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1921-2013
John W. Morris
The nation has lost a patriot and a great engineer with the passing of LTG (R) John W. (Jack) Morris. Born in Princess Anne, Maryland, on September 10, 1921, to John Earl and Alice Morris, Jack graduated from Charlotte Hall Military Academy and then attended Western Maryland College. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in July 1940 as a member of the Class of 1944. While a cadet, he was a Cadet Captain, Superintendent of Sunday Schools, and lettered in track, a sport at which he excelled. Due to World War II, his class was accelerated and he graduated as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on June 6, 1943.
He began his service during World War II. He was assigned to Guam to oversee the construction of airfields for B-29 Superfortresses raiding Japan. At war’s end, he was assigned to the Philippines, where he met 1st Lieutenant Geraldine Ludwig, a flight nurse in the Army Air Corps, also assigned to the Philippines. Gerry was a native of Wilmington, North Carolina. She had attended James Walker School of Nursing and received her accreditation as a registered nurse. She and Jack were married on May 12, 1947, in St John’s Episcopal Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.
General Morris had highly successful assignments, both within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and within the Army. He commanded the 8th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division in Korea and the 18th Engineer Brigade during combat operations in Vietnam. He also served as a Regimental Commander and Deputy Commandant of Cadets at the Military Academy. At the Pentagon, he used his considerable skills as the Deputy Chief of Legislative Liaison, a key position that links the military with Congress.
His assignments within the Corps of Engineers were weighted heavily toward civil works. His initial assignment with USACE was as Assistant District Engineer, Savannah District, in Savannah, GA. While assigned as the District Engineer for the Tulsa District, he was highly instrumental in bringing navigation to Oklahoma through construction of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Waterway. Though originally from Maryland, he quickly developed the low-key, humor-laced, friendly and approachable personality that endeared him to citizens of the Southwest and their political leaders. Later, these early skills served him well as the Missouri River Division Engineer in Omaha, Nebraska. Subsequently assigned to the Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., he became Director of Civil Works, responsible for the Corps’ construction, operations, maintenance, and regulatory functions throughout the United States. These functions included navigation, both deep channel and inland, flood control, and other water-related services such as recreation and water supply.
The Army recognized his tremendous accomplishments and potential by first selecting him as the Deputy Chief of Engineers, and then in 1976 as the 44th Chief of Engineers along with his third star as a Lieutenant General. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment as “Chief” was convincing the Department of the Army to include USACE as one of its major commands. This increased the Corps’ stature in the Department of Defense, and helped pave the way for USACE’s leader ship in military and national affairs.
As the Chief of Engineers, his service and accomplishments were crowned with multiple awards and widespread recognition. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineers, the National Academy of Construction, and Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. In 1996, he was selected by his peers at the National Academy of Engineers as recipient of the prestigious Founder’s Award (since renamed the Simon Ramo Founder’s Award). The Army Engineer Association chose him for its highest award, the Gold Order of the deFleury Medal. He also was elected a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. His many military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Army’s highest non-combat decoration, and multiple awards of the Legion of Merit. He was named “Construction Man of the Year” by Engineering News Record magazine in the same year he was awarded the Outstanding Engineer of the Year by both the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society, 1977. Receiving of these simultaneous awards has never been replicated.
General Morris was creative and innovative. With the consent of and financial help from Congress, he dispatched a venerable Corps work boat, the Sergeant Floyd, to carry the Corps story far and wide along the nation’s vast inland waterways during the nation’s Bi-Centennial celebration. His “The Corps Cares” campaign mobilized the Corps workforce, military and civilian, and energized and inspired them to expand and improve their proud performance. He had a new idea a minute―not all of them winners, but in total a list of massive importance. His selection of music to be played at the parade marking conclusion of his military career tends to say it all. After the Ruffles and Flourishes, and traditional military march music, the U.S. Army Band, at General Morris’ request, concluded the event by playing Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way.” A simpler and more fitting tribute to his military service could not even be imagined. General Morris retired with full military honors in 1980 with over 37 years of dedicated service.
Desiring a continued involvement in professional engineering, General Morris started his own consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia. He was so sensitive to even a hint of impropriety that he rejected offers from companies in the industry with which he had dealt while in the Corps, hence his decision to go it alone. His decision was a good one, and the firm prospered, providing consulting services to over 50 firms, many from overseas. Engagements were wide and varied; one of the most interesting being selected to develop and present the State of Oklahoma’s proposal for design and construction of the Super Conducting Super Collider project in 1987. Texas got the job, but the Oklahoma proposal was praised for its quality. General Morris was active in the academic world as well. He wrote a course of instruction for a Master’s Degree in Construction Engineering Management and was its First Chair at the University of Maryland. Subsequently, the UM started an annual scholarship for a graduate student in the university’s Department of Engineering in his name. It will provide full tuition with a preference to those students who are active duty, reserve, or who have prior military service. As active as he was, General Morris still found time to volunteer, serving on the Boy Scouts of America Council, and other civic and charitable professional institutions. Even after retirement, recognitions continued to come his way, but none were more cherished than his selection as a Distinguished Gradate from the United States Military Academy in 1989. This award reflects the respect and honor his peers have had for him.
Due to the failing health of his wife, Gerry, he moved to Plantation Village in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 2004. He visited her every day until her death in 2006. Jack, or the “General” as his friends referred to him, participated in the activities at Plantation Village and served on numerous committees. Jack was a member of All Saints Anglican Parish.
Jack Morris was devoted to his lovely wife, Gerry, and to their two children. She pre-deceased him, and the pain of her passing was felt for the rest of his life.
General Morris’ funeral was held at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, on September 4, 2013. The Corps, the Army, and our nation lost one its most distinguished military engineers.
-Hans Van Winkle, 2014
He began his service during World War II. He was assigned to Guam to oversee the construction of airfields for B-29 Superfortresses raiding Japan. At war’s end, he was assigned to the Philippines, where he met 1st Lieutenant Geraldine Ludwig, a flight nurse in the Army Air Corps, also assigned to the Philippines. Gerry was a native of Wilmington, North Carolina. She had attended James Walker School of Nursing and received her accreditation as a registered nurse. She and Jack were married on May 12, 1947, in St John’s Episcopal Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.
General Morris had highly successful assignments, both within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and within the Army. He commanded the 8th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division in Korea and the 18th Engineer Brigade during combat operations in Vietnam. He also served as a Regimental Commander and Deputy Commandant of Cadets at the Military Academy. At the Pentagon, he used his considerable skills as the Deputy Chief of Legislative Liaison, a key position that links the military with Congress.
His assignments within the Corps of Engineers were weighted heavily toward civil works. His initial assignment with USACE was as Assistant District Engineer, Savannah District, in Savannah, GA. While assigned as the District Engineer for the Tulsa District, he was highly instrumental in bringing navigation to Oklahoma through construction of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Waterway. Though originally from Maryland, he quickly developed the low-key, humor-laced, friendly and approachable personality that endeared him to citizens of the Southwest and their political leaders. Later, these early skills served him well as the Missouri River Division Engineer in Omaha, Nebraska. Subsequently assigned to the Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., he became Director of Civil Works, responsible for the Corps’ construction, operations, maintenance, and regulatory functions throughout the United States. These functions included navigation, both deep channel and inland, flood control, and other water-related services such as recreation and water supply.
The Army recognized his tremendous accomplishments and potential by first selecting him as the Deputy Chief of Engineers, and then in 1976 as the 44th Chief of Engineers along with his third star as a Lieutenant General. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment as “Chief” was convincing the Department of the Army to include USACE as one of its major commands. This increased the Corps’ stature in the Department of Defense, and helped pave the way for USACE’s leader ship in military and national affairs.
As the Chief of Engineers, his service and accomplishments were crowned with multiple awards and widespread recognition. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineers, the National Academy of Construction, and Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. In 1996, he was selected by his peers at the National Academy of Engineers as recipient of the prestigious Founder’s Award (since renamed the Simon Ramo Founder’s Award). The Army Engineer Association chose him for its highest award, the Gold Order of the deFleury Medal. He also was elected a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. His many military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Army’s highest non-combat decoration, and multiple awards of the Legion of Merit. He was named “Construction Man of the Year” by Engineering News Record magazine in the same year he was awarded the Outstanding Engineer of the Year by both the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society, 1977. Receiving of these simultaneous awards has never been replicated.
General Morris was creative and innovative. With the consent of and financial help from Congress, he dispatched a venerable Corps work boat, the Sergeant Floyd, to carry the Corps story far and wide along the nation’s vast inland waterways during the nation’s Bi-Centennial celebration. His “The Corps Cares” campaign mobilized the Corps workforce, military and civilian, and energized and inspired them to expand and improve their proud performance. He had a new idea a minute―not all of them winners, but in total a list of massive importance. His selection of music to be played at the parade marking conclusion of his military career tends to say it all. After the Ruffles and Flourishes, and traditional military march music, the U.S. Army Band, at General Morris’ request, concluded the event by playing Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way.” A simpler and more fitting tribute to his military service could not even be imagined. General Morris retired with full military honors in 1980 with over 37 years of dedicated service.
Desiring a continued involvement in professional engineering, General Morris started his own consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia. He was so sensitive to even a hint of impropriety that he rejected offers from companies in the industry with which he had dealt while in the Corps, hence his decision to go it alone. His decision was a good one, and the firm prospered, providing consulting services to over 50 firms, many from overseas. Engagements were wide and varied; one of the most interesting being selected to develop and present the State of Oklahoma’s proposal for design and construction of the Super Conducting Super Collider project in 1987. Texas got the job, but the Oklahoma proposal was praised for its quality. General Morris was active in the academic world as well. He wrote a course of instruction for a Master’s Degree in Construction Engineering Management and was its First Chair at the University of Maryland. Subsequently, the UM started an annual scholarship for a graduate student in the university’s Department of Engineering in his name. It will provide full tuition with a preference to those students who are active duty, reserve, or who have prior military service. As active as he was, General Morris still found time to volunteer, serving on the Boy Scouts of America Council, and other civic and charitable professional institutions. Even after retirement, recognitions continued to come his way, but none were more cherished than his selection as a Distinguished Gradate from the United States Military Academy in 1989. This award reflects the respect and honor his peers have had for him.
Due to the failing health of his wife, Gerry, he moved to Plantation Village in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 2004. He visited her every day until her death in 2006. Jack, or the “General” as his friends referred to him, participated in the activities at Plantation Village and served on numerous committees. Jack was a member of All Saints Anglican Parish.
Jack Morris was devoted to his lovely wife, Gerry, and to their two children. She pre-deceased him, and the pain of her passing was felt for the rest of his life.
General Morris’ funeral was held at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, on September 4, 2013. The Corps, the Army, and our nation lost one its most distinguished military engineers.
-Hans Van Winkle, 2014
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