Cadet and Merchant Mariner
Van Horne Morris was born in 1919 and grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts, a suburb located about 7 miles north of Boston. He entered Massachusetts Maritime Academy (then called the Massachusetts Nautical School) on September 19, 1936 and graduated on September 27, 1938. As a cadet on the training ship Nantucket he visited San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Ponta Delgada, Azores in 1937. Morris's relatively short list of cadet infractions at Mass Maritime included leaving ship on liberty without a pass, sleeping in without authority, taking coffee from cadet officers pot, and causing a disturbance in class.
Morris's subsequent career as a merchant mariner took him through ports in Singapore, Malaysia, and India, among others. After five years at sea, he expressed a desire to give up his maritime career. As he wrote in an personal and poetic letter home, he longed to “sleep in a bed that doesn’t roll, to hear the wind rustling through the trees.” However, his time at sea wasn't over just yet.
World War II
After leaving the Merchant Marine (circa 1940) Morris enrolled in the Naval Aviation Cadet program, traveling to Florida for advanced flight training. According to Military Wiki, this program grew out out of the Aviation Cadet Act, which was passed by Congress on April 15, 1935 to send civilian and enlisted candidates to train as aviation cadets.
After completing his aviation training, Morris married his high school sweetheart, Marion “Betty” Gilmore, in early 1942. Gilmore was a member of the American Ballet Theater in New York who had spent six months traveling in South America with her dance troupe the year before. As noted in a local news clipping, at their wedding "Ensign Morris wore the dress uniform of the Navy Air Service, while Betty wore a navy blue dress with anchor buttons."
After completing his training, Morris was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) and participated in several significant naval events World War II, including The Battle of Midway in June 1942 and The Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942.
As chronicled in a family album, in early 1942 the Morrises were stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, where the Hornet had docked prior to her departure for the war zones. On April 25 they embarked by car on a cross country trip to California. They got a flat tire on April 28 "somewhere between Texarkana, Arkansas and Mt. Pleasant, Texas," and had car trouble again just two days later in Arizona. After reaching California, "Van left San Francisco for Pearl Harbor on the morning of May 8" according to the caption in the album.
The Hornet entered Pearl Harbor on May 26 and departed on May 28 with Morris aboard. On June 4, 1942, after a string of victories in the Pacific, the Japanese fleet attacked Midway, a 2.4-square-mile atoll roughly equidistant between North America and Asia that was home to a U.S. military base. Due to intelligence gathered through code-breaking, the U.S. military was prepared to respond. The USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown destroyed Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu. The battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, was a turning point in the war, stemming Japanese progress in the region.
The Hornet sunk on October 26, 1942, during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. This photo shows Morris on board on October 4, just a few weeks before. According to a story passed down to my mother, he was later listed as "missing" though he had already made it home safely.
The following news clipping expands on Morris's record of service, which included missions in North Atlantic waters:Air Medal Awarded to Lt. Van Morris
Lieutenant Van Horne Morris, USNR, formerly of 10 Haskell Street, recently was presented with the Air Medal for outstanding performance of duty while participating in hazardous aerial flights during the winter season over North Atlantic waters.
The presentation was made by Commodore Gordon Rowe, USN, Commander Fleet Air Detachment, U.S. Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, R.I.
The citation, signed by Admiral Ingram, states that “Lieutenant Morris as pilot of the United States Navy plane conducted many anti-submarine aerial flights from an aircraft carrier under extremely adverse weather conditions involving constant hazards due to winds of gale force, icing, low visibility, blizzards, rough seas and unstable flight deck conditions with great skill, fortitude and distinction, resulting in substantial curtailment of enemy submarine activity. Lieut. Morris’ courageous and persistent performance reflects great credit on the United States Naval service.”
During his combat duty in the Pacific area, Lt. Morris served with Squadrons VC-58, VF-3, and VF-72. Their combat experiences included the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Santa Cruz.
In addition to the Air Meda, Lt. Morris wears the Presidential Unit Citation, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal, and the European Theater Campaign Medal.
Lieut. Morris is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alden. B Morris,of Conway, New Hampshire.
My mother recalls seeing a letter or diary where my grandfather recounts his impressions of the appalling conditions of Japanese prisoners held on his carrier. We are still hoping it will emerge from the attic!
Post War and Domestic Life
After World War II, Van and Marion Morris settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, and he embarked on a career as a commercial airline pilot. They had three children: Peter in 1944, Patricia (my mother) in 1949, and Gene in 1952. Sadly, Morris died in a car accident in 1958 at the young age of 39.
