Morris Elwood Heald was born on December 1, 1917 in Hendricks County, Indiana. He attended the Sugar Grove school six years and finished his grade school education in the Plainfield public school. After two years of training in the Plainfield high school he attended the Friends Boarding School at Barnesville, Ohio, where he completed his high school education. His next few years were spent on the farm where he helped his father and for a time drove a truck on a milk route.

In 1941, when war clouds loomed ahead, Morris, on his own initiative, studied during spare moments, took a two year college examination, passed and was accepted in the U.S. Army Air Forces. His primary training was taken at Cal-Aero School, California, and his basic training was completed at Brooks Field, Texas, where he received his Wings and also his commission as a Second Lieutenant. After being transferred to several air fields for training he was sent to Salina, Kansas, where he was assigned to a B-24 Flying Fortress and was made a First Lieutenant. Soon he was ordered to the battle zone in China where during a storm the plane was wrecked that caused his death. He is now buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA.

Morris was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com