World War II Honoree

Joseph Morton

Hometown

St. Joseph, Missouri

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

He was a war correspondent for the Associated Press in the European Theater of Operations. In May 1942 he went overseas to cover French West Africa, Algeria, and the Allied Forces in North Africa during the North African Campaign and eventually the invasion of Sicily. Following the fall of Rome, he expanded his coverage in the Balkans. He followed the Office of Strategic Services and the 15th U.S. Army Air Forces in three secret missions in the Balkans to cover the rescue of American aircrews and the support of anti-Nazi partisans. On December 26, 1944, a Nazi counter-partisan unit stormed a log cabin which housed he and several Allied intelligence officers, covering an OSS operation in the country. The Allied officers were duly uniformed and he had a war correspondent Identification and should have been treated as prisoners of war. The SS headquarters, stated that all Allied commandos should be killed immediately without trial. On January 24, 1945, he, along with 13 Allied officers, was executed at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. He was the only Allied correspondent to be executed by the Axis during the war.