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George Stephen Morrison

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George Stephen Morrison
Nickname(s)Steve
Born(1919-01-07)January 7, 1919
Rome, Georgia, U.S.
DiedNovember 17, 2008(2008-11-17) (aged 89)
Coronado, California, U.S.
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service1938–1975
Rank Rear Admiral
Commands heldUSS Bon Homme Richard
Battles/warsWorld War II

Korean War
Vietnam War

George Stephen Morrison (January 7, 1919 – November 17, 2008) was a United States Navy rear admiral (upper half) and naval aviator. Morrison was commander of the U.S. naval forces in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 1964, which sparked an escalation of American involvement in the Vietnam War. He was the father of Jim Morrison (1943–1971), the lead singer of the rock band The Doors.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Born in Rome, Georgia, Morrison was the son of Caroline (née Hoover; 1891-1984) and Paul Raymund Morrison (1886-1971), and raised in Leesburg, Florida.[2] He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1938, graduated in 1941, and was commissioned an ensign. Sent to Hawaii, he joined the crew of the minelayer Pruitt (DM-22).[4] On December 7, 1941, Morrison witnessed the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor.[3]

Career

Captain Morrison and his son Jim on the bridge of the Bon Homme Richard in January 1964

He began flight training in 1943 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and graduated in spring 1944. Morrison flew missions in the Pacific Theater for the duration of World War II.[4]

He served as an instructor on nuclear weapons programs following the end of the war, while during the Korean War, he served at the joint operations center in Seoul. This resulted in the award of the Bronze Star.[3]

In 1963, Morrison took command of the Essex-class aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31), flagship of a 3rd Fleet Carrier Division in the Pacific, and based at Naval Air Station Alameda, California. Morrison was in command of the Carrier Division during the controversial Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August 1964, which resulted in a dramatic escalation of the Vietnam War.[5]

In 1966, he was promoted to Rear Admiral at age 46. In WestPac in 1968, he was Commander of Task Force 77; the Hancock (CVA-19) served as his flagship. Besides operations against communist forces in North Vietnam, the task force was diverted to Korea in December of 1968 to support South Korean forces battling North Korean infiltrators. He successfully led the Task Force in the interdiction of communist North Korean forces in spite of attempts by Soviet Navy destroyers to prevent flight operations by attempting to cross the path of the Hancock. In 1972, he was appointed Commander Naval Forces Marianas.[6] As such, he was in charge of relief efforts for Vietnamese refugees sent to Guam after the fall of Saigon in the spring of 1975.[7][8][9][10][11]

Rear admiral Morrison was the keynote speaker at the decommissioning ceremony for Bon Homme Richard, his first ship as an admiral, on July 3, 1971 in Washington D.C., the same day his son, rock musician Jim Morrison, died in Paris, France at age 27.

Morrison retired from the Navy in August 1975 as a rear admiral (upper half).[7]

Personal life

Morrison met and married Clara Virginia Clarke (1919-2005) in Hawaii in 1942. Their son James Douglas was born in late 1943 in Melbourne, Florida, where they lived at the time while stationed at Naval Air Station Melbourne.[4] A daughter, Anne Robin, was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and became a school teacher in Thousand Oaks, California,[12] and a son, Andrew Lee Morrison, was born in 1948 in Los Altos, California, and lives in Pahoa, Hawaii.[13][14]

In retirement, the Morrisons lived in Coronado and Chula Vista, California. Clara Clarke Morrison, 86, died after a long illness in Coronado on December 29, 2005. Rear Admiral Morrison died in Coronado on November 17, 2008. His private memorial service was held on November 24 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. His ashes were scattered at sea near the same spot off Point Loma where his wife's ashes had been scattered nearly three years earlier.

References

  1. ^ "Inside the Laurel Canyon : The Strange but Mostly True Story of Laurel Canyon and the Birth of the Hippie Generation". davesweb.cnchost.com. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Steve Liewer (November 28, 2008). "George 'Steve' Morrison; rear admiral flew combat missions in lengthy career". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Grimes, William (December 8, 2008). "George S. Morrison, admiral and singer's father, dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Livepress encyclopedia retrieved April 8, 2008
  5. ^ http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq120-1.htm. Possibly Carrier Division Five
  6. ^ "Rear Admiral George S. Morrison, ComNavMarianas. October 1, 1972 (Photographs)". libweb.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Rear-Admiral George Morrison: father of Jim Morrison". The New York Times. December 11, 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  8. ^ "Guam, Washington need each other". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. May 1, 1975. p. 1, part 3.
  9. ^ "Viet art to go back to owner". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. May 29, 1975. p. 27.
  10. ^ "New camp to get Guam Vietnamese". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. May 27, 1975. p. 15.
  11. ^ Prina, L. Edgar (June 9, 1975). "Morrison undaunted by refugee operation". Daily News. Kingsport, Tennessee. Copley News Service. p. 4.
  12. ^ http://www.americanlegends.com/morrison/allinthefamily.html
  13. ^ http://damontucker.com/2008/12/09/jim-morrison-of-the-doors-his-brother-lives-in-pahoa/
  14. ^ "Jim Morrison". The Biography Channel. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
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