MORGAN, WILLIAM JOOR Name: William Joor Morgan Rank/Branch: O4/US Army Unit: MACV, Artillery Division Date of Birth: 11 February 1938 Home City of Record: Baton Rouge LA Date of Loss: 25 February 1972 Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water Loss Coordinates: 160745N 1081701E (BT008901) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 5 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H Refno: 1799 Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998. Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: William J. Morgan was a passenger aboard a UH1H helicopter (tail #69-15391) that crashed in the Da Nang Harbor on February 25, 1972. The helicopter was recovered on March 17, and all personnel aboard the aircraft were accounted for except Maj. Morgan. It was concluded that his body drifted from the aircraft and either out to sea or to the beaches of nearby Mui Da Nang island. A further search at the main harbor was not feasible, and Maj. Morgan was listed as dead, remains non-recoverable. No enemy action is associated with the loss. Search and recovery efforts in Vietnam were the best and most successful ever seen in wartime. They were so successful, in fact, that the numbers of those remaining missing in action were dramatically reduced over previous wars. The unique thing about Vietnam as compared to other wars, however, is that not a great many cases are like that of Maj. Morgan. Most of the missing could be readily accounted for by either the governments of Southeast Asia, who kept incredibly detailed records of each prisoner and downed aircraft lost, or by on-site inspection and/or excavation of loss sites. Approximately 1/2 of the nearly 2500 now listed as missing could be accounted for with access to information held by our former enemies or access to loss sites. Included in this number are hundreds of individuals who were known to have been captives, or were alive when last seen. The other approximate half of those missing were originally classified as killed, body not recovered. In light of discrepancies, however, at least several score of these cases need further examination. For example, one "KIA/BNR" individual was known to have safely parachuted from his aircraft. Another group of individuals were horribly mutilated by the enemy, and their bodies (and equipment) disappeared before they could be extracted. The most troubling aspect of the missing in Vietnam remains the "several million" documents and "over 250,000" reports received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many U.S. authorities are convinced that hundreds of Americans remain alive today, held against their will. While it is improbable that Maj. Morgan is among them, one must wonder what he would think of his country abandoning its best men to enemy hands.