John W. Morris
The type of contract and the type of contractor we had under the circumstances proved to be of
great value later on in Vietnam, the Israeli airfields, Saudi Arabia, et cetera.
In my recollection, that probably was the first job that put me so clearly in harm's way and into
rough going. There was a constant opportunity to fail. If you didn't pay attention to your job you
would get fired-and you'd probably deserve it. I can't think of many circumstances where the
demands on the area engineer, on a day-to-day basis, carried any higher risk than trying to convert
Goose Bay to a Strategic Air Command base under a boss like Solomon and a client like Knapp.
In conjunction with the Goose Air Base project, we had the "Gap Filler" sites. Gap Filler
included a group of intermediate communicationsstations being built to fill the gaps in the old
Pine Tree Network sites across northern Canada. Together they were to monitor and intercept
Russian missiles or aircraft. The Gap Filler sites were from Frobisher Bay south to about the
Goose Bay area.
Major John Kelley, a West Point classmate, was in Goose and in charge of the Gap Filler
program. He reported to me. I did go to the sites occasionally by single-engine airplanes
controlled by bush pilots. That was a thrilling experience on occasion.
The only native activity near Goose Air Base was a little village called Happy Valley on the
Hamilton River. We could go there for the Hudson Bay store. Happy Valley was a fishing village.
In the summertime the Eskimos would come and fish; in the wintertime most of them would go
someplace. There'd always be some around, so we got a glimpse at the native life. Happy Valley
was it because Goose Air Base is in the middle of a mass of lakes and tundra. Charles Lindbergh
founded this site while looking for air base sites in the World War II period. As I said, the Corps'
job in
to 1957 was to convert it from a medium- to a heavy-aircraft facility and provide the
base infrastructure to support the new operation.
Then I became the central player in an event which turned out to be important for me in a unique
way. I was pulled out of Goose Bay in April 1957, three or four months earlier than the
commitment to stay 24 months. That upset General Knapp to the extent that he wrote a letter to
the Chief of Engineers, seriously complaining about this. I guess if I had done a poor job he
wouldn't have had anything to complain about. In any event, he told the Chief what a great job
I was doing and that pulling me out earlier was contrary to the agreement and was a very serious
matter to him.
Frankly, I think he was mostly mad that the Corps went back on its agreement, but in the process
I benefitted. By this time, Colonel Solomon had been replaced by Colonel
H.] Bagnulo,
just one of the nicest men you'll ever meet. Solomon had retired and gone to work for Metcalf
and Eddy.
Q:
What was your next assignment?
I left Goose Air Base and reported to OCE [Office of the Chief of Engineers] to head up the
A:
assignments division for Corps officers in the grade of lieutenant colonel and lower. In those
days, you recall, the officers were assigned by the Chief of Engineers. This was April 1957.
Besides General Knapp's complaint, the move led to another issue. Colonel Dick Hennessy, who
had agreed to send me to Goose Bay, had promised me that when I came out of Labrador Bay I
would get a battalion. In fact, for a short while I was earmarked for the 10th Engineers, 3d
Infantry Division, in August. The orders were changed to read OCE personnel and Hennessy got
quite upset. So here came this complaint from Hennessy, for whom everybody had great
admiration, raising hell because I wasn't going to go to a battalion. I would just as soon have
come in quietly, but I wasn't allowed to do that. I finally arrived at OCE and stayed for three
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