Flying to Washington, D.C. with the Honor Flight was a new experience for World War II veteran Walter Moreland, but flying in general is nothing new for the Geneseo man.

“I’ve been flying since I was 5,” said Moreland, who was born in 1919. “My sister’s boyfriend was a pilot, and he took my father and I up in an old World War I plane, and we flew over the pasture.”

As a child growing up in Missouri, Moreland regularly read and loved the magazine stories about
World War I fliers.

After graduating from high school in 1937, Moreland headed to the University of Missouri.

He attended the university for three years, working on highway paving crews during the summer.
“The fourth summer, there weren’t any more projects, and I couldn’t find work anywhere,” said Moreland.

“The National Guard was advertising. I thought if I went to their camp for two weeks, it would be two weeks my family might not have to feed me,” he said. “I also thought I might enjoy it ... and I did. I just never expected the war to start.”

Moreland started his military career with the Missouri National Guard, before being moved to the New York National Guard.

“We were sent to Hawaii,” said Moreland. “We arrived at Pearl Harbor one week after the Japanese bombed it. The Arizona was still smoking when we got there,” he said. “It was unbelieveable that that much damage could have happened almost overnight.”

Moreland spent 10 months in Hawaii before deciding, with his love of flying in mind, to apply for a transfer to the Army Air Force.

He attended aerial navigation school and was trained to be a navigator.

Following graduation, Moreland was sent to England to be a navigator with the Eighth Air Force. Moreland worked out of a four-engine heavy bomber flying 25 missions on his first tour and an additional 28 missions on his second tour.

A lieutenant for most of the war, Moreland served not only as a navigator for his plane, but as lead navigator for a bombing group of 45 planes.

“I decided where the bombs needed to be dropped. I had to show the bombardier where the target was. That wasn’t always easy,” said Moreland.

His group flew missions primarily over France and Germany during the war. “We bombed mostly factories, especially machine tool plants.”

Moreland wasn’t alone in serving his country, four of his five brothers also served in World War II. “One brother was in the Armored Division, another was in a tank outfit and two of us were in the Eighth Air Force,” he said. A fourth brother served in the Philippines.

The brother who served in the Philippines was the only one of the Morelands injured during the war. “He took a bullet in the knee,” said Moreland. “The rest of us weren’t injured at all. We weren’t even touched.”

Back home, Moreland said he’s sure his parents worried about the brothers’ safety. “I don’t think I realized it at the time, but they must have been very worried. On any day, all of us could have been killed.”

When the war in Europe ended, Moreland, who rose to the rank of captain, was traveling in England. “We heard the news all over the radio,” he said.

Following the war, he returned to the United States and took a job with an insurance company.
“The company insured places like Deere, Alcoa and Caterpillar, so they needed a man to work in this area,” he said. “I thought Geneseo sounded as nice as any place, so I came here.”

Moreland is a resident at Hammond-Henry Hospital. Knowing of his service to his country, nurses in the hospital’s extended care decided to nominate Moreland for the Honor Flight, which takes World War II veterans on a one-day, all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to see the World War II Memorial.

On Oct. 10, Moreland joined other Quad City-area veterans on a flight to the nation’s capital.

“They looked after us extremely well,” he said. “We didn’t have to pay a thing for the trip.”
Moreland’s daughter, Terri, who lives a few miles outside Washington, D.C., met the group in the city. “I got to spend a lot of time with her,” he said.

The feature of the trip was the World War II Memorial. “It was very impressive and very well done,” he said. “It’s unbelievably beautiful.”

Returning to the Quad Cities, the veterans were greeted by well wishers at the Quad City Airport.
“There was a very big crowd when we got back. More than I expected at that time in the evening,” he said.

Moreland said he was glad to have a chance to visit the memorial, but added when he looks back on his time in the war he realizes, “We were just a bunch of scared kids, and a lot of them were much younger than I was.”