Born January 7, 1919, in Rome, Georgia, Morrison was the son of Caroline (née Hoover; 1891–1984) and Paul Raymund Morrison (1886–1971), and raised in Leesburg, Florida.[1] The Morrison family descended from Scottish settlers who emigrated to America in the late 18th century.[2] Accordingly, Morrison said that his family was originally from the Outer Hebrides, and claimed direct descent from Robert the Bruce.[3]].[4]
In November 1963, Morrison took command of the Essex-classaircraft carrierUSS Bon Homme Richard, flagship of the First Fleet's Fifth Carrier Division in the Pacific, based at San Diego, California. The Fifth Carrier Division was transferred to the Seventh Fleet when sent to the Western Pacific early in 1964. Morrison's command of the Fifth Carrier Division did not, as has sometimes been supposed, give him a significant role in the controversial Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August 1964, which increased the level of US involvement in the Vietnam War. The Bon Homme Richard was cruising along the coast of Japan, from Sasebo to Yokosuka, while the incidents were occurring off the coast of North Vietnam.[8]
In 1967, Morrison was promoted to rear admiral.[6] In WestPac in 1968, he commanded a Task Group that was part of Task Force 77 commanded by Vice Admiral Ralph Cousins; the USS Hancock served as his flagship. Besides operations against communist forces in North Vietnam, the task force was diverted to Korea in December 1968 to support South Korean forces battling North Korean infiltrators during the Korean DMZ Conflict. He successfully led the Task Force in the interdiction of communist North Korean forces in spite of attempts by Soviet Navy destroyers to prevent flight operations by attempting to cross the path of the Hancock.[citation needed] In 1972, he was appointed Commander Naval Forces Marianas.[9] As such, he was in charge of relief efforts for Vietnamese refugees sent to Guam after the fall of Saigon in the spring of 1975.[10][11][12][13][14]
Morrison was the keynote speaker at the decommissioning ceremony for the carrier Bon Homme Richard, his first ship as an admiral, on July 2, 1971, in Washington D.C. His estranged son, rock musician Jim Morrison, died in Paris at age 27 the following day.[15]
In retirement, the Morrisons lived in Coronado and Chula Vista, California. Clara Clarke Morrison died after a long illness in Coronado on December 29, 2005. Rear Admiral Morrison died in Coronado on November 17, 2008, at the age of 89. His private memorial service was held on November 24 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. His ashes were scattered at sea near the same spot off Point Loma where his wife's ashes had been scattered nearly three years earlier.
Awards and decorations
Morrison was a recipient of the following military decorations and service medals:
^IrishCentral Staff (January 31, 2023). "The Irish roots of The Doors Jim Morrison and how they influenced him". IrishCentral. Retrieved December 20, 2023. The legendary lead singer of the American rock band The Doors, Jim Morrison had Irish ancestry on his father's side. George Stephen Morrison, Jim's father, was a US naval officer who traced his roots back to County Cork.
^"Tonkin Gulf Crisis, August 1964". Naval Historical Center. Department Of The Navy. Archived from the original on December 28, 2002. Deck Log Book, USS Bon Homme Richard, November 1963, January 1964, March 1964, and August 1964, US National Archives.
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