CPL Eugene W. Morrison
Source: The Eugene Guard (1944)
Corporal (CPL) Eugene Willard “Gene” Morrison of George Company, 3rd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Ashland, Jackson County, Oregon, to Willard L. and Lydia M. (Linebaugh) Morrison on October 8, 1923. He had one older sister, Yvonne Morrison.
Eugene was a graduate of Eugene High School, Lane County, Oregon, class of 1941. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Tacoma, Washington, on December 11, 1942, and was assigned to George Company of the 501st PIR. He received his paratrooper training at Camp Toccoa and Fort Benning, both located in Georgia, as well as at Camp Mackall in South Carolina.
On July 31, 1943, he married Dorothy Irene Canon at Chesterfield, South Carolina, which lies in the vicinity of Camp Mackall. Five months later, Eugene traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and took part in the final preparations of his unit for the invasion of France.
The planes of the 3rd Battalion left from RAF Welford Airfield in Berkshire, England, on June 5, 1944. When the aircraft that carried CPL Morrison approached its drop zone on D-Day morning, it was hit twice by German anti-aircraft fire. The first time the radio compartment was hit, which set the plane on fire. The second hit was near the tail of the airplane.
Right before the plane received the second hit, the jumpmaster, SSGT Charles Word, gave the order to jump. Besides SSGT Word, PFC Lucien Tetreault and PVT Arthur Morin managed to jump out of the burning plane before it crashed, killing the fourteen other paratroopers, including CPL Morrison.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
On June 6, 1944, CPL Eugene Morrison died at the age of 20. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal. He was initially buried in the temporary military cemetery of Blosville, Normandy, at Plot C, Row 5, Grave 93. In August 1949, he was permanently interred in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, at Plot I, Row 26, Grave 28. May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Eugene.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources:
The Eugene Guard, Eugene, Oregon, 03 Aug 1944
Missing Air Crew Report 8414