The fallen resistance people in Limburg
pers.Valkenburg 1940-1945

Hank Morgan
(Henry E.)

PFC (private 1st class) Henry E. Morgan, Service # 38627405, Unit: 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division

The most detailed research on Henry Morgan has been done by Jan Diederen. [1.1]
The following emerges from this: Henry Morgan was one of the six soldiers of the 119th regiment in the Old-Hickory Division who fell during the liberation of Valkenburg is Henry Morgan. Three days before he was killed, he was accidentally photographed on the jeep and with his inseparable pipe in his mouth on Grendelplein by Frans Hoffman, a local photographer. See detail to the right and the entire photo below.
The only survivor of the A-company, Bob Hilleque from Chicago, recognized him in the photo. Henry Morgan died on 16 September 1944 in the living room of a house on the Reinaldstraat in Valkenburg.

On the research of Jan Diederen and the oral report of his sister Els also rests a large part of the text below from the book Valkenburg 80 jaar bevrijd (Valkenburg 80 years liberated) [2] and the re-enacted story during the liberation celebration of Valkenburg on September 13, 2024. [1.2]
He lived in Hubbard, Texas [3.1] and was married to Agnes Morgan. He fell, in deviation from the date in the Morning Report, on September 17, 1944 at the Reinaldstraat in Valkenburg. On that Sunday morning around 8:00 a.m. a number of American soldiers were standing in front of the house at 15 Reinaldstraat in Valkenburg. A cannon standing in the park behind Villa Groothof on the Nieuweweg fired incessantly. A shell hit a pillar of the villa Reinalda located to the left of the house, shrapnel flew in all directions, several soldiers were wounded. A badly wounded soldier seeks refuge in the house. Here he dies in the back room. Before he dies, the mother of the house presses a rosary into his hands. He is temporarily buried in the American cemetery of Fosses-la-Ville near Namur. After the closure of this cemetery, the relatives had the choice of either transferring the remains to the United States or burying them in the American cemetery in Henri-Chapelle, municipality of Montzen in Belgium. Henry was transported from Fosses to Henri-Chapelle [3.2] on August 8, 1948 and found his final resting place here on November 19, 1948.

On September 13, 2024, it was exactly 80 years ago that Allied troops reached the municipal border of Valkenburg-Houthem. As part of the celebrations, 80 original vehicles from the Second World War entered the town, driven by actors in original US uniforms from the time. One of these people played Henry Morgan. He drove his jeep to the place where the real Henry fell in action. [1]
A new street was named after him there. [3.3]

Footnotes

1. 1. Jan Diederen, Mijn oorlog en bevrijding, p.58-61
   2. Pt. 15 – Henri Morgan
2. Stichting We Do Remember, in Valkenburg 80 jaar bevrijd, p.140
3. OpenStreetMap
   1. Hubbard, Texas
   2. Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial
   3. Henry Morgan straat
   
   Grendelplein, Valkenburg, 14 sept. 1944.
   
4. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg