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| Pvt. Fred Morgan was killed in action the day this 4th Infantry Division photo was taken. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158703590/fred-c-morgan http://www.joedemadio.com/5-must-see-pictures-of-the-4th-infantry-division-during-the-battle-of-the-bulge/ |
Fred C. Morgan never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on January 31, 1919 in Tennessee. His parents William and Crodie were born in Georgia and Tennessee, respectively. His father worked as a car repairman and later as a railroad clerk. Fred had one older brother who died at age seven and two younger sisters. His parents divorced in the 1930s. By 1940 Fred had completed one year of high school. He was living with his mother and was working as a veterinarian hospital helper.
He was drafted into the army on June 9, 1944. He was married at the time, but I was not able to find out any details about his wife. He became a private in Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He joined his unit as a replacement, most likely to make up for heavy casualties in the Hurtgen Forest. Pvt. Morgan arrived in time to participate in the Battle of the Bulge.
The 4th ID stayed on the defensive during the first two weeks of January. It took to the offensive on January 18 in freezing blizzard conditions. Pvt. Morgan was killed in action on January 21, 1945 when the 12th IR attacked Fuhren, Luxembourg and took the high ground near the town of Vianden.
His grave is at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. His mother lived to be 100 years old.
JACKIE ROBINSON
One of the important players in both sports and civil rights was born on the same day as Fred Morgan - future Major League Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson. He was born in Georgia and excelled in multiple sports as a teen. As a UCLA transfer student, he became the first UCLA student ever to letter in four different sports - baseball, basketball, football, and track.
Robinson was drafted into the army in 1942. He was eminently qualified to apply to attend Officer Candidate School but prevailing discrimination delayed the acceptance of blacks for many months. He was finally commissioned a second lieutenant in January 1943. He was assigned to 761st Tank Destroyer Battalion. On July 6, 1944 he boarded an unsegregated army bus and the bus driver ordered him to go to the back. The bus was unsegregated so Robinson refused. He was brought up on trumped up court-martial charges and was acquitted by an all white panel of officers. The court-martial kept him stateside and he never went to Europe with his unit.
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| http://www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/robinson_jackie.htm |
Last year on this date I profiled Paul Dooley, 3rd Armored Division. You can read about Paul here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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