Service
When he decided he wanted to join the military, Thomas Morrisey enlisted in the Marine Corps. This was a very ambitious enlistment seeing as Morrisey was still young--barely old enough to enlist--and the Marines were a diffuclt program to get into. As stated on the homepage, Morrisey enlisted through Regular Military.
Morrisey got into the Marine Corps despite his young age, and started his first tour on October 17, 1967. On this tour, Morrisey's leadership qualities and generall ability were displayed in his rank. Serving with the 3rd Marine Division, !st Battalion, 4th Marines, C Company, Morrisey had the rank of Corporal. Although this isn't an insanely high ranking, for somebody as young as Morrisey was at the time, being ranked Corporal speaks volumes about the character and commitment he possessed. Having any rank higher than a private at the young age of nineteen while serving for the Marines is an amazing accomplishment, and proves how honorable Morrisey was on the battlefield.
Despite only serving in the Military for a short amount of time before his death, Thomas Morrisey put his skills in riflrey on display. When he served, his specialty was rifleman, which meant that Morrisey was out on the battlefront shooting directly across at the enemy. Being a rifleman was and still is an extremely dangerous specialty to have in the military, but it was especially dangerous in Vietnam. Being on the ground and fighting the Vietcong was dangerous due to the guerilla warfare tactics that they used. As a soldier on the ground, US rifleman often had no idea where the Vietcong were because they would hide in the jungle and then ambush. Despite the extreme danger, Morrisey served his country when it needed him and worked as a rifleman. A rifleman was the perfect specialty for Morrisey because it is something that takes a tremendous amount of courage and nobility to do, and those were two of the traits that seemed to define him the most.