More detail on this person: 'Jolly Green Giant'
pilot in Vietnam War's 1,500th airman rescue dies
at 90 br>
By Andrew McGinn br>
Dayton (Ohio) Daily News
Lt. Col. John H.I. Morse Sr., a longtime
Springfield, Ohio, resident who commanded a
helicopter rescue squadron during the Vietnam War
and co-piloted the Jolly Green Giant credited with
the 1,500th save of a downed airman in that war
has died.
Morse died Friday at age 90 in a Columbus
hospital.
Morse had been on the mend after a recent stroke
when he caught an infection, according to his son,
Charlie Morse.
John Morse, a Connecticut native who came to live
in Springfield in 1969, served 32 years in the Air
Force and was also a veteran of World War II. He
retired in 1974 while at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base.
He was so very proud of his military service,
Charlie Morse said Monday.
As the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress during
World War II, John Morse flew 25 combat missions
over Europe, Charlie Morse said.
But, he remained most proud of his two tours of
Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Arriving
at Nakhon Phanom Air Base in northeast Thailand
in June 1968, as commander of the Air Force's 40th
Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, it was
Morse's job to hoist downed American pilots to
safety using the Sikorsky HH-3E _ the helicopter
lovingly called the Jolly Green Giant.
On his second combat tour, which lasted from May
1971 to 1972, he flew the HH-53, the Super Jolly
Green Giant.
That was the high point of his career,¥ Charlie
Morse said. He absolutely loved that job. You're
saving people instead of killing people.
On Dec. 21, 1968, Morse's Jolly Green set out to
retrieve an F-100 pilot in Laos they knew only as
Litter 81, his call sign.
The fighter pilot turned out to be Maj. Forrest
Fenn, who retired from the Air Force in 1970 and
later became a celebrity art and antiques dealer
in Santa Fe, N.M., whose gallery was frequented by
the likes of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Robert
Redford, Steven Spielberg and former President
Gerald Ford.
In 1986, when People magazine profiled Fenn, his
gallery was making $6 million a year.
Now retired _ but back in the national news this
year after revealing that he's hid part of his
fortune in the mountains north of Santa Fe for
anyone to find _ Fenn credits John Morse with his
life.
He is many times a hero to me, Fenn, now 83, said
Sunday in an email. It made no difference on the
21st of December, 1968, that he didn't know me. He
risked his life to pull me out of an angry
situation in Laos.
Fenn's rescue was the 1,500th save by combat
search and rescue in Southeast Asia.
In the years since,¥ Fenn said, I have tried to
find John so I could buy him a beer and tell him
again how much I appreciate what he did for me. I
have a special place in my heart for John Morse.
Even as he neared his 91st birthday, Morse never
took credit for what he did, Charlie Morse said.
He was always a participant,¥ Charlie Morse said.
He was always just part of a group of guys.
John Morse is survived by his second wife,
Phyllis, seven children and many grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday
at Christ Episcopal Church, 409 E. High St., the
church where John Morse was actively involved,
with a visitation there at 5 p.m. that day.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters
Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list
Return to VHPA web site
Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association