Morris Crumrine

“Navy Gun Tech”

Being aboard the “USS Cochran” was a bittersweet experience for Morris Crumrine. He has fond memories of fellow crew members, but not so good memories of the ship’s food. Morris relates that “the bigger ships got the better food” while his ship got powdered food items. Good food or not didn’t diminish the fact that life on the ship was rigorous and demanding, but overall, it was a good experience. “Not a lot of people got to see what I got to see,” Morris noted.

Ports that Morris’s ship went to include the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Mauritius (off the coast of Africa). During the Iran-Iraqi War his ship sat out in the Indian Ocean for 76 days.

Being a “gun tech,” Morris’s official title was a “fire control tech” which meant he monitored and maintained the radar system for the ship’s guns.

The destroyer (the USS Cochran) Morris was on was the smallest war ship during his tour of duty. The ship was 440 ft. long with an average of 330 crew members. In 1980 Morris recounts that “our ship got to rescue and transport Vietnamese war refugees from the China Sea and take them to Singapore. The refugees numbered 142 men, women, and children.”

Originally from New Braunfels Morris grew up in a farming and ranching community. He has lived in Seadrift for six years. Morris described Seadrift as a “quiet little fishing town with nice people and low crime.”

After his tour of the duty with the Navy Morris worked construction and trained horses. Today he enjoys fishing and loves his aquarium.

We salute Morris Crumrine’s service to our country. Without our brave soldiers in the military where would we be today?

“USS Cochran”