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Sgt. Dwight J. Morgan, Mendocino, Calif.
AP
Sgt. Dwight J. Morgan.
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
SAN FRANCISCO — Sgt. Dwight J. Morgan had been selected for a promotion to Staff Sergeant, but had not yet received the medal.
The medal will now be awarded posthumously, said Major T.V. Johnson, a spokesman for Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where Morgan was based.
Morgan, a 24-year-old helicopter mechanic who joined the Marines in 1998, spent most of his high school years in rural Mendocino County, about 125 miles north of San Francisco, where towering redwood trees and wine grapes abound near breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.
His mother, Mary Trimmer, worked at a local drugstore and proudly showed him photos of her son, Keller McDonald, who was principal at Willits High School when Morgan graduated in 1995, said.
McDonald added that Morgan had a small circle of friends and wasn't active in school sports or activities, but was "a quiet, likable guy."
Shocked classmates and friends remembered Morgan as shy, kind and a proud Marine whose family was proud of his achievements.
Crystal McClelland, a classmate and nail technician who lives in Willits, remembered Morgan as a bit shy, but nice to everyone. "He was always talking to everybody, being nice to people," McClelland said.
"I know his family was real proud of his accomplishments," McDonald said. "What he wanted to do was serve as a Marine."
Morgan was killed along with Staff Sgt. Walter F. "Trae" Cohee III Jan. 20 when their helicopter crashed in Afghanistan's craggy mountains while on a resupply mission.
McDonald said Morgan had a wife and a child. McClelland said Morgan's mother-in-law recently told her Morgan's wife was pregnant with a second child. |
