COLONEL ROBERT K. MORGAN - STAMP(S) SIGNED - HFSID 292209

ROBERT MORGAN
The commander of the World War II bomber Memphis Belle signs a sheet of ten 32-cent U.S. postage stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of World War II.
Stamps signed: "Robert Morgan/Pilot of/Memphis/Belle", Color, 9x5 sheet of ten 32-cent U.S. postage stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of World War II, titled 1945: Victory at Last. He signs in the middle of the world map which describes some of the military events in 1945. Robert Knight Morgan (1918-2004) entered the Army Air Corps in 1940. During World War II he flew twenty five combat missions over Europe. At that time he was commander of the B-17 Flying Fortress, Memphis Belle. As one of the first heavy bombers in the Eighth Air Force, the plane dropped over 60 tons of bombs while in action. The bomber gained national attention as being the first of its kind to return to the United States and was used as publicity to sell war bonds. The story of Morgan and his Memphis Belle crew was the subject of the 1944 documentary Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. On his second combat tour of World War II, Morgan commanded the 869th Bomb Squadron in the Pacific Theater. There he flew B-29's for 26 missions over Japan. Morgan was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with ten oak leaf clusters. Advancing to the rank of Colonel, after the war he remained active with the Air Force Reserve until retiring in 1965. Morgan's autobiography The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot which he co-wrote was released in 2001. Fine condition.