George Stephen Morrison facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George Stephen Morrison
Nickname(s)	Steve
Born	(1919-01-07)January 7, 1919 Rome, Georgia
Died	November 17, 2008(2008-11-17) (aged 89) Coronado, California
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1938–1975
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	Naval Forces Marianas USS Bon Homme Richard
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Pearl Harbor Korean War Vietnam War Gulf of Tonkin incident Battle of Haiphong Harbor
Awards	Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star Medal
Spouse(s)	Clara Virginia Clarke ​ ​ (m. 1942; died 2005)​
Children	3, including Jim

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 United States naval forces 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, the lead singer of the rock band The Doors, who died on July 3, 1971.

Early life and education

Born January 7, 1919, in Rome, Georgia, Morrison was the son of Caroline (née Hoover; 1891–1984) and Paul Raymund Morrison (1886–1971), and raised in Leesburg, Florida. The Morrison family was descended from Scottish settlers who emigrated to America in the late 18th century. 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 destroyer USS Pruitt. On December 7, 1941, Morrison witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Career

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

Morrison began flight training in 1943 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and graduated in spring 1944. He flew missions in the Pacific Theater for the duration of World War II. 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 Medal with "V" for Valor device.

In 1963, Morrison took command of the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard, flagship of a 3rd Fleet Carrier Division in the Pacific, and based at Naval Air Station Alameda, California. He was in command of the Carrier Division during the controversial Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August 1964, which resulted effectively in the true beginning of the Vietnam War by President Lyndon Johnson.

In 1967, Morrison was promoted to rear admiral. In WestPac in 1968, he commanded a Task Group that was part of Task Force 77 commanded by Vice Admiral Ralph Cousins; the USS Hancock served as his flagship. Besides operations against communist forces in North Vietnam, the task force was diverted to Korea in December 1968 to support South Korean forces battling North Korean infiltrators during the Korean DMZ Conflict. 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. 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.

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

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

Awards and decorations

Morrison was a recipient of the following military decorations and service medals:

Personal life

Morrison met and married Clara Virginia Clarke (1919–2005) in Hawaii in 1942. Their son Jim Morrison (later, lead singer of rock band The Doors) was born in late 1943 in Melbourne, Florida, where they lived at the time while stationed at Naval Air Station Melbourne. A daughter, Anne Robin Morrison, was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and became a school teacher in Thousand Oaks, California, and a son, Andrew Lee Morrison, was born in 1948 in Los Altos, California, and lives in Ashburn, VA.

Retirement and final years

In retirement, the Morrisons lived in Coronado and Chula Vista, California. Clara Clarke Morrison died, age 86, 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.