B.B. Morrison Sr. was the perfect person to plan an inaugural reunion for the 10th Fighter Squadron. After all, he'd stayed with his World War II comrades touch through the years, sending Christmas cards and such. The men held their first gathering in Atlanta in 1960; other reunions followed: Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Orlando and elsewhere.
As time passed, fewer veterans were able to attend the affairs due to illness and death. The last one Mr. Morrison attended was held several years ago in Florida.
"It was like having a family reunion," said Bernie "B.B." Morrison Jr., a son from Locust Grove. "The guys would bring their wives and kids. They'd go sightseeing and have tours, then have a business meeting to plan the next reunion."
A nonprofit, the 10th Fighter Squadron Association, was eventually formed and Mr. Morrison, a World War II fighter aircraft mechanic, served as its first and only president.
On Sunday, Bernard Berl "B.B." Morrison Sr. died of congestive heart failure at Azalea Estates, an assisted living facility in Fayetteville. He was 91. A funeral will be held at 4 p.m. today in the chapel of Carl J. Mowell & Sons Funeral Home in Fayetteville. He will be buried at a later date in Fairview Cemetery, Linton, Ind.
Mr. Morrison had wanted to enlist in the Army Air Corps and become a pilot, but poor eyesight prevented it. He became a mechanic and was assigned to the 10th Fighter Squadron, 9th Air Force, an instructor squadron that taught combat tactics and air defense. His unit helped establish a U.S. fighter airfield behind the Omaha Beachhead, provided tactical support and partook in the Battle of the Bulge.
"He was real close to his Army buddies," said Alice Carpenter, a daughter from Stockbridge, "and I can't think of anything about his military service that wasn't important to him."
After the war, he became a mechanics instructor at the Dallas Aviation School in Texas. Next, he was hired by American Airlines, which wanted to transfer him to Chicago. Instead, he joined Delta Airlines, which hired him as a line mechanic because he was familiar with the Douglas DC-6, then a new airliner. The family moved to Atlanta in 1948, and he spent 36 years with Delta in jobs that included supervisor of ground training and systems director of building maintenance. He retired in 1985.
In his younger days, Mr. Morrison enjoyed fishing and hunting, activities that reflected a childhood spent on an Indiana farm. He attended Indiana University and worked for a steel mill in Baltimore prior to the military.
"He took pride in taking part in the Normandy invasion and getting the beach head established," his son said. "And he always thought about all the guys who didn't make it through the war."
Additional survivors include brothers, Harold Morrison of Linton, Ind.; John Morrison of Brentwood, Tenn., and Larry Morrison of O'Fallon, Ill.; sisters, Helen Earlywine Wright of Terre Haute, Ind., and Mary Borden of Indianapolis; step-daughters, Cindy Moriarity of Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Suzette Schmidt of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; a step-son, Randy Hunt of Fayetteville; 10 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
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