Official Website of Author and CH Col (Retired)
About Chaplain Morris
Colonel John Morris is a retired Army Chaplain whose career spanned over twenty-six years. He served in a number of roles—from Battalion Chaplain to Staff Chaplain at the Pentagon. During his full-time tenure with the Minnesota National Guard, he authored and developed the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program—which quickly became the gold standard for state National Guard reintegration programs and was officially adopted by the National Guard for federal use in 2015. He served three overseas tours, which included two deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2012, he was selected as the State Command Chaplain of Minnesota, where he served until 2015. He retired in 2018 after serving as the Army Chief of Chaplains at the Pentagon.
Colonel Morris’ relationship with General Vessey began after Vessey was significantly injured in a car accident in 2011. Reagan’s General grew out of that relationship, and draws upon numerous archival sources, interviews, oral histories, and secondary scholarship to tell the story of Vessey’s remarkable life and career.
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Reagan's General
Less than 25 people in the history of the United States military can lay claim to the title of "mustang" or a person who has spent time in every single military rank. This biography details the rise of one such person, Jack Vessey, who rose from the rank of "private" to serve as the 10th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Ronald Reagan. Through Morris' vibrant narrative and careful research, Vessey's story takes its rightful place amidst the military paragons of American history.
Reagan's General
Praise for Reagan's General
Morris brings considerable archival research, a sophisticated storytelling sensibility, and an insider's view to bear on the question: "How should we understand and evaluate Jack Vessey's legacy?" By the end of the book, Readers are likely to join Morris' evaluation of him: he was a remarkable soldier but more importantly, he was a good man.
ALLISON NIEBAUER, PhD,
The Pennsylvania State University