Brig. Gen. John Haygood Morrison, Jr.
Brig. Gen. John Haygood Morrison, Jr., US Army (Retired)
passed away on November 27,2010, in McLean, Virginia, after a
long illness.
General Morrison served on active duty more than 34 years. His
service included over five years in the US Naval Reserve during
World War II as Communications Officer aboard the Destroyer,
USS SCHENCK (DD 159) in the North Atlantic on convoy
escort duty against German U-boats, and as Executive Officer of
the Attack Transport USS CHILTON (APA 38) in the Pacific. He
was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander at 24. He was
released to inactive duty in February, 1947.
In September 1948, General Morrison re-entered the service as
a Major, Signal Corps, US Army. He received his Regular Army
commission in 1950. He served at Fort Monmouth, NJ, until
September, 1952, when he was transferred to Allied Forces Central
Europe (SHAPE) in Fontainebleau, France, where he served for
three years. General Morrison's subsequent assignments took him
to Fort Polk, LA and Redstone Arsenal, AL. In 1960, he attended
the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth,
KS. He received his Baccalaureate Degree from the University of
Omaha, NE; then in Korea until June 1962 and later at Fort Lee,
VA, serving as Commanding Officer (Forward), Peninsula Base
Command, which was directly involved in operations in Florida
during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
General Morrison was promoted to Colonel in August, 1963, and
in 1965 was selected to attend the National War College (NWC),
Class of 1966, at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. Upon completion
of the course and obtaining his Masters Degree in International
Affairs at George Washington University, he was assigned to
Vietnam, where he served as Chief, Defense Communications
Agency, Southeast Asia Mainland (DCA-SAM)
He was transferred to US Army Europe after that tour and served
as Commanding Officer of the 7th Signal Brigade in Mannheim,
Germany, until May of 1970. General Morrison was promoted to
Brigadier General on August 1, 1970, at the Pentagon, were he was
assigned as Director of Communications Systems in the Office of the
Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications-Electronics (ACSC-E).
General Morrison's final assignment was with the Joint Chiefs
of Staff as Project Manager of the Worldwide Military Command
Control System (WWMCCS) ADP Program and concurrently as
Assistant Deputy Director for Operations (Command and Control,
Operations Directorate (J3). He retired from active duty, January
31, 1975.
General Morrison was born in Arlington, GA, January 23, 1921.
The family moved to Thomson, GA, when he was in the 7th grade.
After high school graduation in 1938, he attended South Georgia
State Teachers College (now Georgia Southern) until months
before World War II began. His father, John H. Morrison, Sr., was
superintendent of Thomson schools from 1932 until 1941.
In retirement, General Morrison planned and coordinated
biennial reunions from 1980 through 2002 of the USS SCHENCK
(DD-159) shipmates and the survivors of her sister ship the USS
LEARY (DD-158). Many have read with great interest his book,
"The Night We Lost the Leary," the story of Christmas Eve, 1943,
when the LEARY was sunk by a German submarine. The book is
a tribute to all of those who served on both ships - those who lost
their lives, the survivors and those who rescued them from the cold
waters of the North Atlantic. He also organized the 30th reunion of
his NWC Class.
He continued to enjoy his avocation - tennis - socially and as a
teacher for over 25 years. He was a member of the US Professional
Tennis Association.
General Morrison is survived by his wife, Charlene Miller
Morrison of McLean, VA, his sister, Anne Morrison Killebrew of
Jacksonville, FL, nieces Kelly Miller-Bailey (Andy) of Hillsborough,
CA, and Anne McElroy Jackson (Bob) of Atlanta, GA, grandnieces,
grandnephews, a great grandniece and great grandnephews.
Burial with Full Military Honors will take place at Arlington
National Cemetery in the Spring of 2011. Memorial contributions
may be made to: Fisher House Foundation, III Rockville Pike, Suite
420; Rockville, MD 20850- 5168; Wounded Warrior Project www
.woundedwarriorproject.org; or, Morris Animal Foundation, 10200
E. Girard Avenue, Suite B430, Denver, Colorado 80231-5510.
Web posted on Thursday, January 13, 2011
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