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<em>Morton David Magoffin,</em> known to all as “Mort,” grew up in a small town in Minnesota, entered West Point at the age of 17, graduated and attended flight school, finishing at the top of his class. He was at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941. He also was an observer aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise when “Doolittle’s Raiders” of the Army Air Corps took off to return the favor, bombing the Japanese homeland on 18 Apr 1942. He eventually earned the distinction of be­coming a fighter ace in aerial combat during World War II.</p>
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His biography in the 1937 <em>Howitzer</em> described him as fol­lows: “That flashing smile of Mort’s springs from the spirit of fellowship that animates him—a fellowship as broad as it is genuine. Easy going most of the time, when the oc­casion demands he is stern—even relent­less...Academics he cast lightly aside to engage in livelier pursuits. He preferred to instruct plebes, ride in the hills, take a hand at bridge, work out in the gym—or even drag—rather than to crack his texts. His indomitable character will carry him high in the Army.”</p>
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Later, he commanded the 362d Fighter Group, which operated in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The group was widely known as “Mogin’s Maulers,” and Mort flew most missions with his men. On his 85th mission, which was flown over Normandy on 10 Aug 1944, he and his men were looking for enemy tar­gets. GEN Patton was expecting a lot of help to keep the Germans from threatening the Allied troops. Here is Mort’s story:</p>
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I noticed a great deal of gunfire from the ground as the Germans were firing on us. I was attacking a site that was giving a lot of gunfire. I was at about 8,000 feet and started my run down, when I was hit. My plane was badly damaged, and I could not control the plane because I was hit by shrapnel and bleeding profusely—which took away some of my faculties and made me dizzy. I called out to my comrades: “I’m hit—I’m on fire—I’ve got to get out of this thing.” I bailed out and floated down where my parachute hung up in an oak tree. It was not long before the Germans found me and cut me down and took me to a little hospi­tal in France. There was very limited help and medical supplies available, and I was very weak from loss of blood. With the help of an Army first lieuten­ant by the name of Sullivan, I was able to hang on.</p>
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I was very fortunate the Americans were advancing; after four days the Germans decided to move us to Paris. There was a state of confusion, and I had a little French girl who worked in the hospi­tal hide me in an armoire. When the Germans came to get me, she told them I had already been taken.</p>
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Shortly thereafter, the American troops took over, and I was never so happy to see an American soldier. They were able to give me medical attention and remove some of the flak from my leg. I was then taken to a field hospital and evacuated to south­ern England, where I had more surgeries to remove shrapnel.</p>
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I was flown back to the States the first part of December 1944. I thought I would be able to go the Pacific and fight the Japanese, but that was not to be.</p>
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COL Mort Magoffin was a professional military man, graduating from West Point in 1937. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Silver Star, Purple Heart, 17 awards of the Air Medal, and various Allied decorations.</p>
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After recovering from many surgeries, COL Magoffin served in California and Alaska. He then attended the War College in Montgomery, AL, thence to the War Plans division in the Pentagon for two years. His next assignment was in Korea, where he was in charge of the air base in Seoul for a year. Mort retired with medical disabili­ties in 1958 to his residence in Pleasanton, CA. June, his first wife for 34 years, died in 1973. At the Castlewood Country Club, he met Peggy Brown through mutual golfing friends, and they married in 1975, enjoy­ing 32 years together, until his death 10 Jul 2007 at age 91. He is survived by his wife Peggy; three daughters: Ann Guensch of Florida, Mary Magoffin of Aptos, CA, and Liz Williams of Scotts Valley, CA; his sister, Susan Stoker of Wayzata, MN; step-children Wally Brown and Candy Brown; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. At Mort’s request, there were no formal services.</p>
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Well done, Mort. Be thou at peace.</p>
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