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'HOnOR TOWHOM HOI iOR"
by W.F. Lown
The long ministry of J. Russell andGertrude Morse and later the
ir sons , Eugeneand Robert and their families, is well knownto th e
readers of HORIZONS. What servicethey have rendered to the Lord and
Hiskingdom is known to God alone.On February 10, 1987, a long
overduehonor, th e Bronze StarMedal,was bestowedupon the father and
his sons. The ceremonywas covered by all three major
televisionnetworks in Oklahoma City as well as th e APa nd t he
DPI. Bu t let us go back.Those who have b een c lo s e t o t h e
Mor se sthrough the years, or who have read theheart-tugging book.
Exodus to a HiddenValley, by Eugene Morse, have known oftheMorses'
valiant s er vi ce t o t he United Statesdur ing World War II, when
they devised aplan for locat ing and returning to safetyAmerican
bomber pilots downed ove r th eHimalayan Mountains.The Morse
family's acquaintance withAsia began in 1921 when the e lder
Morses,
with their four-month old son, Eugene , wentto Tibet as
missionar ies . Their work wasamong the primitive tribal groups in
the areawhere "China. Tibet and Burma meet." Thisarea was nicknamed
"The Hump" byAmerican airmen flying from India to Chinaduring the
Second World War,In those perilous days many Americanplanes were
being lost due to adverseweather conditions and being shot down
byJapanese forces. Planes, supplies andairmen were being lost and
the morale of theair crews was quite low. At this point,
havingheard of th e Morses' familiar ity with th eterrain and the
people, the Air Force contacted them for possible assistance.The
Morses suggested that, first, theaircraft flight pattern follow a
"safe"corridor, extending from Assam, India, eastward across North
Burma into Chi na a nd
J. Russell Morse and sons receiving Bronze Star Medalalong the
Burma road to Kunming. Theproposed "corridor" was safest an d
mostheavily populated of all the areas.Second, th e Morses dev ised
a "Searchand Res cu e" plan in which nat ives in th earea were in
st ru c ted to wa tch fo r aircraft introuble or parachuting
airmen, rushing toth e aid of th e hapless flyers, an d escortingt
hem back to safety. The period of this operation was from December
1943 until 1946. Itha s b ee n estimated th at the plan was
responsible for salvaging airplane cargo andequipment as well as
some thirty Americana i rmen ' s l ives.And so , on February
10,1987, at TinkerAirForce Base in Oklahoma City, under th ecommand
of Major General William P.Bowden, th e Bronze Star Medal
waspresented with appropriate military pomp toJ. Russell Morse, 89,
Eugene R, Morse, 65,and Robert H. Morse, 63. The Bronze Star isthe
highest medal given to a civilian, excepthe take up arms against
the enemy. Perhapsthe most satisfying fact in this long
overduehonor is that it was not p re sent ed t osomeone who would
take full credit for hi scourage and daring. Itwas presented to
menof God who made this valiant service a
natural part of serving their Lord and mistering to humankind.
In a letter toRussell Morse in 1944, wri tten by HArnold, General
of th e Army aCommanding General of the ArmyForces. Genera l Arnold
stated:
"To you andyour family, Iexpress thegrati tude of the Army Air
Forces, andmy personal appreciation, for the workyou havedoneand
are doing among thLisu t ri be s o f West Chi na t o e ff ec t t
hrescue of Amer ic an a ir c rew memberwho have been forced down in
thaarea . Sear ch an d rescue work in it iateby you and your
efforts to counteracenemy propaganda, coupled with youu nlim ited z
eal to Christianize an deducate th e Lisus have p roved of
inestimable v al ue t o th e United Nationsc au se in t hi s w a r.
. .Fellow Christians applaud the militarypresent ing this we
ll-deserved medal
meri tor ious service . We have loapplauded this family's
selfless and stefast service in th e army of King Jesus.And their
ministry continues.
r^ -Im EXODUS TO HIDDEN VALLEYN ew Edi t ion with :
32 photosfamily up-datemission up-date
a nd m o r e !O R D ER FROM:
P a t Bit t sPO B ox 4 07 4
Terre Haute, IN 47804$4.95 plus $.69 postage
R o b er t M o rs e(center) and four ofth e Amer i can Air-
