William "Bill"
Morgan entered the U.S. Army through the draft in 1952. He was inducted on
November 3, 1952. Bill completed basic training and lineman training at
Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. He then returned home for a 10-day furlough before
reporting to Fort Lewis, Washington for deployment to Korea.
Bill arrived in Korea in May of 1953 and served as Private
First Class with the 519th MP Battalion in the 5th Armored Division. His group
arrived in Inchon, Korea and then traveled about 60 mile to Wonju, Korea, which
is near the 38th Parallel. Their compound was in a
valley and they lived in tents, with eight men per tent. They had gas heaters
and ran generators at night. Bill's duties as a lineman were to keep the
communication lines open. They would string wire one day and it would be
gone the next. Bill's tour in Korea lasted 16 months. The armistice was
signed on July 27, 1953. Bill
earned the United States Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with one bronze
star, the National Defense Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. Bill
returned to the States and was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado until his
discharge on September 21, 1954. |
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