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Navy commends WWII hero
At Dahlgren, World War II veteran Elmer Morris presented with Navy and Marine Corps Medal of Valor
Date published: 7/14/2005
By JEFF BRANSCOME When a Japanese kamikaze crashed his plane into a U.S. destroyer in May 1945, Elmer Morris dashed toward the flames carrying tourniquets and "lots and lots" of morphine. As the pharmacist's mate second class raced to help his wounded shipmates, another kamikaze plane hit the vessel. The attacks separated the ship into three sections, killing 67 and wounding 87 members of the ship's 300-man crew. The fires weren't extinguished until five hours afterward. Morris survived the second explosion, and earned a Purple Heart for a gash in his arm. But the King George County native's wound symbolized just a small part of his bravery during the attacks on the USS Braine, a destroyer stationed near Okinawa during World War II. Despite his bleeding arm, Morris managed to give morphine to his shipmates and stop their bleeding. Last night, 60 years after those deeds, Morris' heroism was honored during a special ceremony at a conference center in Dahlgren naval base. There, Navy officials presented him with the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with Combat "V"), an honor he was supposed to receive in 1945. "Somehow or another, it fell through the cracks, and nothing was heard of it for years," Morris said, expressing concern that his shipmates didn't receive similar accolades. More than 50 veterans, active-duty officers--including Capt. Joseph McGettigan, the commander of Naval District Washington--and Morris' relatives took part. The parents of Nick Mason, a National Guardsman from King George killed in Iraq, also attended. Rear Adm. John Harvey Jr., the deputy for warfare integration on the chief of naval operations' staff, presented Morris with his long-overdue prize. "It is difficult to imagine that scene, much less live through it, but those sailors, with their shipmates, fought the fires, threw burning ammo off the decks and brought their ship back from the brink of destruction," Harvey told the audience as he presented the award. In fact, Morris was the only person from his four-man medical unit to escape serious injury in the Sunday-morning attack.
Read more stories about King George Date published: 7/14/2005
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