Pfc. Geoffrey Morris

War claims Gurnee Marine: 
Father says 19-year-old was `doing what he knew was right' to help Iraqis toward freedom 

LISA BLACK / Chicago Tribune 6apr04

Pfc. Geoffrey Morris once assured his father that even in the most hostile Iraqi villages, some residents always gave American troops the thumbs-up and let them know they were appreciated.

Last weekend, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded in Al Anbar province, killing Morris, 19, a machine-gunner who was aboard a Humvee, officials announced Monday. The 2003 graduate of Warren Township High School in Gurnee died Sunday.

"He was doing what he knew was right," said Kirk Morris, 46, who spoke to his son for the last time a week ago. "People say he died doing what he loved to do. Well, he didn't want to die. He wanted to live for his country.

"He told me, `It's possible I won't come back, Dad, but if I don't, I'm OK with God and I love you very much,'" said Kirk Morris, of the 3000 block of Harper Avenue in Gurnee.

A Marine representative arrived at the family's home with the news of Morris' death on Sunday, six years to the day after his mother died of a heart attack.

Morris was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He signed up for the Marines when he was a senior in high school, graduating a semester early in January 2003 and starting boot camp the following June, officials said.

He received a National Defense Service medal after graduating from boot camp, said Sgt. Charles Moore, a spokesman for Camp Pendleton. Morris' unit was deployed to Iraq in mid-February.

"Geoff was a good student," said Warren Township Principal Philip Roffman. "He graduated in January so he could get on with his life dreams, so I assume the Marines were part of that plan."

Morris visited the school in October to see a Marine recruiter who was working at the campus that day, Roffman said.

In February Morris celebrated his birthday and told his family he was optimistic about helping Iraqis win their freedom. He talked to his father--who has remarried and has five younger children at home--every week, Kirk Morris said. The youngest sibling, who is 6, "absolutely idolizes" his big brother.

Morris' first letter home arrived Saturday, hours before he died.

Three of Morris' high school friends also are in the Marines, and their families were at the Morris home on Sunday to offer comfort, Kirk Morris said.

"It is a just cause," he said, asking the public to support the troops, whatever their opinion of the war. "They're there for the rights of the Iraqi people. No one else will stand up for them, so we have to."

source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0404060239apr06,1,42522,print.story 6apr04

Father of Marine killed in Iraq says military helped his son Advertisement

DON BABWIN Associated Press Writer 5apr04

To hear his father, Geoffrey Morris was the kind of kid who didn't have a lot of direction but was smart enough to know it. The kind of kid who decided against playing football his senior year in high school because he wanted to have fun, but understood it was time to become a man.

So he joined the Marine Corps.

On Monday, as Kirk Morris grieved the loss of his 19-year-old son who was killed in Iraq on Sunday, he recalled the respectful and honorable young man that Pfc. Geoffrey Morris became in the months since he joined the Marine Corps on June 16 of last year.

"Sometimes it takes years or decades before your children grow up and show you the maturity level, that it's not all about 'me,"' said Morris, 46, who lives in Gurnee, in northern Illinois, where his son went to school and graduated from Warren Township High School last year. "Geoff was not like that any more. It was 'us,' it was 'we."'

Morris did not have all the information about the death of his son, a machine gunner assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Expeditionary Force. All the military had told him, he said, was that his son was in a Humvee that was struck by a rocket propelled grenade in the Anbar province of Iraq. Anbar, which is where the city of Fallujah is located, has been the site of intense violence recently, including last week when four American civilians were killed and their bodies mutilated by mobs.

But from what limited information Morris was told by the military, he said, "As I understand it, he was protecting his comrades, doing his duty." He said three other troops also in the Humvee were not injured. Officials have not released to the media details about Pfc. Morris' death.

Morris said his son firmly believed in his mission. "It meant a lot to him to be a defender of his country, but also the defender of the right of the Iraqi people to choose their government and how they want to live," he said.

In fact, when the two last talked about a week before Pfc. Morris was killed, he once again he told his father about his duty.

"He said, 'As soon as they stop killing each other, stop killing us, we're out of here. But we're not leaving until the job is done."'

Morris said that his son understood that what he was doing was dangerous. "He did not want to die but he said many times and in letters ... 'If I do die, Dad, I want you to know that I am right with God and everything will be OK."'

source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-040405iraqdeath-story,1,1186969,print.story 6apr04