World War II Honoree

Elven J. 'Jack' Morris

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Mankato, Kansas

Honored By

Donna Ramey

Relationship

Friend & Neighbor

DRAFTED AT THE AGE OF 24 AND INDUCTED INTO THE ARMY ON APRIL 7, 1944. SHIPPED TO CAMP FANNIN, TEXAS FOR 17 WEEKS OF INFANTRY TRAINING. AFTER BASIC TRAINING, SPENT A SHORT TIME AT FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND AND CAMP MYLES STANDISH, MASSACHUSETTS. AFTER COMPLETING TRAINING AND LEAVING CAMP MYLES STANDISH, HE WAS SHIPPED OVERSEAS ON THE USS MARIPOSA ARRIVING IN LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND ON OCTOBER 1, 1944. FROM LIVERPOOL, HE BOARDED A TRAIN TO A CAMP IN ENGLAND AND AFTER TWO WEEKS, BOARDED A SHIP TO CROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL TO FRANCE. LANDED ON THE COAST OF FRANCE ON OCTOBER 20, 1944. AFTER SEVERAL DAYS, HIS UNIT WAS PUT IN BOXCARS AND TAKEN THROUGH FRANCE, BELGIUM AND INTO GERMANY ARRIVING ABOUT NOVEMBER 7, 1944. ASSIGNED TO THE 110TH INFANTRY, COMPANY L, 28TH DIVISION OF THE 1ST ARMY. THE NEXT FEW DAYS HIS COMPANY, WALKING THROUGH KNEE-DEEP MUD TO GET THERE, WAS MOVED NEAR THE GERMAN FRONT, WHICH WAS IN THE HUERTGEN FOREST. IT WAS RAINING AND SNOWING AND THE UNIT WAS UNDER CONTINUAL GERMAN ARTILLERY AND MORTAR FIRE. AFTER ABOUT 10 DAYS, HIS UNIT WAS RELIEVED. HE WAS TRANSFERRED BACK TO LUXEMBOURG, WHICH WAS AN INACTIVE FRONT AT THAT TIME. JACK WAS ONE OF ABOUT 4 OR 5 MEN IN HIS UNIT OUT OF 40, WHO WALKED BACK OUT OF THE HUERTGEN FOREST. SEVERAL HAD BEEN TRANSFERRED OUT BECAUSE OF TRENCH FOOT DUE TO THE WET CONDITIONS. ON DECEMBER 16, 1944 THE GERMANS MADE ONE OF THEIR LARGEST AND LAST PUSHES IN THE WAR, KNOWN AS THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE. ON THE MORNING OF THE 16TH, JACK AND ABOUT 11 OTHER MEN WERE SENT OUT ON PATROL TO BE A PROTECTION SQUAD FOR COMPANY M. THEY LEFT THE TOWN IN WHICH THEY HAD BEEN STAYING ABOUT 6:00 THAT MORNING, NOT KNOWING THE GERMANS WOULD MAKE THEIR ATTACK ABOUT 6:30 THAT SAME MORNING. WHEN JACK'S UNIT ARRIVED AT THE SPOT THEY WERE TO MEET COMPANY M, THE COMPANY WASN'T THERE SO THE UNIT DECIDED TO WAIT FOR THEM. SHORTLY, THEY HEARD THE GERMANS COMING AND THE UNIT TOOK COVER IN AN ABANDONED FARMSTEAD WHILE THE GERMANS CONTINUED TO MARCH BY. AFTER FIGHTING ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF, IT WAS DAYLIGHT. JACK HID IN AN OUTHOUSE AND SHUT THE DOOR. THE GERMANS CONTINUED TO WALK AND RUN BACK AND FORTH PAST THE OUTHOUSE, WHEN ONE OF THEM DECIDED TO LOOK INSIDE. JACK FINALLY HAD TO OPEN THE DOOR AND WAS TAKEN PRISONER. HE WAS MARCHED OUT INTO THE INTERSECTION ON THE ROAD WHERE THE GERMANS HAD A MACHINE GUN ON A TRIPOD SET UP FACING THE PRISONERS. THE MEN WERE ONLY SEARCHED AND RELIEVED OF THEIR VALUABLES SUCH AS CIGARETTES, WATCHES AND RINGS. THEY WERE THEN MARCHED BEHIND THE GERMAN LINES FOR ABOUT FIVE MILES AND LOADED INTO A GERMAN TRUCK. LATER THEY WERE HAULED ABOUT 25 MILES TO A SMALL TOWN WHERE THEY WERE QUESTIONED. AFTER STAYING OVERNIGHT THE PRISONERS WERE PUT ON THE MARCH AGAIN. THEY MARCHED FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS AND WERE THEN LOADED ONTO BOXCARS WITH ABOUT THREE THOUSAND OTHER PRISONERS. THERE WERE ABOUT 60 MEN TO A CAR AND THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO LIE DOWN TO SLEEP AT NIGHT OR FOR ALL THE MEN TO SIT DOWN. THE MEN WERE ON THE BOX CAR FOR EIGHT DAYS. FOOD AND WATER WERE SCARCE AND THEY WERE ALLOWED OFF THE TRAIN ONLY ONCE A DAY. AFTER EIGHT DAYS IN THE BOXCARS, THEY ARRIVED AT STALAG 9-B NEAR BAD ORB, GERMANY. THE PRISON CAMP WAS LIBERATED ON APRIL 2, 1945 AT 6:15 AM BY THE 71ST DIVISION AND THE 2ND ARMORED DIVISION OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. AFTER THE CAMP WAS LIBERATED, THE MEN WERE TRUCKED BACK TO A FIELD HOSPITAL AND THEN SHIPPED BACK TO THE U.S. ARRIVING EARLY MAY 1945. AFTER A SHORT PERIOD OF RECUPERATION, JACK WAS SENT TO FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI WHERE HE WAS ASSIGNED AS A GUARD IN A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP, GUARDING CAPTURED GERMANS. JACK SERVED IN FORT LEONARD WOOD UNTIL HIS DISCHARGE ON NOVEMBER 23, 1945.