Bob Morgan is pretty laid back when he talks about how he rescued a pilot from a crashed fighter jet in Marville, France, 60 years ago.
"I was at the end of runway control," recalls the 85-year-old air force veteran and St. Albert resident, sitting in a shack, when an incoming F-86 Sabre fighter jet stalled out and crashed on landing, sliding by on its belly about 150 yards from him.
"Apparently, he (the jet) was on fire."
So he and aircraftman Harry Waters sprinted over to the wreck and tried to wrench the canopy open. It was jammed. Morgan tried to bash it open with a rock, and when that didn't work, an axe from the fire truck.
"Apparently, I was told that the ammunition was going off," he noted – not that he noticed at the time.
Nor, apparently, did he notice that he was standing atop the plane's probably-going-to-explode-any-second-now fuel tanks.
After getting blasted with foam from the firefighters, Morgan managed to get the pilot out alive.
Two years later, he learned he'd received the George Medal for his actions. The medal is roughly the second-highest award for bravery a military member can get in Britain for actions performed while not in combat.
He only found out because they printed a notice in the newspaper.
"I looked at it, and said, 'Hey, that's me!'"
Street name recognition
Morgan went on to have a successful 36-year stint in the air force, flying everything from P-51 Mustangs to the supersonic nuclear-capable CF-104 Starfighter. He's a well-known volunteer with the Special Olympics, and was the 1985 Air Force Association of Canada's National Airman of the year.
This weekend, Morgan will be one of eight storied airmen to get a street named after him as part of a special ceremony in Edmonton's Griesbach neighbourhood.
The ceremony is part of the opening of a new park in Griesbach that commemorates Edmonton's long history with the Royal Canadian Air Force, says Erwin Loewen, president of the RCAF Association's 700 Wing.
The park features a lake and concrete silhouettes of airplanes embedded in the ground. Surrounded by laser-etched granite slabs detailing the history of the RCAF is the Ad Astra monument: a sculpture that consists of five shining steel arrows that swoop 10 metres up in the starburst formation often seen in air-shows. Ad Astra is part of the air force motto, and means "to the stars."
Off to the side are plaques that detail the achievements of the eight Alberta pilots who will have streets named after them this Sunday. Three of them, including Morgan, will be at this Sunday's ceremony.
Bill Buckham, the retired brigadier-general and St. Albert resident who led the committee that designed the park, said his group specifically avoided big-name air-force stars like Billy Bishop in favour of lesser-known Albertans like Morgan.
Morgan says he was surprised when he got the phone call about this honour about five years ago.
"I said the best I'd expect would be a back-alley or a dead-end street."
He insists that he doesn't fit in with the other pilots getting streets named after them this weekend – they're all decorated Second World War pilots, while he was just a Cold War pilot who never fired a shot in anger.
"These are the people I had to look up to."
Morgan is "a very humble person," Buckham said, and had a distinguished career in the air force just like these other pilots, all of who made significant contributions to Canada.
Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell will officially dedicate the park Sunday at 12:45 p.m., Loewen said. A C-130 Hercules, a CF-18 fighter and some Griffon helicopters will do a flypast afterward if weather permits. The dedication ceremony is open to the public, but parking is extremely limited.
Visit www.albertaaviationmuseum.com for details.
