More detail on this person: James Monroe Morris Jr. James Monroe Morris Jr. Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA) - Friday, November 3, 2006 COLUMBUS GA United States James Monroe Morris, Jr. (LTC Ret'd) August 15, 1921- November 2, 2006 COLUMBUS, GA- James Monroe Morris, Jr. (LTC Ret'd) of Columbus, GA. died November 2, 2006 at Spring Harbor. Funeral service will be 1 p.m. Monday, November 6, 2006 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus with the Rev. Rich Martindale officiating. The family will receive friends at a reception in the church parlor after the service. Honorary pallbearers will be the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus. Burial, with military honors will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date, according to Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, Columbus. James Monroe Morris Jr. was born August 15, 1921 in the U.S. Army Hospital, Coblenz, Germany, His father and mother, James Monroe Morris and Blanche Parker Morris, were both from KY. His father was a Regular Army Officer stationed in Germany with the Army of Occupation after World War I. As a boy, Jim lived all over the United States wherever his father was stationed, from Florida to Hawaii to Montana. Jim's boyhood dream was to be an Army Officer, to serve his nation as his Dad had done before him. He graduated from Helena High School, Helena, MT. in 1938 and then received as Associate Degree from New Mexico Military Institute in 1940. Trying to get an appointment to West Point, he attended Braden's Prep School in Cornwall NY and Sullivan's Prep School in Washington, DC. He entered the United Stated Military Academy, West Point, NY. in 1942 and graduated in 1945, commissioned in the Infantry. His classmates remained his closest friends throughout his life, His first station was with the Army of Occupation in Japan where he earned his jump wings with the 188th Parachute Regiment, 11th Airborne Division. He met his wife, Leila Booth, in 1950 at Fort Benning where he was stationed and she was visiting her brother. A year later, they were married. After a tour at Benning, he went to Korea during the war and served with the 45th Division as a Company Commander and Operations Officer. Later he became an Army Aviator, both fixed and rotary wing, and a Master Parachutist. In 1963 he commanded the 101st Aviation Bn at Fort Campbell, KY, a favorite assignment of his. He served two tours in Vietnam during the war years, the first in 1966 at Vung Tau Airbase and as Deputy Advisor to the 2nd ARVN Division in Quang Nai. In 1971 he returned to Vietnam and served at Long Ton Airbase and then as a member of the Special Operations Group. He returned to his final assignment at Fort Benning before retiring in 1973. Having served four tours at Fort Benning, he and his wife retired in Columbus in 1973. He received his MBA from GA State University after retirement. He taught college courses, became a real estate agent, and gave flight lessons, his first love. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease about 1992 but was active for ten years before it debilitated him. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus, of Trinity Episcopal Church, Sons of the American Revolution, and Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Leila (Lee); a daughter, Catherine Green and her husband, H. Peyton Green III of Penhook, VA.; a son, James M. Morris IV of Columbia, SC.; and five grandchildren, H. Peyton Green IV, Austin Green, Leila Green, James M. Morris V (Roe), and Andrew Morris, and one great grandchild, Abigail Catherine Green, and his brother Robert Parker Morris, Tallahassee, FL. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a favorite charity, or to the American Parkinson's Disease Foundation, Parkinson's Plaza, 135 Parkinson Ave., Staten Island, NY 10305, or to Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Francis Fund, 1130 1st Ave, Columbus, GA. 31901.
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 08/09/2019
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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