George S. Morrison, who commanded the fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led to an escalation of the Vietnam War and whose son Jim was the lead singer of the Doors, died Nov. 17 in Coronado, Calif. He was 89 and lived in Coronado.
He died after a fall in the hospital, his daughter, Anne Chewning, told The Associated Press.
Aboard the carrier Bon Homme Richard, Mr. Morrison commanded naval forces in the gulf when the destroyer Maddox engaged three North Vietnamese torpedo boats on Aug. 2, 1964. The incident led President Lyndon Johnson to order airstrikes against North Vietnam and to request from Congress what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing him to carry out military operations without declaring war.
Mr. Morrison’s relationship with his famous son was difficult. In the 2006 book “The Doors by the Doors,” he is quoted as saying: “I had the feeling that he felt we’d just as soon not be associated with his career. He knew I didn’t think rock music was the best goal for him.”
George Stephen Morrison, known as Steve, was born in Rome, Ga. His father was a railroad worker. He graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1941 and, as an ensign, witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
His wife, Clara Clarke, died in 2005. Besides his daughter, Anne, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., he is survived by his son Andrew, of Pahoa, Hawaii. Jim Morrison died in Paris in 1971.
In the last year of World War II, Mr. Morrison flew combat missions over Wake Island and Japan. After the war, he was an instructor for secret nuclear weapons projects in Albuquerque and earned a Bronze Star in the Korean War.
Mr. Morrison was promoted to rear admiral in 1967 and in 1972 became commander of naval forces in the Marianas, where he organized relief efforts for nearly 100,000 Vietnamese refugees sent to Guam in 1975.
Mr. Morrison donated items associated with his son Jim to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including school report cards and a Cub Scout uniform.
