan
Clemson University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives A video recording of an in-person interview conducted by Austin Mall with Petty Officer Second Class Walter Morgan on November 17, 2013. Born on April 30, 1925, Morgan enlisted in the United States Navy in 1943. After completing radio school, radar school and gunnery training, he was assigned to 85th Bombardment Group as a rear gunner and radar operator on Curtiss Helldiver bombers.
Morgan describes his intensive dive-bombing training where he witnessed fellow pilots lose their lives due to the extreme stress placed on aircraft during practice dives. After additional carrier landing training, he was assigned to the USS Shangri-La, a newly commissioned aircraft carrier that saw combat in the Pacific during the final months of the war. He recounts narrowly escaping enemy anti-aircraft fire over Kure Harbor, where his squadron successfully bombed the Japanese cruiser Oyodo and describes the intensity of kamikaze attacks. Morgan also reflects on the dropping of the atomic bombs and their continued operations until Japan's official surrender. He later participated in prisoner of war supply drops and the mass flyover of Japan to demonstrate US air power.
2013-11-17