European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 a the stars and stripes tuesday August 13, 1991 Memphis Belle leaves bittersweet legacy the Memphis Belle Margaret Polk and then Fiance Pilot Robert Morgan in 1943. By Woody Baird the associated press Memphis Tenn. A it was one of the most Public romances of world War ii a fairy tale Story of a Brave Young bomber Pilot and the Memphis Belle who won his heart. A a in la return to make you Happy forever a the Pilot wrote Between bombing missions Over German occupied Europe. He survived the War but the fairy tale did no to. The Romance died amid the Glare of a Public relations Campaign cranked up to sell War Bonds. Now All that is left Are three crumbling scrapbooks stuffed with love letters and news clippings crushed Flowers and an aging a do not disturb sign for a hotel room door. The Story of love and Heartbreak Areja told in the mementos of Margaret Polk whose Leggy likeness graced the nose of one of americans most famous bombers the Memphis Belle the b-17 that Pilot Robert Morgan named for his sweetheart. Polk died last year at age 67 and left her scrapbooks to Memphis state University. A she was a Young girl of 19 and she put everything in the scrapbooks a said Michelle Fagan a Library curator at the University. Morgan and his Crew took the Belle on a nationwide Bond Selling tour and the plane was featured in a wartime documentary by filmmaker William Wyler. A commercial movie name Memphis Belle a co produced by Wylera a daughter Catherine a was released last year by Warner Bros. The returning warriors fresh from the horrors and loneliness of War Drew crowds of admiring Young women. Morgan and Polk planned to marry after the War sending War department publicists into High gear. They never explained the breakup but both blamed the Strain of the tour and the Public spotlight. A i am made a hero when All 1 want is you a Morgan wrote while trying to rekindle the affair. Polk said in an interview with a University researcher that she called Morgan on the tour and a woman she did no to know answered the phone in his hotel room. A something went on that i did no to particularly like and that was it a she said. A we All make mistakes a Morgan wrote in one of the letters dating up to the late 1940s, several years after the breakup. A i have forgiven people. Can to you a they met in Walla Walla wash., in 1942 while Polk was on vacation and Morgan was in flight training. Morgan who left the army As a major married twice and had four children. Polk married briefly in the 1950s but resumed her Maiden name and lived most of her life single in Memphis. Her mementos Are devoted almost entirely to her Romance with Morgan. She waged a lifelong Battle with alcoholism and began working in the 1960s As a Volunteer with alcoholics Anonymous. A the idea is to give of yourself which creates a void in yourself and makes room for goodness to come in a she said in an interview three years ago. Polk and Morgan took part in dedication ceremonies in 1987 for the Memphis Belle which is on. Display at a Park beside the Mississippi River. A we remained friends right up until the time she died a Morgan 71, said from his Home in Asheville . A my wife and i went Over and stayed with her several times in her Polk was supported by an inheritance and spent much time with her pet dogs and gardening. A i think i love dogs so much because i done to Trust human nature a she once said. A it can fool the scrapbooks will be on display when preservation work is finished. A capt. Morgan wrote a Fine love letter no two ways about it a said Fagan the curator a it makes it quite obvious from the Way he could express himself How he was Able to sweep Margaret Polk off her Many of the letters were written just before or after bombing runs. A bad Day never forget it. Huns wont either a he wrote after one raid. A no denying i was scared to death. It was one real Nightmare. But 1 know you Are flying with to fire Black for attacking jews opposed new York up a two City leaders say a Black professor at the City University of new York should not be dismissed for asserting that jews have used the film Industry to disparage Blacks. But Bronx Borough president Fernando Ferrer and state sen. David Paterson a Harlem Democrat said professor Leonard Jeffries should face criticism even discipline within the system. The two spoke sunday on a in by talk program. Some City leaders have suggested that the tenured professor should be fired and others have said he should be demoted As head of the african studies department at the University in Harlem. In a speech last month at a state subsidized Black festival in Albany Jeffries received a standing ovation after accusing jews the mafia and White conservatives of conducting an Effort a to destroy the Blacks a especially in the movie Industry. Jeffries also said a Rich jews were responsible for the slave Trade and referred to George Washington As a the slave master Bastard founding Ferrer compared Jeffries statements to those of another tenured Cuny professor Michael Levin. Levin caused a Public outcry in May 1990 when he claimed that the intellectual abilities of Blacks Are lower than those of Whites and that Black youths should be allowed to ride in Only one subway car to decrease the possibility of crime. A they ought to be As is our right in a free society roundly criticized roundly condemned both of them for what they have done to publicly Poison debate a Ferrer said. Paterson sided with some of Jeffries views however. A i mean anyone that Ever watched the movies in Hollywood knows that there was a systemic degrading of african americans in those movies a he said. A but the people who did it made their own individual decisions. The problem is that there were too Many of them making those on thursday Cuny officials said the University would investigate Jeffries statements and pursue appropriate remedies if warranted. A Jeffries attorney c. Vernon Mason said Jeffries statements were based on scholarly research some with the use of jewish texts. Anglers saved after clinging onto cooler for 7 9 hours Southampton n y. Up three fishing buddies were Back at their summer Home monday after Drifting in the Atlantic Ocean for 19 hours while holding onto a Large beverage cooler a coast guard spokesman said. Late Satu Jay relatives of Brian Dubecky Tony Nastasi and Raymond Perez asked authorities to search for the three after they failed to return from a fishing trip aboard a 25-foot outboard Motorboat Nicky a dad said Petty officer Alvin Huffman. A coast guard helicopter Crew began searching for the Trio and finally sighted the three clinging desperately to a 6-foot-Widc cooler about eight Miles South of Southampton around 5 30 . Sunday he said. Dubecky Nastasi and Perez told coast guard workers their boat had sunk 19 hours earlier Huffman said. The three were taken to Central Suffolk Hospital where doctors determined that none of them had been injured in the restating raid on Pearl Harbor killed Ida Grove Iowa apr a Pilot was killed sunday when his plane crashed and burned during an air show re enactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. An organizer of the show said spectators thought the crash was part of the performance the Pilot Mack Stevens Orr 51, was flying a replica of a japanese bomber when the plane went Down in front of a crowd of several thousand people at byrons originals aviation expo. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Orr of Friendswood Texas was a member of the Confederate air Force tora team. The group flies replicas built for torn torn torn a 1970 movie Al Pearl Harbor. Joe Schumacher an organizer of Thi show said the plane a just slipped of the a most of the crowd though was part of the act a he said. A until firetrucks responded i done to think and suspected that it Wasny to part of the Sho Spectator Danel Simonson Frank Linn Al Al 1_ _ la. She thought something was wrong us the crash occurred in an area not us past air shows. A we watched it go Ove Hill and i noticed it did no to pull out. To saw an explosion and a lot of t smoke a she said
