First Sgt. Harry Morse, United States Army, Retired presented a program reviewing his service in WWII, The Korean War and Vietnam
 
First Sgt. Harry Morse, United States Army, Retired presented a program in dialogue with member Vince Dougherty about his experiences in the service. He recounted several stories from his time in the service (27 years, 10 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes) and in three conflicts.
 
He was born in Michigan in 1922. He enlisted in the Army on 18 July 1940 following a silly rear-end accident that occurred as he was watching the pretty girls coming from a movie house while he was driving in Flint, Michigan. He enlisted and was sent to  Fort Ord. From there he went to Presidio, Fort Lewis and served in various stateside installations. Ultimately he was sent to Europe where he spent seven years including some years during the war. He was a member of the Third Infantry. He recounted several landings in North Africa and Italy. He remembered meeting Gen. Patton who he characterized with the epithet your blood and his guts.
 
Following the Second World War he remained in the active reserve and was recalled to Korea. Following Korea he returned to the states and worked 15 years as a correctional officer at San Quentin before being recalled for service in Vietnam.
 
Harry is very out going and speaks easily with anybody that shows an interest in the military particularly regarding the period of World War II. While sitting in the San Francisco airport, he was befriended by a youngster from Tennessee who was out with his father to see the Warriors games. The child had a tremendous interest in the Second World War and he and Harry have become fast friends, corresponding on a regular basis. This weekend, Vince and Harry will be traveling to the WW II museum in New Orleans, where they will be met by this boy and his father. Harry plans to present him one of his two bronze stars with oak leaf clusters.
 
It was a most enjoyable and informative meeting. Vince pointed out the following facts: over 16 million Americans served in World War II, 696,000 remain, they are dying at the rate of approximately 490 a day. Their history is important, and they all deserve honor and recognition on a continual basis for the service they provided. We look forward to having Harry attend our veterans breakfast again this year, as he did last year.