PANAMA CITY BEACH — Morgan Donato of Panama City Beach keeps more than 20 military medals in a small display in his living room. One is labeled “D-DAY,” another “Battle of the Bulge,” one is a Croix de guerre awarded by France and two are Purple Hearts.
But the most important to him is his insignia from the 39th Infantry Regiment.
“I was very young, but it was a good experience. I wouldn’t do it again for all the money in the world, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything,” Donato said.
Donato, 87, was part of an Honor Flight Network trip last week that included more than 70 other veterans. Honor Flight Network is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing as many veterans as possible to visit the national war memorials in the capital.
“It was very exciting. I enjoyed it immensely,” Donato said.
He said his favorite part of the trip was the World War II memorial. He called the trip and other similar honors “humbling.”
“I don’t think I deserve it,” he said.
A World War II veteran himself, Donato joined the army at 17. His parents died when he was young and both his older brothers were “in the service,” he said, although his older sisters tried to take care of him.
“They didn’t want to take me,” Donato said of joining the Army so young, “I said, ‘doc, you have to take me; I have no place to go. I’m alone in this world, except my brothers in the service.’ ”
Donato stormed Utah Beach on June 10, 1944 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, both crucial battles.
“I guess so,” said Donato, who found the attention to his service a bit embarrassing.
He remembers another battle on March 1, 1945, where he was shot in the arm.
“Only two of us out of 120 fellows in my company that I know of made it,” he said, “They took me to an aid station and operated on me and somebody stole my boots. So I came back to this country with no boots.”
These days, he spends his free time building doll houses for his 12 granddaughters. The newest house is adorned with an E for Donato’s 6-month-old granddaughter Erin. He tucked a letter for the baby into the house’s tiny mailbox.
He has built other dollhouses to be raffled off for charity. The winner of one house was the daughter of another serviceman. He keeps a picture of her with his parents in a scrapbook along with photos of his granddaughters and their dollhouses.