The news that Jerry and Pearl had lost their son, Sgt. 1st class John D. Morton, in Afganistan is so very sad and brought back the memories of all the sons our family has lost over the years. John D. Morton was doing what he loved and felt that he wanted to do his part for the safety of his Country. He leaves a wife and three children who will miss him terrible. He will be terrible missed by all his family and his many friends.
I don't know of any pain that is as bad as losing a child. It is like your heart just got ripped out of you and you will never be whole again. Do we all ask why? Do we all wish we could have taken our childs place? Yes, I believe we do but that is not for us to decide. Only God can decide that.
How often I wished I could take Bobby's Muscular Dystrophy away for him. Now I have Multiple Sclerosis, do I ask why? Yes, I suppose I question the nature of things. I don't feel that I questioned God, but did I? Then to lose Stevie, who was a Marine and was in Viet Nam was more than I could stand; when I went home after his funeral, I just wished that I could die.
My Sisters, Nieces and daughter have also lost sons to Muscular Dystrophy and I know they must have felt the same pain. Jennie, Vivian, Sharon, Etta and Arlene all lost sons to Muscular Dystrophy and now Charlotte, Windfred, Jerry and Pearl have lost a son to other causes.. I have given my life to God in the last years and it is helping me to deal with it all and I know Gods Will Be Done. Maybe that is why when I dream about my boys it is about when they were small and things were happy.
May God Bless and comfort each and everyone of the Morton Family.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Vicenza-based sergeant remembered as 'man of valor'
Stars & Stripes:
By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Sgt. 1st Class John Morton
VICENZA, Italy — There weren’t enough seats for the people who wanted to say goodbye.
Dozens were left standing in the base chapel during a memorial service Tuesday for Sgt. 1st Class John Morton, a soldier his friend called “a sincere, honest man.”
Morton, noncommissioned officer for communications for the 74th Long Range Surveillance Detachment, was killed Thursday in a firefight in a mountainous region in southern Afghanistan. He’s the 18th member of the Vicenza military community to die since the Southern European Task Force (Airborne) took over operations in Afghanistan in March.
Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Chance said of his friend: “As a soldier, John was a quiet professional. A role model. He never looked for glory, but was always glorious. He was a leader of men and a man of valor.”
The 31-year-old from Kentucky was also a husband and a father of three children: Joshua, 8, Scarlette, 6, and Olivia, 3 months.
Chance directed his final comments to the fallen soldier’s wife, who attended the service.
“Sarah,” he said, “no matter where in the world John and I were, he counted the moments until he could be with you again.”
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Doug Hudson said the death was “a devastating blow to us, because we love John and we love his family.”
Lt. Col. Mike Shinners, the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s rear detachment commander, said Morton’s duties didn’t require him to be out on such a patrol.
“If there were killers, bullies or terrorists in the mountains, John Morton was not the kind of man to just talk about them on the radio,” he said. Instead, he volunteered to hike into the mountains.
Shinners said others in the detachment stayed on that mountain for three days in wintry conditions before they found the person responsible for his death.
Shinners also said he didn’t want to attend another memorial service on Caserma Ederle. Most soldiers are expected to return to Italy in February or March.
“I hope this is it,” he said. “We have achieved so much, but at such a price.
“Holy mackerel. Enough is enough. Peace on Earth, Lord. Please, peace on Earth.”
By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Sgt. 1st Class John Morton
VICENZA, Italy — There weren’t enough seats for the people who wanted to say goodbye.
Dozens were left standing in the base chapel during a memorial service Tuesday for Sgt. 1st Class John Morton, a soldier his friend called “a sincere, honest man.”
Morton, noncommissioned officer for communications for the 74th Long Range Surveillance Detachment, was killed Thursday in a firefight in a mountainous region in southern Afghanistan. He’s the 18th member of the Vicenza military community to die since the Southern European Task Force (Airborne) took over operations in Afghanistan in March.
Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Chance said of his friend: “As a soldier, John was a quiet professional. A role model. He never looked for glory, but was always glorious. He was a leader of men and a man of valor.”
The 31-year-old from Kentucky was also a husband and a father of three children: Joshua, 8, Scarlette, 6, and Olivia, 3 months.
Chance directed his final comments to the fallen soldier’s wife, who attended the service.
“Sarah,” he said, “no matter where in the world John and I were, he counted the moments until he could be with you again.”
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Doug Hudson said the death was “a devastating blow to us, because we love John and we love his family.”
Lt. Col. Mike Shinners, the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s rear detachment commander, said Morton’s duties didn’t require him to be out on such a patrol.
“If there were killers, bullies or terrorists in the mountains, John Morton was not the kind of man to just talk about them on the radio,” he said. Instead, he volunteered to hike into the mountains.
Shinners said others in the detachment stayed on that mountain for three days in wintry conditions before they found the person responsible for his death.
Shinners also said he didn’t want to attend another memorial service on Caserma Ederle. Most soldiers are expected to return to Italy in February or March.
“I hope this is it,” he said. “We have achieved so much, but at such a price.
“Holy mackerel. Enough is enough. Peace on Earth, Lord. Please, peace on Earth.”
Sunday, December 18, 2005
A true and faithful Soldier
Stanton KY, (AP) Newsfirst. The father of an eastern Kentucky soldier says his son was killed in Afghanistan when his patrol was confronted by Taliban fighters.
Jerome Morton says military officials told him yesterday about the death of his son - 31 year old Sergeant First Class John Morton of Stanton.
Jerome Morton says the Army told him his son was on
a mission in the mountainous area around Kandahar
when he was killed Thursday. The Pentagon said
yesterday that Morton's patrol came under small-
arms fire. Morton was assigned to the 74th Infantry
Detachment (Long Range Surveillance), 173rd
Airborne Brigade, based in Italy.
Morton enlisted in the Army as a senior at Powell County
High School in 1992. Morton was married and
had three children, two girls and a boy. He also is
survived by his mother and two sisters.
Morton's sister told us about the last e-mail she
exchanged with her brother --just a week ago. She
wrote that some people in the Stanton area considered
him a "hero". John said "no, you're only called a hero
if you don't come home alive.
Jerome Morton says military officials told him yesterday about the death of his son - 31 year old Sergeant First Class John Morton of Stanton.
Jerome Morton says the Army told him his son was ona mission in the mountainous area around Kandahar
when he was killed Thursday. The Pentagon said
yesterday that Morton's patrol came under small-
arms fire. Morton was assigned to the 74th Infantry
Detachment (Long Range Surveillance), 173rd
Airborne Brigade, based in Italy.
Morton enlisted in the Army as a senior at Powell County
High School in 1992. Morton was married and
had three children, two girls and a boy. He also is
survived by his mother and two sisters.
Morton's sister told us about the last e-mail she
exchanged with her brother --just a week ago. She
wrote that some people in the Stanton area considered
him a "hero". John said "no, you're only called a hero
if you don't come home alive.
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