US Army Air Corps Sergeant John Astor Morgan was born in Brantley, Crenshaw County, Alabama on August 26, 1912, the son of John Henry Morgan (1879-1961) and Ada Augusta Sasser (1885-1929). The family moved to Pensacola in 1919 where young John attended Walnut Hill High School (His obit lists him graduating from Leon High School in 1933 that would have made him 21 years old). His father supported the family working on farms for most of his life. Sometime before 1940, John moved to Tallahassee, Florida where he lived with his sister Myrtie Augusta (1903-1981) and her husband, WWI Veteran Franklin "Frank" Taylor Mattox (1895-1977). His brother-in-law ran a service station at 324 N. Monroe Street and John took a job with him as a helper.
After WWII began, John enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and was sent to radio operator school. Upon completion he was assigned to the 6th Troop Carrier Squadron of the 374th Troop Carrier Group. In October 1944, his squadron was transferred to Mokmer Airfield at Biak in Dutch, New Guinea. By March 12, 1945, they were moved again to Tacloban Airfield on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The squadron's duties were to transport troops and supplies to wherever they were needed during military operations.
On the morning of June 18, 1945, 1Lt. Odis B. Torbett was given the mission to fly his C-47 Skytrain aircraft from Tacloban Airfield to Sansapor Airfield on Dutch New Guinea with four passengers. The flight was routine, and no problems were expected. He collected his co-pilot 2nd Lt. Melvin L. Pruett and his engineer S/Sgt. Arnold M. Ross and radio operator Sergeant John Astor Morgan and told them to make preparations. Their passengers on the flight were Sgt. Kenneth N. True and three soldiers from the 3rd Postal Unit M/Sgt. Charles E. Adams, S/Sgt. Dallas H. Coley, and T/5 James W. Borren.
Their flight was to take them over Malabang on the island of Mindanao approximately 200 miles from Tacloban airfield. At 7:51 AM, John radioed that they had flown into a storm and were forced to fly under instrument conditions due to poor visibility. That was the last contact ever received from the plane. When they failed to arrive at Sansapor Airfield they were reported missing. An intensive search was made along their flight path by land, sea, and air but nothing was ever found. Finally, the search was called off and the men were listed as probably DNB (Death Non-Battle).
In March 1946, the men were finally declared dead. However, on July 23, 1946, a wrecked C-47 was discovered by Moro hunters in the mountains between the Provinces of Cotabato and Lanao on Mindanao. Inspection of the aircraft showed only partial fire damage indicating that the plane may have been forced to land rather than crash. What they also found was pieces of dog tags belonging to James Borren, Charles Adams, Melvin Pruett and a mail badge belonging to Kenneth True. The bones of the men were in and around the plane and were eventually collected and sent to the Ft. McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nebraska. Absent DNA identification ability in 1950 they were buried all together in one grave. Sergeant Morgan also has a memorial on his parent's tombstone in the Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Walnut Hill, Escambia County, Florida.
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