http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...honor/6535693/
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Melvin Morris, a highly decorated retired Army sergeant first class, will receive another recognition Tuesday — the Medal of Honor.
Morris, 72, is among 24 — only three of whom are living — who will receive the highest honor of bravery from President Barack Obama during a special ceremony at the White House. The veterans being recognized served during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
The Medal of Honor is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.
STORY: Obama to award Medals of Honor to overlooked veterans
The mass awarding of medals has its roots back in 2002 when Congress ordered a review of the war records of Jewish and Hispanic veterans to see whether any might have been passed over for the Medal of Honor because of anti-Semitism or racism. The review was later expanded to include African-Americans.
Slim choices
Career choices were slim for black men in Oklahoma in the 1950s. Morris, born and raised in the farming town of Okmulgee, figured he could work in the fields, maybe in carpentry.
Or join the military.
Morris signed up with the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 1959. Shortly after, he asked to join the active duty Army.
"Being in the military was better than being in trouble," he said. "There wasn't that much work."
Morris found his niche in the military. By 1961, he was one of the first soldiers donning the "green beret" of the U.S. Army Special Forces.
He twice volunteered for duty in Vietnam.
In 1969, Morris was a staff sergeant serving as an adviser to "civilian irregular defense forces." On Sept. 17, 1969, they were on a search and destroy mission near Chi Lang.
"We moved out that day, moving across a rice field," he said. "We came to the village. An old lady was singing, and there was no activity in the village."
The eerie quiet drew suspicion, then the troops heard gunfire in the distance. Then came a call that the commander with a nearby company had been shot three times. A subsequent firefight led to more casualties. Two soldiers were left unscathed among the Special Forces, Morris and a specialist.
"It was only five of us advisers, two were wounded and one killed," he said. "I knew I had to go and recover his body. You don't leave a soldier behind."
Melvin Morris twice volunteered for duty in Vietnam. An early portrait of Morris in the Army.(Photo: Malcolm Denemark, Florida Today)
Morris took two volunteers to get the body of the sergeant. Both the volunteers were wounded. He assisted them back to the line of the main forces.
"I took two bags of hand grenades, I threw hand grenade and hand grenade," he said.
He went back alone to recover the body and retrieve the maps and documents the commander was carrying.
"He said, 'Doc, I'm going to go get him,' " said J.C. Glynn, a medic in the unit who was there with Morris at the time. "Nobody goes into war thinking they are going to be a hero."
Morris again charged into enemy fire to approach the nearest enemy bunker, throwing grenades into it. As his men laid a base of suppressive fire, he neared the position of the team leader's body. When a machine gun emplacement fired at him, he annihilated the position with hand grenades and continued his assault, eliminating three additional bunkers. Driving the enemy from the entrenchment nearest the fallen team leader, he retrieved his comrade and started to his troops' position.
As he neared his strike force position he was shot three times, in the right chest, in the right arm and left hand, leaving his ring finger almost severed. He also retrieved a case with maps and documents that could have given the enemy an advantage had it fallen into their hands.
Morris received the Distinguished Service Cross — the Army's second-highest commendation — for his actions that day.
He went on to serve 22 years in the Army, retiring as a sergeant first class in 1985. He moved to Brevard County, Fla., in 1989.
Morris, a resident of Port St. John, Fla., displayed his medals in a gold-colored frame. It never entered his mind that he should have left a space for the nation's top military honor.
Glynn, who lives in Titusville, Fla., said his friend is a hero who deserves the Medal of Honor.
"I'm really proud of Melvin," he said. "He's real humble."
Honoring a life of service
The Pentagon said the Army reviewed the cases of the 6,505 recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
"From the beginning of the encounter, until he was medically evacuated, Morris reacted to each situation with a professionalism, and single-minded determination possessed by few men," according to the information released by the Army about Morris.
Told about the award months ago, Morris had to keep it secret until everything was completed.
Being in the military was better than being in trouble.
Melvin Morris, Vietnam veteran
In May, an Army colonel called to tell Morris that a high-ranking government official would be calling him. He went about his business until the next call when the colonel asked him to hold for the high-ranking government official, President Obama.
"He said, 'I want to apologize to you for your not getting the Medal of Honor 44 years ago,' " he said the president told him.
Though he could not believe it was the president calling him, Morris said he played along just in case. But still not sure, he checked back with the colonel.
"I called him back and said 'Is this for real? Am I really getting the Medal of Honor?' " Morris said.
It really was the president. It was a relief to Morris when he could finally talk about it. When he was first told, he had to keep it a secret from most family members and fishing buddies.
"We were told to keep it confidential," he said. "It was difficult."
"I'm proud," his wife, Mary Morris, said. "I'm happy for him. This is something he never discussed. He never said he deserved this."
The Morrises have been married 51 years. While her husband was off at war Mary Morris was left to care for their three children — two boys and a girl — aided by help from her sisters.
"I prayed every day," she said. "I loved my husband and I wanted him to be with us."
Morris, like other Vietnam veterans returned to a nation that was mostly indifferent to the troops, or worse. Some were met with hostility.
"When I came back to the states on the plane, the only people out there were my wife and my kids," said Morris, who everyday flies the American flag outside his Port St. John home.
One son, Melvin Morris Jr. served in the Air Force and the other, Maurice, served in the Army. Daughter Jennifer works in the medical field.
"At first when he told us he was getting that distinction it almost brought tears to my eyes," said Melvin Morris Jr. "In the sight of fear he did what he had to do."
Morris said his dad never talked about deserving the award. Few people knew his decorated past.
"He taught us all to be proud Americans and to be patriotic," said Melvin Morris Jr. "I'm extremely proud of my dad. People tell me he is such a humble person. I wish everybody would realize the sacrifice this person made for us."
