Hi. You've reached the machine of Joe Morgan. Wanna leave a message? Let's have it!
One of Joe's best qualities was his sense of humor.
He certainly would have appreciated yours while expressing your feelings.
Don't disappoint him.
Also, in accordance with Joe's style, note that your contributions will be uncensored.
Here's a quote from the Third Alternative Event held over Labor Day 1977 at Elsinore, CA:
"Joe Morgan has been accepted for psychiatric care as he seems unable to cope with the realization that he and his friends are those people our mothers warned us about."
Rest in peace, Joe.
17.04.2004 19:52 - Bob Bonitz
Joe,
I knew you all my years at HT and you were always kind and sweet.
17.04.2004 16:56 - Dana D.
It is with great pain to see Joe leave all of us. My heart misses him. Joe was my boss for 14+ years. If I needed to talk personal, he'd listen with a kind heart. I still am not used to what he did. I understand he must have felt justified. I pray he finds peace. Joe, if your watching above, keep smiling.
15.04.2004 21:46 - John A. Hickey
We loved you, Joe.
11.04.2004 17:26 - Air Jose Melendez, D12935
I've known Joe since the late sixtys when he showed up at lake Elsinore. He was a great jumper and a good friend to all who knew him. The gang from the old ghetto, Larry Perkins and the staff, Jerry Hartman the Mayor of the ghetto, Philips, Al Frisbee, John Campbell and many others will remember him as a truly far out guy. He'd share anything with his buds. I last saw him at Deland in the mid eightys and he hadn't changed a bit. He was great guy and a true RW pioneer. He will be missed.
11.04.2004 05:44 - Barry and Mary Lastinger, Los Angeles
Joe, it will always amaze me how anyone could have a smile as big as yours and still be as closed and guarded as you were. IF, we ever meet again maybe you can splain it... I too am pissed.
09.04.2004 18:42 - Jim Hurley
Joe, I first and still mostly knew you through the eyes of your loving sister. We did spend some time together though, especially when touring my continent with you as the guide. You had the knack to balance the tragedy of these battle scenes with the most trite (and humorous) comments that would put all this back into human proportions. You took us to places unknown to me, not just to see for yourself but also to show us and share with us: that giant panzer in the Ardennes, or the locks on the Meuse which the German spearhead crossed on motorcycles; what an evening we spent with the lockkeeper who quickly admitted with a smile that you knew more about his square mile than himself! You also introduced us to new historical concepts to measure men’s folly, e.g. the megaton of concrete, with practical exercises in Eperlecques. How lucky too that your sister now lived near a V1 launch pad. All that knowledge that you accumulated served as background to many of your activities. It supported that incredible know-how that you developed and passionately and patiently tried to pass on to the rest of us, be it at the dropzone, in modeling magazines or in tank museums. You were only interested in doing things well. (What a stroke of luck for HT when they hired you for their QC!) As a true human being, you were not perfect, and, this being another of your qualities, you knew it all too well… Your discretion and dignity kept us from perceiving how far you had already traveled. As a free spirit, you exercised your ultimate right. We humbly respect your choice. Your friends, family, companion, sister and son have gathered to attend your last jump, now a cloud in your beloved skies. The twinkle in your eyes lives on in our hearts and minds. You gave something good to all of us. Thank you Joe.
08.04.2004 10:14 - Thierry, your transatlantic beauf.
Joe- I met you at HT almost four years ago. I really enjoyed your sense of humor and your look at life. I understand why you enjoyed skydiving, I went once and it changes your look on life forever. For you to do it all the time spelled, "Freedom". Enjoy your "freedom Joe". You will be missed.
07.04.2004 17:57 - Christine G.
Hey Joe, I only wish I had the opportunity to have known you for a longer period of time!! Having moved to Florida only 2 years ago, my wife and I have been invited to join "the locals" whenever we were around to jump. You gave me some individual instruction on the different slots in launching an 8-way chunk, which I have used over and again! We'll all miss you and know you're jumping with us in spirit!!
06.04.2004 18:00 - Fraser Feltner
To my bro, You poophead! We had just talked on the phone not so long ago about saving up for your next trip over here. There is so much WWII concrete yet to see, and now you're going to miss it all completely. I was hoping that it would be like our last trip together when we went down to the tank museum in Saumur with Alec. Remember how every evening I would carefully translate the entire menu, specifically highlighting the local specialties and suggesting an appropriate wine? Your answer was always the same: "Sounds good, but I'll just have steak/frites. Can I just have a beer with that?" And every evening, you groaned with pleasure over your steak/frites, and I just couldn't argue with that much obvious satisfaction. So I guess by now I'm over the intial shock, and saying to myself, "If only I'd called on Sunday"... I don't think that it really would have made a difference in the over all big picture; you knew what you were doing. I always knew that one day I'd be here feeling these feelings, and trying to sort things out after you, but I just didn't count on you checking out on me so soon. I'm not quite over trying to figure out why, and I have to get to the place where the "why" doesn't matter so much. I'm just left now with the missing of you. That will diminish but will never go away. You will always be my big brother, and I will always look up to you. Nothing can change that.