Nazi flag has Wiregrass soldiers’ names on it

ENTERPRISE—It’s not every day that you get a World War II Nazi flag in the mail.

Even more surprising than getting the flag was finding the names of a number of southeast Alabama men and their hometowns written on it .

That unusual scenario played out this week at The Enterprise Ledger after a small cardboard box addressed to the newspaper was picked up from the local post office.

Neatly folded in the box was a large red cloth flag with prominent white circles bearing black swastikas on both sides.

Dozens of men’s names and hometowns, including some from Dothan, Enterprise, Florala, Jack and other U.S. cities cities were written in ink on the old flag.

Some of the mystery surrounding the arrival of the unusual package was solved in a brief letter enclosed with the flag.

The letter, from Donald Y. Morgan of Merced, Calif., explained he was a supply officer for the 933rd Field Artillery Battalion, a former Alabama National Guard Unit during World War II.

He said many of the men in the unit were from southeast Alabama.

Morgan wrote that he “liberated” the flag during World War II and had many unit members autograph it as a memento of the war.

Morgan also asked that the flag be donated to a museum for preservation and safekeeping after the Ledger featured it as a news item.

A computer search for more information about Morgan provided a telephone number and the ensuing conversation yielded a treasure trove of information about the man, the Alabama military unit and the flag.

Morgan, now 93 years old, said his unit was in combat operations in Germany and the flag was flying from a flagpole in front of a building in Mannheim when he “liberated” it.

“I don’t remember the date I got it, but it has been in a storage box for a long time and I thought if you could publish something about the flag, some of those boys or their relatives would see it and know about it,” Morgan said.

He said he sent the flag to the Ledger to help ensure that it would be preserved rather than discarded.

“I am 93 years old and I am working to get into the Old Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C., and when I die I thought it might get thrown in the trash and I didn’t want that to happen,” he explained. Morgan, whose military career spanned 30 years, said he was assigned to the Alabama National Guard unit when he was promoted to chief warrant officer.

“They were almost all from places like Enterprise, Dothan, Sylacauga, and places like that,” he said. “I have a friend in Texas and he said he only knew of about five guys who are still alive from that unit.”

Noting that he kept a daily journal of events and his activities for two and a half years during World War II, Morgan said his responsibilities as the primary supply officer for the Alabama unit were wide-ranging.

“I had to get everything the guys needed to support the unit—gasoline, water, clothes and things like that. The ammunition officer got sick and I had to take over his job, too.”

The person in charge of the unit’s ammunition was a busy man, as shown in a typed copy of an undated newspaper article provided by Morgan.

The article states the Alabama battalion fired more than 144,000 artillery rounds during battles in Italy, France and Germany.

The most rounds fired by the unit in one day totaled 3,064, including 1,329 rounds fired in the first four and a half hours of a battle in Italy, according to the article.

Morgan recalled that the barrel of one of the unit’s large guns exploded during one battle and killed seven soldiers.

“That was the most we lost at one time,” he said.

After seeing combat action in North Africa, Italy, France, Germany and Austria, Morgan said the war’s end resulted in one of his most memorable moments.

“When the war was over, I dared not stick my head out the door from where I was staying. It was like the Fourth of July, guys were shooting all over the place and I didn’t want to get killed by a piece of falling shrapnel,” Morgan said.

The combat veteran added the German flag that he sent to the Ledger wasn’t the only war souvenir he collected on the European battlefields.

“I got a lot of stuff. I sent back machine guns to the police, and I had a bunch of daggers, binoculars and pistols, but my wife didn’t want all those guns in the house, so I got rid of them.”

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6-14 Wiregrass members of 933rd Field Artillery Battery
The following is a list of southeast Alabama men who served during World War II with this Alabama National Guard unit as of June 14, 1945.
Maj. Guy B. Wilder, Andalusia
Maj. Don S. Mathews, Andalusia
Capt. Milton P. Carter, Florala
Capt. Jack Parsons, Dothan
Lt. Henry A. Dorsey, Elba
1st Sgt. James H. Moates, Dothan
Master Sgt. James E. Tew, Dothan
Master Sgt. Edward C. White, Geneva
Staff Sgt. Clomer J. Clark, Geneva
Staff Sgt. Maxwell A. Reeves, Elba
Staff Sgt. V.V. Smith, Dothan
Sgt. Johnnie F. Beard, Dothan
T/4 Ralph L. Ezell, Geneva
Cpl. Warren G, Martin, Dothan
Cpl. Everett R. Robertson. Dothan
T/5 Ernest L. Coleman, Hartford
T/5 Emmitt J. Martin, Geneva
T/5 Grady H. Shields, Hartford
Pfc Hermon L. Croom, Pansey
Pfc James Enfinger, Ashford
Pfc.Buster B, Garrett, Ashford
Cpl. Green L. Love, Dothan

In addition to soldiers from several other Alabama cities, the unit roster also included names of soldiers from California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,Texas and West Virginia.