Letters to the Morse Brothers & posthumous purple heart
Description
Collection consist of correspondence, programs, photographs, and other material relating to Clara May Dyer Morse. Born in Maryville, Tennessee in 1895, Clara May Dyer married Roy B. Morse in Lamar, Colorado in 1918. The couple had two sons, Francis Jerome (b. 1919) and Norman Roi (b. 1921). In 1932, following the death of Roy Morse, they relocated to Denver, where both boys attended East High School. By 1938 both Francis and Norman had enlisted in the Navy, serving together on the U.S.S. Arizona. Both Morse sons died during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In 1942, Clara May Morse graduated from the 5th Corps Red Cross Nurses Aid Program, and later worked at a number of hospitals in Denver as a nurse. Portions of this collection are excerpted in "The Day Clara May Morse Died: Pearl Harbor and One Mother's Heartbreak" (Colorado History, Autumn 1991), edited by Clark Secrest. The Purple Heart is suspended on purple ribbon. The medal is made in the shape of a heart bordered with gold. Within the center of the heart is a bust of Washington. On top of the heart is Washington’s coat-of-arms.
Object Information
Date Created:
1941
Local ID:
MSS.453, H.3519.1.A-B
Credit Line:
Gift of Morse Family Estate
Rights:
Copyright Not Evaluated
