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John Joseph “Jack” Morris was born in Boston on 17 Apr 1929.
After his father died, his mother moved with him, at age seven, and his sisters
into his grandmother’s home in East Boston. This was a large, extended Irish
family that the depression years influenced. His grandmother headed the family,
raising him and other grandchildren, while their parents worked “to make ends
meet.” When World War II began, and all the men went to war, he was too young to
go. He grew restless, quit school, and secretly followed the races at a track
nearby. He loved horses and dreamed of becoming a famous jockey. His plan for
escape included use of an alias—Earl McCullough. He took off and traveled
throughout the country exercising horses.
His family searched anxiously, but he was not located until he
returned home two years later after the government closed all race tracks as
part of the national war effort. Jack said this was his lucky break, as he
returned home and decided to go back to school. His mother had remarried and
moved with his sisters to Valley Forge, PA, with his stepfather. He enrolled in
Valley Forge Military Academy and set West Point as his goal. He excelled in
school, graduating in June 1954.
This was prior to the establishment of the Air Force Academy, and
many West Pointers were permitted to join the Air Force. He chose a career as a
pilot and attended flight school at Stallings Air Field in Kinston, NC. During
his six months of training there, he met Mary David McCullen, a young teacher.
They were married and became lifelong companions.
Jack’s first assignment in the Air Force was flying B-47’s as a
copilot in the 301st Bombardment Wing at Lockbourne AFB, Columbus, OH. This was
part of the Strategic Air Command and an eleven-year assignment. Three children,
two girls and a boy, were born there. They were bright and lively, sharing the
hectic pleasure of the nomadic military life! These years were dominated by the
Cold War with Russia, and world tensions dictated that the Air Force be
prepared to respond at a moment’s notice in the event of an attack. The atomic
bomb was here! Flight crews were on alert for weeks at a time.
The Space Race with Russia also was developing. The Air Force
needed to meet the challenge, and qualified officers were chosen to pursue
advanced engineering degrees at many universities throughout the U.S. Jack
applied and was accepted at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He earned a
double masters degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering and was
assigned to the Space Center at Cape Canaveral, FL, where pioneers in space
travel made headlines around the world. Jack worked on the shuttle prototype
with solid rocket propulsion, moving on to Georgia and California during the
next three years.
The Viet Nam conflict was growing. In 1966 the Space Program was
no longer top priority, and Jack was needed to fight the war. He trained and was
assigned to a transport aircraft called the Caribou. It was designed to land on
short runways and carry supplies to troops in jungles cleared by the use of
Agent Orange. It was a terrible time. After a year he was fortunate to return
home safely. It was an experience rarely mentioned but never forgotten.
Jack’s next assignment was at the Pentagon as a Research and
Design officer for five years. He purchased a home in nearby Reston, VA, a
lovely suburb. Horses were a big part of this
community and a large barn was available, so he purchased three
horses for his children and joined the local polo club. This became a consuming
hobby. Then he was reassigned to the Office of the President as staff assistant
for five more years, for a total of ten years in the Capital area.
In 1973 he was assigned to Hanscom AFB in Bedford, MA, outside of
Boston, his birthplace. Three years later, after 21 years of service, he retired
as a lieutenant colonel to return to civilian life. He bought a home in Sudbury,
MA, and resumed work as program manager in the Intelligence Network of GTE
Sylvania in Needham, MA. Industry was booming and advancement in several
companies was offered in the area. He joined RCA in Burlington as manager of
Data Communications for several years. Later he accepted the position of Vice
President of Command and Support Systems with Calspan, in Washington, DC. He was
very active and traveled constantly. He returned to Boston briefly to join ARINC
in 1987 to manage a division.
In 1990, at age 62, he decided to “really retire.” He loved the
small country town of Clinton, NC, where he and his wife had married, and they
moved there. He enjoyed the nice weather, great golf courses, and being only an
hour from the ocean where he had a cruiser and there was good fishing. He was
very happy with the relaxed living, but it was a short lived pleasure. Without
warning, a cough and cold turned into lung cancer. It was advanced, but the
doctors at Duke fought a year-long battle with him, and his condition was
arrested briefly. It soon returned, however, and moved throughout his body
quickly. Agent Orange from Viet Nam was a partial cause, and he was given 100%
disability. For the first time in his life he had to accept sickness. Amazingly,
he still found pleasure in his declining health.
He lived quietly at home for a year and reflected on his life.
When told he had been lucky, he would respond, “I made my own luck! I had so
much offered. I sometimes missed, but I had successes also.” He even took
responsibility for his lung cancer, saying “I did this to myself.” (Yes, he
smoked.) Certainly he had regrets, but he did not dwell on them. He made the
most of his life and it was rarely dull. He pursued his dreams with a
spontaneous style that was “fully Jack!”
—His family and classmates
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