Leslie Sullivan Morrison, also known as “Knob,” was drafted in January 1943 at the age of 19 to serve his country. He became a member of the supply unit attached to the 29th Infantry. He laughs as he tells the story, “I made the mistake of firing a Bazooka within 3 feet of the target” and the next thing he knew, he was assigned as a Bazooka Machine Operator as his military occupation specialty in the US Army. He also qualified as a sharpshooter, rank M1 MM 154. He reported to Fort Dix, NJ and was deployed to Europe.
Morrison landed in Liverpool, England, around June and July 1943 and proceeded to travel to Ireland and Scotland, where his unit met up with other Allied forces. Soon they were in convoys down the coast of Great Britain on the White Cliffs of Dover on their way to the beaches of Normandy.
He landed on Omaha Beach. After the soldiers broke through after D-Day, his military career took him next to Belgium and finally to the Rhineland, Germany. He was in Leipzig, Germany when VE Day came and the Germans surrendered.
He was discharged in November 1945 and earned the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
Pictured is Leslie Morrison with his wife, Ruthanne Dikeman, on their wedding day in 1946.
Morrison, currently a resident of Fredonia, returned to the United States and worked at Damon Motors, Dunkirk, for 10 years and then went on to work for the US Postal Service for 30 years. He married his high school sweetheart, Ruthanne Dikeman, in August 1946 and had two children. Today he has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
His family noticed “Bud celebrates his 100th birthday this year in June. He is an avid hockey fan, loves watching his deer in the backyard and a good Manhattan!”
Memorial Day services will be held at 10 a.m. at Memorial Park in Dunkirk. The parade, which travels on Lake Shore Drive from the park to Central Avenue, begins at 11 a.m
Leslie Morrison during World War II.
