Everett Smith “Pete” Morrison was born at Sciotoville, a neighborhood of Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, on September 16, 1925. His army buddies called him Pete. He was probably an only child. His parents were Everett Smith Morrison (29 Jan 1900 – 2 Feb 1972), who was born at Vernon Township, Scioto County, Ohio (just east of Wheelersburg); and Martha A. Morrison (abt 1905 – unk), who was born in Pennsylvania. His parents married about 1924 and lived initially at New Boston (Portsmouth), Ohio. The family lived at several places near Portsmouth, including New Boston, Sciotoville, and Wheelersburg, all in the Ohio River valley. In 1918 his father was a farmer. By 1920 his father worked in the steel industry and was a pipefitter, millwright, and maintenance man in a steel mill.

He graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1942, and registered for the draft at Portsmouth, Ohio in September 1943. He was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 117 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. Before entering the service he was employed by the Norfolk and Western Railway and completed one year of college. He was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Lockbourne Army Air Base, Columbus, Ohio on September 15, 1943. His home of record was Rural Route 2, Sciotoville, Scioto County, Ohio, his mother's address in 1944.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training and was assigned as ball turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Lloyd W. Kersten. The Kersten crew completed B-17 operational training at Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The crew arrived at Station 137 by July 24, 1944 and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

S/Sgt Morrison and six of his crewmates were killed in action on November 30, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 43-37877, was shot down by flak. The target was the large I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Leuna near Merseburg, Germany. Lt Kersten flew in the #8 position of the Low Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group, which led the 4th Wing on this mission. As the 487th Bomb Group formation approached the initial point of the bomb run near Triptis, the radar set in the lead ship malfunctioned, and the deputy lead ship took over the lead for a visual run. The bombardier in that ship couldn't pick out the Leuna refinery through the smokescreen and the flak, so he chose to drop on what was thought to be a refinery in the vicinity of Zeitz. At 1:15 PM, just after bombs away, Lt Kersten's B-17 received direct flak hits at about 51°06'N, 12°05'E in the vicinity of Theiίen and Nonnewitz, north of Zeitz. The aircraft was set on fire at the right wing root, and flames extended past the tail. The aircraft was last seen spinning at about 51°25'N, 11°50'E, southwest of Halle, Germany. Lts Hyland and Ritchhart bailed out before the aircraft exploded and survived as prisoners of war.

S/Sgt Morrison was buried by German Police at the town cemetery of Deuben, Germany on December 5, 1944. His remains were disinterred at Deuben in July 1945, and moved to the U.S. Military Cemetery, Saint-Avold, France—now called Lorraine American Cemetery—where they were permanently reinterred.

B-17G 43-37877 crew:
• Kersten, Lloyd W – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Gerland, Henry E – 1/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Hyland Jr, James W – 1/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Ritchhart, Warren H – 1/Lt – Bombardier – POW
• Eberhart, John D – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Shegal, Arnold R – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Morrison, Everett S – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Sullivan, Maurice J – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA
• Miller, Joseph M – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov