Profiles: WWII Era:

Donald E. Moreland


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Credit: Courtesy of Donald E. Moreland.

Donald E. Moreland's schooling was delayed three years because of the Great Depression and then interrupted for five years with military service, but a combination of hard work, academic excellence, and the GI Bill enabled him to complete college. After graduating from high school in 1937, Moreland worked in a photo studio to save money to go to college. He enrolled at NC State in 1940 to study forestry, but he was drafted into the army on October 8, 1941, two months before Pearl Harbor. His military service included forty-one months overseas in the South Pacific with the Signal Intelligence Service, a precursor to the Army Security Agency and the National Security Agency. The unit worked on the decryption of Japanese codes and ciphers.

In 1946 Moreland resumed his studies thanks to the GI Bill. After earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in forestry in 1949 and 1950, Moreland completed his Ph.D. in plant physiology in 1953 with support from an Atomic Energy Commission predoctoral fellowship. Moreland served his alma mater and the scientific community through a distinguished career as a professor of crop science, botany, forestry, and toxicology. He served in the army reserves until 1979, retiring as a colonel.

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Credit: Courtesy of Donald E. Moreland.

Moreland in Australia.

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Credit: Courtesy of Donald E. Moreland.

Authorization of Education or Training Subsistence Allowance.

Before he claimed his mother as a dependent, Moreland's GI Bill living stipend was $65 a month. Married veterans received $90 a month.

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Credit: Courtesy of Donald E. Moreland.

Membership cards for two veterans' organizations.

 

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