John W. Morris
Goose Bay and OCE
Q .. Where were you assigned after Fort Leavenworth?
A:
Goose Bay, Labrador, however, initially, I was slated to go to Korea as a battalion commander.
An engineer officer named Jones was assigned to Goose Bay, Labrador, but he had five or six
children, and it was considered a nondependent tour. Colonel Dick Hennessy had come from the
Chief's office to give us our assignments. Jones indicated he didn't see how he could go to
Labrador and leave his family.
I mentioned to Hennessy that if Jones didn't want to go to Labrador I'd like to go because it was
a construction assignment and I would like to be the resident engineer for building an air base in
the Arctic. Korea was a nondependent tour, too, as I recall, Jones changed with "Snuffy" [Frank]
Rhea, a West Point classmate, on orders to the Philippines. Rhea went to Korea, and Jones went
to the Philippines. That's how it all shook out.
I took the Goose Bay assignment thinking I was going to be gone one year. My wife wasn't all
that pleased but it was just as well to be there as in Korea. One day I was looking through the
Army or the Department of Defense regulations to learn about Goose Bay, Labrador, an Air Force
installation. I noticed that Goose Air Base had 40 sets of quarters. So I began to wonder, what
would I have to do to get a set of quarters?
My new headquarters was to be Eastern Ocean District in New York City, of the North Atlantic
Division. The North Atlantic Division was under [Brigadier] General [Clarence] Renshaw, who
had built the Pentagon. His Eastern Ocean District engineer was Colonel Morton Solomon.
Colonel Solomon allowed me to go to Goose Bay, Labrador, on a reconnaissance trip out of Fort
Leavenworth.
I went to Goose Bay. The base commander was Colonel James Knapp, a West Point graduate and
an Air Force pilot. He was well respected and soon to become a general. I went to see him, and
while there I asked about quarters. He indicated they were for Air Force people. I asked about the
one Army colonel in quarters. He mentioned that Goose Air Base needed him a little longer
because he ran the seaport.
I indicated I would be happy to stay two years if I could bring my family. In response, he offered
to ask the Chief of Engineers to agree to let me stay two years.
So he contacted General Sturgis, who was the Chief at that time. Ultimately, the assignments
people agreed to let us stay at Goose Bay for 24 months if they would give the family a set of
quarters. Colonel Knapp gave me quarters as he agreed. I came back to
and moved the
family to North Carolina for two weeks' holiday.
After two or three days in the sun, Colonel Solomon called me and said he wanted me at Goose
Bay Monday-this was a Thursday in mid-August. I complained that I just gotten back from
Goose Bay and had not had any holiday after
He then announced that the officer in
place was being relieved and he wanted me up there at once.
So I said, "All right, Sir, but can I just have two more days He agreed and gave us until the next
Friday. That gave me a week. We packed ourselves and took off for Maguire Air Force Base, the
port of departure. Hurricane Diane arrived at the same time, and we didn't get to Goose Bay for
two weeks. We stayed at Maguire.
Finally, I flew into Goose Bay with Gerry and the two children. Colonel Charles Duke met us.
Charlie was the deputy district engineer, and Solomon had sent him up there to "hold the fort"
till I arrived. We climbed off the airplane about 1500. Major Jim Guest, deputy area engineer,
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