LCpl. Nicholas B. Morrison, U.S.M.C (KIA)

(reprinted from the Sentinel Online, August 24, 2004)

Big Spring graduate killed in Iraq

By Linda Franz August 18, 2004

A Cumberland County Marine was killed Friday in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Morrison, 23, of Carlisle, formerly of West Pennsboro Township, was killed while on patrol in a Humvee in Al Anbar Province, the Department of Defense says.

Morrison was the son of Joseph and Peggy Morrison, West Pennsboro Township, and was a 2000 graduate of Big Spring High School where he was on the football team.

Peggy Morrison said Sunday her son was one of five soldiers on patrol in two Humvees when an explosive hit. Another soldier was injured.

The family met with Marine representatives Monday, but Peggy Morrison said Tuesday the family didn't learn a lot about her son's death.

Of the four soldiers who were with him at the time he was killed, three have returned to duty and the fourth is in serious condition at a hospital in Germany, she said.

In Iraq since March

Morrison, who was based in Camp Lejeune, had been in Iraq since early March and in the Marine Corps for about a year and a half.

"We're not blaming Bush and we're not blaming anyone," his mother said.

"He volunteered and he was proud to serve. Whatever he was doing was the right thing."

Morrison was a TOW gunner, operating a Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire command-link missile system on the Humvee.

He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

His mother said she closely followed news from Iraq on the Internet and TV.

"You try to prepare yourself but you don't," she said.

Her son complained about the food and the heat but nothing else about his service in Iraq, she said.

"People in this country are starting to relax too much," Joseph Morrison said. "We're losing America and that's what my boy was over there to do, to get it back."

Matt Swanger, 22, graduated with Morrison.

A hard worker

"He was my best friend," Swanger said.

"He got along with pretty much everybody. He liked to tell jokes and tell funny stories to his friends. Most importantly, he was a hard worker."

Swanger said Morrison started working at the now-closed Food Lion in Carlisle while still in high school.

"At Food Lion he started out as a stocker and worked his way up to assistant manager. He actually got a manager position in his senior year," Swanger said. "From grocery manager he moved up to assistant manager. For a time we didn't have a manager; he ran the store himself."

Swanger played football with Morrison for the Big Spring Bulldogs. Morrison played outside linebacker and was a starter in his senior year.

Swanger said Morrison would have been home from Iraq in a month or two.

Morrison joined the Marines because "he wanted to be a state cop when he got older," Swanger said.

He planned to put in a few years in the Marines and, if he liked it, stay longer, with the intention of joining the state police when he left the Marines, Swanger said.

Flags in the Big Spring School District are being flown at half-staff at the direction of Superintendent William Cowden.

"It's clear to me that Nick was someone who approached his assignment with confidence and recognized the inherent dangers in the work that he was doing," Cowden said this morning. "We at Big Spring are saddened by the loss of Nick and extend our sympathy to Nick's family and friends."

He said flags will be flown at half-staff "indefinitely as we await details on services or arrangements that may be made."

Morrison's body was at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Tuesday and will be returning to Cumberland County today.

Services Saturday

Services tentatively are planned for Saturday with visitation Friday at Ewing Brothers Funeral Home on South Hanover Street in Carlisle. Both will be open to the public, she said.

Morrison is the third Cumberland County soldier killed in Iraq.

Army Staff Sgt. Timothy L. Hayslett, 26, formerly of Lower Mifflin Township, died in November when the Humvee in which he was a passenger came under fire in Baghdad.

Army Staff Sgt. Kimberley Fahnestock Voelz, 27, of Monroe Township, was killed in December when an explosive device exploded as she approached it.

As of Monday, 935 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq in March 2003, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 697 died as a result of hostile action and 238 died of non-hostile causes.