With a sad heart we take
note of the passing of one
of the officers of HM Tenth Regiment of Foot.
A witty, difficult, tough and intelligent man who saw his
duty to his King and Country as a noble undertaking.
He will be missed.
We are saddened but not diminished.
FOR THE COMMANDING OFFICER
Major RE Amsterdam
HIS MAJESTY'S 10th REGIMENT OF FOOT
AMERICAN CONTINGENT
Deepest sympathies
from the 42nd Grenadier Company.
Malcolm MacWm., 42nd GrenCoy
ASM, British Brigade
we are sorry to hear of your
loss Richard at times
like this we are reminded life is very fragile as well as it's creatures
daniel o'connel, 8th Reg't of Foot
On behalf of the 16th QLD
and myself we offer our condolences to the family of Lt Morrissey
and to the officers and men of the 10th.
It has only been two seasons that we have been in the field with
Tom and always enjoyed his company and good spirits.
He shall be missed. Please let me know if any service will be conducted
in Canada as we will be honoured to take part.
Yours,
Don F. Beale
16th Queen's Light Dragoons
On behalf of the Ninth, we
send our deepest condolences.
Capt Andrew Lauder
My sincerest condolences to
both the Tenth Regiment of Foot and to the family of Lieutenant
Thomas Morrissey on the loss of such a fine man.
LtCol (ret'd) Peter L. Ford, RWFA
The Royal Artillery will keep
him in our thoughts and prayers. Another gallent soldier has gone
west to join the line.
Colonel Mark K. Crosby
Master Gunner, British Brigade
On behalf of myself and the IV Battalion NJ Volunteers, our
deepest sympathy to Lt. Morrissey's family, friends and Regiment.
We Commend his Spirit to God who gave it.
Ray Helge
IV Battalion New Jersey Volunteers
The Irish send our Condolence's to the family.
A great loss of a dedicated re-enactor and person.
Captain, Robert Troisi
Royal Irish Artillery
This is very sad news. I will miss Tom very much.
Strangely, Tom was in a dream I had the other night.
Captain Bob Falotico
Light Infantry
Our prayers go out to Lt. Morrissey's family and
all the members of the 10th.
I AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. S. John 11. 25, 26.
Stephen H. Belyea, 74th Highlanders, Brigade Chaplain
SHB74th@aol.com
Richard, please accept my deepest sympathy at the passing of
Lt Morrissey. When ever I was with Lt Morrissey he made me smile.
He was of great assistance to me as Assistant Inspector General.
I will miss him very much. My prayers are with you at this sad
time and also with his family.
William Moss
Engineer
This is indeed a shock and I am very saddened to hear of Tom's
passing. He was a good man and a good Officer and departed much
too young. I'm sure many of us have happy memories of times with
him over the years. There were fun times mixed with the very serious.
Some will remember the night at Lincoln's when he brought "Fritz"
who (resting his head on the table top) proceeded to eat the cartridge
papers - Tom took him out and chased him around for awhile! -
Just one little thing, I'm sure many of you who have served out
in the field with him have other memories. I think he would want
us to remember the happy times.
May he rest in peace and live on in the memories of his comrades.
Lieut Kira Bailey
Up in Halifax a few years ago, just about anybody staying in
the citadel was in a tavern room. There were people playing music,
some singing along, and others just enjoying the company. When
it got late, some Canadian officials came in and said that all
people under 18 had to leave because there was alcohol being served.
Tom got right up and said something like, "Come on, these
our are guys too. You can't just kick them out. They're part of
us." He went on to offer to move the alcohol to an adjoining
room so we could stay where the music was and enjoy the company
of fellow reenactors. He lost that battle, but that moment stuck
with me for a while. I was just reminded of it looking back. He
definitely took the loyalty to the group seriously, even when
it involved people out of his social group.
Drum-Major Anthony Jenkins
If you are like me the last few days have been filled with thinking
about Tom and his family. Yesterday was my first day working with
Ed this summer and all we did was tell Tom Morrissey stories as
we were driving around. We laughed quite a bit and we just kept
saying to each other that we couldn't believe he passed away.
We hadn't seen Tom for awhile and I know many people were looking
forward to the day when we thought he would return.
From phone calls and discussions it sounds like his passing has
hit people pretty hard as we already missed his presence and when
we found out about his passing the services were concluded. How
can we say good-bye when it's been so long since we said hello?
The regiment is planning to have a celebration in Tom's memory
at one of the events this summer, most likely Sturbridge Village.
As details arise we will keep you all informed.
In the meantime I encourage everyone to talk with each other
and share their stories about Tom. His ability to make us laugh
from beyond the grave is a true mark of his immortality and our
love for him. Tom was obstinate and at times abrasive, but he
was also loyal and ready to council- a good friend. Perfection
is not a prerequisite for love.
We have many young members in our regiment and this may be their
first personal experience with death. If you are sad, angry or
afraid I encourage you to talk with your parents or others as
these are all natural emotions related to a loss.
Lastly, Beth and I visited Tom's grave today and left some red
and yellow flowers.
Serj Charles Ziniti (RSM)
I am having a hard time dealing with Tom's passing. We spent
many hours together at events putting up our tents, joking around,
telling tall tales and watching after his little girl-who he called
"Bunny"-and who he loved so much. He was a great story
teller, a tough man, a kind man and a loyal man. He had a tough
exterior but a soft heart. We'll never see another man like him
come this way.
Major Richard E Amsterdam
Adjutant
I too have been thing a lot of Tom after hearing this news.
One memory in particular I have (which I keep hearing in my head)
is soon after my son Ryan was born. At one of the drills Tom asked
how Ryan was doing. Ryan was sick and I told him that I was a
bit nervous. Tom's replay was: "ahh, don't worry about it.
Kids, they're dam near indestructible!"
After that I felt much calmer about the situation.
-Shawn Morrill
I remember at Boone's Farm a few years back, the a few companies
under Sergent Scull's command were lost in the woods and surrounded
by the enemy. Along comes Tom without his company( It turned out
he was attached to another unit and left them after he ordered
them to charge and die). He pulls out his pack of cigarettes,
and tried to light one with his lighter which didn't work. Her
threw it to the ground with some colourful language. he then loads
his musket and cigarette in his mouth proceeds to both shoot down
an oncoming rebel unit and light his cigarette. He then runs off
into a clump of trees and is not heard from until later in the
battle when he told me to "Go get me that fat one Private!"
Goodbye Tom
Corp Ian Graves
Grenadier Co'y
I remember a couple of years ago in the parking lot after the
Patriot' s Day Parade when Tom "promoted" Ian to age
21 as we were all headed out for a drink...
Serj Michael Graves
Light Infantry Co'y
Tom chiding Charlie about his choice of liquor on Saturday night
at one of the first OSVs I attended with the 10th. Charlie was
drinking some coconut-scented (flavored) rotgut rum, and Tom asked
him “What did you do? Mug a cheerleader for her booze?”
Other than that, I just remember how very funny and intelligent
he was, and how clearly devoted he was to his “bunny.”
My heart breaks for that little girl…
Fife-Major Mary Stone
I remember sitting around the campfire at Sturbridge, listening
to the brilliant, rapid-fire comedic exchange between Paul, Tom
and Charlie…I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.
He was sometimes prickly, ALWAYS funny, and more than once came
to the rescue to generously lend Matt some piece of equipment
he’d forgotten at an event. He will be missed, and I hope
to be at Sturbridge to reminisce and remember….
Thanks, Tom…
Susan Feist
I want to extend my deepest condolences to everyone. I never
met Tom. From what I've heard of him during my first year back
in the Regiment and from what has been written about him in the
past few days, he truly was a remarkable man. I actually regret
that I didn't get to meet him.
Pte Shaun Timberlake
Light Infantry Co'y
