SGT Morris E. Stacey (WWII)


SGT Morris E Stacey (Service # 6661840) was born December 25, 1916 in Jefferson, Kentucky to James and Mary (Rediner) Stacey. The second youngest of eight children, Morris lived in Kentucky until sometime between the 1930 census and the 1940 census. He enlisted in the military in 1935 and by the 1940 census, Morris was already stationed in Wahiawa (Honolulu) Hawaii, with the 78th Pursuit Squadron of the Army Air Corps.

On December 7, 1941, SGT Stacey was at Wheeler Army Airfield when the attack took place. Sergeant Morris Stacey and Corporal Vincent Horan attempted, under heavy fire, to wheel attack planes into the open in order to respond to the attack. Others on the field attempted the same, and were able to get a number of planes into the air to fight back. Stacey and Horan were both killed in the process, Stacey by the strafing of machine gun fire.

To quote his WV Veteran's Memorial Biography: 

"Morris and Corporal Vincent Horan were the only 78th Pursuit Squadron casualties of the day, a small number of the nearly 2,400 total servicemen killed. The Japanese were effective in disabling or destroying all of the 78th's fighter planes. However, through heroic actions similar to those of Morris, four of those planes were made flyable by the next day. Morris Stacey's body was recovered and buried soon after. He was reinterred December 18, 1949, in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in Section M, Site 1149. Because of his actions that day, he posthumously received a Purple Heart medal."

S1C Wilson was awarded a Purple Heart posthumously and is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Despite living in Fairmont when he entered the military, Morris' gravestone lists Kentucky as his home.

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