Jacob Morgan - Mickey Strand - Veterans Series

Jacob Richard. Morgan was born on Oct 10th, 1925, and grew up in El PasoTexas, in a pretty poor home. He served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1964, serving 20 years of active duty. Jacob was attending Texas A and M and was offered the opportunity to attend Rice University in the V-12 program as a student seaman recruit. He attended school for one year before attending a pre-midshipmen school in New York. the V-12 program generated specialized trained officers for the Navy and the Marine Copts during WW2 from 1943 - 1946 at over 131 colleges in the US. Seaman Morgan jumped at the opportunity of this accelerated commissioning program. Ensign Morgan graduated from Midshipmen school in 1945 at just 19 years old. After graduation, he reported to San Fransisco awaiting transportation to the Pacific, serving once as an escort to a debutant ball to Miss Dorothy Hills, daughter of the Hills Brothers Coffee Co. Jacob sailed to Guam aboard a Destroyer to be assigned to his actual first ship. stopping first in Guam. Ens Morgan served as a Censor on Guam awaiting transport west, blacking out service members’ letters home of any data that had military importance or sensitivity to military operations. Ens Morgan also enjoyed his evenings at the Guam Officers Club and enjoyed the gambling it offered. One night he volunteered to run the dice table serving as the House. In ten days, Jacob made more money than his expected salary for the remainder of the year. Never before had he experienced this much money in one place. He caught another ship to Tahiti to catch his permanent duty station. The transport stopped for supplies on Bora Bora, an island in French Polynesia serving as a rear base after the attack at Pearl Harbor. Eventually, the transport met with Ens Morgan's Fast Battleship, USS South Dakota (BB-57). Jack was transferred to the Dakota aboard a bosun's chair while underway. Jack served as a gunnery officer on Dakota, participating in the Philippines campaign, the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and attacks on Mainland Japan three times. After the surrender, USS Dakota sailed into Yokosuka, Japan, and tied alongside the USS Missouri. On Sep 2, 1945, all the Dakotas officers, including Ens Morgan, lined the rails to witness the surrender agreement signing. The USS Dakota remained in Japan for a year, eventually returning to New York. LTJG Morgan served as a reservist and returned to Texas A and M. Lt Morgan returned to active duty during the Korean War, serving on the Heavy Cruiser USS St Paul (CA-73) as a gunnery officer in turret two for three years. Jack again returned to school on the GI bill, where he studied medicine, graduating with his MD in 1957. He returned to active duty as a Lt Commander in the Medical Corps. His residency was at the Naval Hospital in Oakland, Ca. He returned to San Diego Balboa Naval Hospital. During the Vietnam war, CDR Morgan deployed to the Naval Hospital Taipei Taiwan, an evacuation hospital for service members injured in Vietnam. He served at the hospital for two years, receiving an award for his work with malaria from China. He returned and studied with the cardiology department at Scripts in California for two years and the Balboa Naval Hospital for another three years. CDR Morgan served with the Pediatric and Cardiology units at the Naval hospital. CDR Morgan worked, studied, and updated pediatric cardiac journal articles winning the Casimir Funk Award, the first Naval doctor to receive this award. Jack retired from active duty in 1973 and served as a professor of medicine for two years at Texas Tech. He later returned to San Diego, serving in private practice for many years, retiring in 2007 after his 82nd birthday