Honor Flight Columbus is proud to be flying our 10,000th Veteran to Washington D.C. on October 10, 2024. To commemorate this significant milestone, we will be sharing the inspiring stories of 10 Veterans. Each story we share will represent 1,000 of the 10,000 Veterans we have had the honor of flying. Follow along as we honor, share, and celebrate the heroes of our country.
Each story shared as part of the Reaching 10,000 series is unique. We have had the honor of learning about experiences in different branches and during different conflicts through the eyes of those who lived them. This story is different. It is written in the words of a Veteran’s daughter—someone who greatly cherished his life and service.
Written with Jodie Augustine— “My dad [Don Morris] was always proud of his service in the United States Army. His service was with him every day for the rest of his life, and my life as well. From revelry on a Saturday morning to standing up whenever the American flag passed in front of us, he truly loved his service for our country.
Dad was born December 5, 1932, in South Central Ohio. He grew up helping on the farm and went to high school in Clarksburg. There he played on the basketball team and would later take his best girl, my mom, to that same gym on Saturday nights for square dances. He was also quite a car enthusiast in his younger years. Just before he passed, we looked at picture albums together. There were so many pictures of him in front of a car. He could share memories about every one of those cars.
I can’t remember whether he was drafted or not, but I do remember that he had applied to work for the railroad. He worked a total of one week before the doctor told him he couldn’t work for the railroad because he had a heart murmur. It wasn’t but a month later that he was in basic training. He always laughed about this saying, “I can’t work on the railroad, but I can go fight for our country? That is ok… I loved doing it.”
Initially, dad was assigned to be a paratrooper. However, during his service there were not enough servicemen to attend the training school. As a result, he was assigned as an MP (Military Police). Dad was stationed in the Army in Japan and was called up to the line the day that the treaty was signed ending the Korean War.
He entered the Army January 27th, 1953. He completed basic training at Camp Polk, Louisianna. Eventually he was stationed in Japan, assigned to the 187th Regimental Combat Team where he received the Combat Infantryman Badge and the UN and Korean Service Ribbons during three month’s Korean duty. He was transferred to the 1st Cavalry Division, still stationed in Japan.
My dad met one of his best buddies while he was in the Army. Jim and my dad kept in contact on and off throughout their lives. In 1977, our family took a tour of the United States and during this camping tour, we spent three nights with Jim at his farm in Iowa.
After he was discharged, my dad had two girlfriends—including my mom! I don’t know what happened, but my dad and mom ended up breaking up. Eventually, my parents got back together and were married shortly after. Together they had two children: my brother in 1960 and me in 1962. I still live in the house they built in 1961.
It is my dad’s influence I am sure, that led me to marry a military man. My husband was a Marine and fought in the Vietnam War. Once he returned home, he eventually was impacted by Agent Orange and died of pancreatic cancer in October of 1993. Dad and my husband were very close. My husband made my dad promise that my parents would help me raise our kids. Dad stayed true to that promise.
After my husband passed, I moved into my parent’s house with the kids. My dad built an apartment in the barn on the property. My parents lived there to help with my kids. It was a perfect set up as they no longer needed a big house to care for but were next door if they wanted to visit. I always joked that Dad was my maintenance man. Dad always instilled hard work into all of us, including his grandchildren. He taught my son to detail a car and have it shining so much so that a fly wouldn’t even land on it.
Though he was so helpful, my dad also had a temper. My kids still laugh about the different little temper tantrums he would throw. Something as simple as a shovel left outside in the garden would make him mad. But he was so good to us all. The highlight of his life after the service was his family. He was very close with all his grandkids. He loved them all, although with my brother living in Springfield it was not possible for him to be as close to them.
Dad always had a sense of service and had joined the Ross County Shriner’s club. With the club during the Ross County Fair, he took care of the booth selling ice. He would spend hours calling people and getting them signed up to work. He would be at the fair every day to make sure the shifts were covered. Dadbrought in a lot of money this way and they were able to take two bus trips down to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Cincinnati. He was always so proud to give them the check of the proceeds from their ice booth.
Another highlight of his life after his service was his Honor Flight on April 15, 2017 as part of Mission 80. I was honored to get to be on the same flight and witness his experience with the organization I have grown to love so much over the years. After his flight, he told everyone and anyone that had been in the service to go on their Honor Flight. He said it was one of the best days of his life.
For his Welcome Home celebration, my kids surprised him at the airport where we could all experience it together. If he were here today, he would still talk about his trip. In fact, just a couple of days before he died, he was telling someone in the rehab center that they needed to go on their Honor Flight. He made me bring them an application.
He shared with so many Veterans how well Honor Flight Columbus took care of every detail during the flight day. He told them ‘You won’t want for anything!’ He was just so impressed with the organization. Once his health deteriorated, I would arrange for someone to spend the day with him while I was away volunteering with Honor Flights. One day when I went to leave, he teared up. I asked him, ‘do you want me to cancel my trip?’ He told me no. He said, ‘I don’t like it when you are gone, but I love what you are doing. Just keep making them feel as loved as you made me feel. I hope you do it forever.’ So, every trip I go on, I have to say a little something to my dad. He is why I started volunteering for this organization, and he is why I still volunteer. I want to make every Veteran know how much we appreciate their service to our country, just as my dad felt on his Honor Flight.”
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