The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, PFC Robert Joseph Morris, who died in the service of his country on July 3rd, 1966 in Pleiku Province, Vietnam. The cause of death was listed as Small Arms/AW. At the time of his death Robert was 18 years of age. He was from Oakford, Pennsylvania. Robert is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 08E, Line 125.
The decorations earned by PFC Robert Joseph Morris include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Parachute Badge, the Bronze Star with V, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation.
Taken from the Bucks County Courier July 6, 1966 issue
Soldier Killed In Viet Nam
Eighteen-year-old Pfc. Robert J. Morris of Bensalem Township was killed in action Sunday in Viet Nam a little more than a month after he arrived there. The only child of Robert and Emily Morris of 4131 Mulberry Ave,. Oakford, Robert died of gunshot wounds suffered while he was engaged in enemy action serving with the 25th Infantry.
Word of Robert's death was brought yesterday by Major Gerald T. Buckley, now serving with the Defense Supply Agency in Philadelphia after spending a year in Viet Nam.
Robert's parents learned of his death about 2 p.m. and a short time later the mailman delivered his last letter.
Robert, who attended Bensalem Township High School, enlisted in the service in February 1965 and took basic training at Ft. Jackson, S.C. He was later transferred to a post in Georgia and later went to Ft. Bragg, N.C.
A paratrooper until he arrived in Viet Nam, Robert had spent some time in Turkey practicing night jumps and while there earned his paratrooper wings and a marksman badge.
He returned home from Turkey for a three week leave and left Oakford for California on May 16. His unit shipped out for Viet Nam after about 5 days on the West Coast.
On his arrival he was re-assigned to the 25th Infantry and in a letter home remarked "I'm no longer a paratrooper but a leg man" and commented that there was apparently more need of infantry than for airborne troops for the kind of operation being carried out there.
A letter which arrived about a week ago described the unit's progress through the swamps and told how the men picked leeches off one another between rifle shots.
Robert's mother always enclosed a package of a soft drink mix in every letter she sent. The letter she received yesterday carried Robert's gratitude for the mix which, he said helped make the water palatable.
Formerly of Northampton, Mass. The Morris family moved to Oakford in 1959.
Robert was the nephew of Fred and Josephine Morris of Trevose. Mrs. Morris is chairman of the Loyal Democrats in Bensalem and it was she who first received word of Robert's death as his parents were at work.
His father is a brake operator at ITT Nesbitt Co., in Philadelphia and his mother is emplyed at Eastern State School and Hospital, Trevose. Both were brought home to meet Major Buckley.
Robert is also survived by a cousin, Charles Morris of Cornwells Heights, and by relatives in the Kolb family of Andalusia. Paternal aunts and uncles reside in Philadelphia while those on his mother's side live in Northamption, Mass.
The elder Morris is a member of the Bensalem VFW Post.
Robert's body is expected to arrive in Lower Bucks in about a week. Funeral arrangements are pending.
He is the seventh serviceman from Lower Bucks County to lose his life in Viet Nam.
Obituary from Bucks County Courier July 13, 1966
Oakford GI Services Set
Funeral services for Pfc. Robert J. Morris who was killed in action in Viet Nam on July 3 will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. from the William W. Dunn Funeral Home, 378 S. Bellevue Ave., Langehorne.
Rev. Howard Reeves, Pastor of the Scottsville Methodist Church, will officiate. Interment will be in the William Penn Cemetery, Somerton.
Friends may call at the funeral home tomorrow evening from 7 to 9.
Morris, who was 19 years old, was the only son of Robert and Emily Westort Morris of 4131 Mulberry Ave., Oakford. The elder Morris is a brake operator at ITT Nesbitt Co. in Philadelphia and is a member of the Bensalem VFW Post. Mrs. Morris is employed at Eastern State School and Hospital in Trevose.
Formerly of Northampton, Mass., the Morris family moved to Oakford in 1959.
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