SF retired Joe Morley's son KIA
 

I am remiss in posting this. It should have been posted earlier, I just couldn't believe that it had happened.

SF retired Joe Morley's son, Joshua Morley, 22, a sniper in the 505th, 82d, was killed in action when his unit was attacked in Samarra, Iraq. Joshua was a sniper that had participated in numerous sniper missions in Iraq. Joe is holding up well at range 37 where he now works but you can see it in his eyes that has truly lost a part of himself. He has suffered what no parent should suffer, the loss of a child, regardless the age.

RIP.

Prayers out to Joe and the family.

TR

RIP SGT Morley

Rest in Peace and prayers out to the Family.

RIP SGT Morley. Condolences for his family.

R I P

Rip soldier and to the family prayers and condolences.

Rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

RIP

RIP Joshua

Pray for healing

Rest in Peace SGT Morley.

God bless and keep the family.

R I P Joshua.

RIP
 

RIP Soldier

Prayers for the family.

Rest In Peace Sgt Morley.

Thoughts and Prayers out for the family.

Rest In Peace Sgt Morley. Prayers are out.

Holly

RIP SGT Morley.
Prayers sent out to the family.
-SGB

Rest in Peace Sergeant, my prayers for your family and Brothers.

RIP.

Prayers out to the family and Joe.

I am terribly sorry for his loss. RIP and thank you.

RIP Paratrooper. My deepest condelances to the family.

Repose en Paix, SGT Morley.

Thoughts and prayers out to his friends, brothers, and family.

Crip

RIP SGT Morley and Godspeed. Prayers out for the Morley family.

Rest in peace. My thoughts go out to your family...

In pace requiescat SGT Morley.

RIP Thank you for your service, commitment and sacrifice; so that we may live in freedom.

Blue Skies!

Rest In Peace!

Rest in Peace
 

RIP. Your family will be in my prayers.

Rest easy, Joshua; wishing all the strength possible to Joe.

Rest in Peace Sgt. Morley

Sgt.Joshua Morley
 

Rest in Peace Sgt.Joshua Morley and my sympathy to his family.....Tom Kelly

RIP Paratrooper. My deepest condelances to the family and friends.

I was left feeling somewhat anxious after reading the morning paper last week which contained a small blurb about an OP from the 505th 82nd airborne being attacked by some 30 insurgents in Samarra. My son is one of the sniper team leaders in the battalion scout platoon for the 505th and I felt the OP was probably from his platoon. Once at work, my mind was pretty much occupied with the various tasks at hand, but it occasionally drifted back to the small article. When I got home and checked my email, there was one from my son talking about the death of SGT Josh Morley and SPC Tracy Willis.

My son was a very good friend with Josh and was his roommate during sniper school. The death of these two paratroopers has hit the whole platoon very hard and my son in particular. He gave the eulogy in Sunday's memorial service and told his mom it was one of the hardest things he's ever done.

According to my son and the newspaper accounts, the intent of the insurgents was to capture this team much like the guys from 10th Mountain were captured recently. It is rumored that the same insurgents prosecuted the Samarra attack. This OP was hopelessly outnumbered and apparently receiving fire from 360 degrees. Sgt. Morley was killed at the beginning of the attack as was Spc.Willis. The remaining team member, Spec. Corriveau returned fire with his sniper rifle until he ran out of ammo. He then picked up a machine gun dropped by an insurgent he had previously killed and fired on the insurgents as they were coming up the stairwell to assault his position.

The defense provided by the team apparently was sufficient to repel the attack. It is rumored that they killed at least 15 insurgents. The insurgents who were mostly comprised of foreign fighters fled the location in trucks whose progress was monitored by our personnel in little birds. They followed the escape of the insurgents until they saw them enter a building whereby they called in CAS which dropped a 500 lb bomb on their friggin insurgent heads.

When you read eulogies about our men and women who are killed in action, it seems that there is a tendency to overstate their characteristics, to make them seem larger than life. I personally believe this is a mistake. What makes these men and women so special is that they are normal Americans who willingly put themselves in harm’s way and perform duties above and beyond on our behalf. I do not know much about Sgt. Morley except for the following:

1) He willingly led a three man team on a mission to provide over watch for fellow Airborne soldiers despite the great inherent risks. In addition he had led this same team on countless dangerous missions during his deployment.

2) My son was proud to consider him one of his friends.

The above is enough for me to consider him a hero and worthy of our highest praise. I would like to offer condolences to his family and the thanks of an American who hopes he can be worthy of Sgt. Morely's sacrifice.

It should also be noted that Spec. Corriveau is rumored to be put in for the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions that day.

Dennis:

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Gents, thank you for your service, and your sacrifice. SPC Corriveau, thank you for your efforts on behalf of your teammates, above and beyond the call of duty.

TR

Thank you for sharing this with us Dennis, it is always humbling to read about the actions of our bravest. May your son continue to stay safe.

Dennis:

Thanks for sharing Cole's story with us. Our prayers go out to Sgt Morely's family and to your son. Where do we get these young men? God Bless them one and all.

Rest in Peace brothers.

H-Minus. Airborne.


smokfire

Rest in Peace Sgt Morley. Thank You for your service & sacrifice. My prayers of support & comfort go out to his family.
Thank you Dennis for your story. I pray that your sons may remain safe.
Thank you PS.com administrators for providing a forum that allows people of like mind to share their awe & respect of these selfless, freedom loving warriors. I am humbled in the presence of these great americans that have backed up their words & convictions with actions.

RIP, Sergeant.

You are at peace now Sergeant Morley. Well see you again some day. Prayers are outgoing to his Dad.