The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot

This is by far the best autobiography I've read. So many times autobiographies are full of technical data but lack the emotion of what the author was thinking. But this book stands above the rest, yes it has the technical data that we all crave but it has the emotions as well. You feel as if you are the pilot as you read the book, as if you are Col. Robert Morgan, flying your B-17 on bombing missions over Germany and France and later flying a B-29 over Japan. Every time he mentions a friend being killed in front of him you feel his pain, his sadness at losing a close friend, almost as if you lost a close friend. Everytime he talks about the sites and sounds and smells of war, it's as if you can actually feel and smell them. It's as if you're actually there. This book has a very natural quality to it which makes it very easy to read, it almost feels as if you and Bob are having lunch as he's telling you all about his war time and post war experiences. I would recomend this book to anyone who loves history, anyone who has an intrest in a war that defined our nation, or anyone who is just looking for a great read. You will not be disappointed, I guarantee that.

This book was not a typical day by day look at the missions this plane flew. It was a review of Bob Morgan's life before, during, and after the war. He analyzes, with humor, his life before he entered the Army Air Forces; the search for love after his mother died; his baptism to war; the endless tour of the plane and crew after their 25th mission; his role in the Pacific theater; and how he handled life after the war. The book is excellently written and has enough humor to keep the reader smiling. But, there is enough to make one know that war was serious and Bob Morgan certainly lets you know that war is deadly serious.He tells how war changed his life and talks about the treatment the soldiers faced after the war. Finally, he describes the ghosts he chased and drowned in drink trying to forget. And, he sadly chronicles the near fate of the Memphis Belle and how the US nearly relegated the plane to the scrap heap.Just an incredible book. I highly recommend it.

Outstanding book. Could hardly put it down. A great historical persective of the air war during the early years of WWII. I will put it in a league with my Ernie Pyle and Jimmy Doolittle books. Anybody interested in the air war should get this.

The life of Robert Morgan, the pilot of the Memphis Belle, reads like a cross between Flags of Our Fathers and a romance novel. He grew up in the mountains of Asheville, NC and his family were friends of the Vanderbilts. His mother's suicide starts him on a life long search for someone to replace her love. He tells about this search in very candid and blunt fashion that I found both wonderful and sad. The one lady he does fall in love with was the Memphis Belle(the plane and the lady) and the book follows both his missions over Europe with her(the plane) and her crew as well as what happens to her when the war was over. After his 25th mission he and his crew were sent back to the United States to sell war bonds and keep the home front morale up. This bond tour has one unintended side effect, it destroyes his love affair with the planes name sake (the real Memphis Belle). Needless to say, with women fawning over him, Mr Morgan's womanizing hits an all time high. After the bond tour he signs up for a tour of duty flying missions over Japan. He is invloved in several famous fire bomb missions over Japan.No doubt some people will be turned off by his womanizing and cheating ways. However, if you can get past that you will find one of the most amazing war books I have read in some time. Mr Morgan saw as much action as any bomber in WWII and his casual writing style is really wonderful.The books last chapter shows that you can go home again and you can find what you have been searching for. It is a touching ending. Mr Morgan is still alive and kicking and all I can say is I would love to sit down with him and just talk about his life. He is a true hero!

Robert Morgan's collection of eleven short stories spans over 200 years of American history. Each story is told in first-person point of view. Five of the stories are told by women, and the narrators range in age from about twelve to late eighties. Several of these stories are so well-written, they are sure to be included in short story anthologies. Morgan varies his style of writing throughout the collection, and he gives glimpses of life in the North Carolina mountains from pre-colonial days to the present. Along the way, he shows that though times may have changed, people remain pretty much the same. Two stories are especially powerful. "Watershed" and "Mack" were two of my favorites. "Watershed" gives a unique look at life in the mountains when settlers were still challenging the Indians over the land. "Mack" is set in the present and is narrated by an elderly man who suffers from a very weak heart. His story focuses on what he has learned from life and from his dog Mack. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has interest an in history, the South, and people in general.