Jerry Morrison
Neil (“Jerry”) Morrison picked me up from a subway station in Fürth and drove me to his “office,” a baseball field where he spends much of his time when not working or at home. Seated at a picnic table next to the diamond, Neil told me his story, punctuated by the sounds of batting practice.
Neil came to Germany as a young man in 1989 while serving a three-year hitch in the U.S. Army. He was stationed at the Army hospital in Nürnberg. He made friends easily and found the Fräuleins quite attractive. Now in his late 40s, he has twenty-something sons Christopher David and Patrick Allen Morrison with his first wife, Gabriele; a son, Steven Lee Werner, with an ex-girlfriend, Evi; and a teenaged son, Jessy Neil Morrison, with his present wife, Monika. Neil and Monika have been married since 1998.
“Okay,” I observed, ‘you were pretty active when you were younger.”
“I was young and dumb and full of cum.”
Gabi
Neil met his first wife about two weeks after he arrived in Germany. After partying all night, he and a couple buddies hooked up with three Fräuleins, one of whom was Gabriele (Gabi).
Gabi had not dated an American before Neil, so she was hesitant to let her parents meet him. Nevertheless, she picked up Neil when he got off duty one Friday and drove him to her house out in the country. Neil had his own trepidations about meeting Gabi’s family, especially when her father, “a bear of a man,” and brother met him at the door. Neil noticed a wooden baseball bat in the corner.
To make a good impression, Neil observed his best Southern etiquette; he ate one serving of his future mother-in-law’s delicious homemade Semmelknödel and bratwurst and then politely put his knife and fork down. Gabi’s mom gave Neil a dirty look. Gabi asked him if he didn’t like the food. Neil said that he loved it and could “eat the whole thing.” Gabi told him that if he did that, her mother’s “heart would explode with joy.” Needless to say, when Neil dug in as only a young man can, he endeared himself to Gabi’s mom!
Neil said that Gabi wasn’t really his “type,” but when she informed him that she was pregnant and wanted an abortion, Neil was adamantly opposed and decided to “do the right thing”—marry her. He was 19 years old at the time. They married in Christiansfeld, Denmark, to avoid the lengthily application process in Germany.
Ironically, Neil and Gabi were on the verge of breaking up when she got pregnant. Neil had planned a trip home, but his wallet, with his airline ticket and all his cash, came up missing in the barracks. Gabi gave Neil a ticket and 1,000 Marks so that he could go ahead with his three-week vacation. When Neil returned, he spent two days with Gabi. “I guess that’s when she got pregnant,” he said. That was 1990.
Their marriage did not go well. Although Neil was making good money in the military, with an overseas housing allowance and COLA, Gabi had an ID card for the PX and was spending money faster than Neil could earn it. She then quit her job. They quarreled about finances and started drifting further and further apart. Neil moved back into the barracks.
She lived in Feuchtwangen, about 65 miles from Nürnberg, where Neil was stationed. They saw each other on the weekends when Neil went down to see the baby. “It was hard being away from David, my first child, you know,” Neil said.
Enter Evi
Neil heard from some of his buddies that Gabi was dating somebody else. In the meantime, he met Evi, and they started dating. “She was more my type,” said Neil. “She enjoyed going to the [baseball] games with me. I was playing the first and second bonus leagues then. We had great conversations, we enjoyed the same music, and we also enjoyed just mellowing out, watching a movie and snuggling up, you know, which I missed with Gabi.”
One night, while Evi was out of town on vacation, Neil went out drinking with some buddies, and Gabi came into the bar. As Neil explained, “We were sitting there talking and everything, getting pretty trashed. We were still officially married, and one thing led to another, and she got pregnant again.”
When Neil told Evi about his fling with his estranged wife, Evi went off the pill. As the result of all this activity, Gabi gave birth to a boy, Patrick, and, less than a year later, Evi gave birth to Steven. “I was there at the birth of Patrick,” Neil recalled, “and shortly after that, Steven was born. Now I got three boys.” At 22 years of age, Neil was the father of three boys.
Exit Gabi
Neil’s divorce from Gabi was surprisingly smooth. The judge was sympathetic to Neil, saying that Gabi just wanted to be a typical German woman and get a free ride back to the States. She even ordered Gabi to pay Neil $10,000 because she had quit her job after marrying Neil and squandered all their money. Nevertheless, Neil and Gabi parted amicably for the sake of their two sons. “Never fight in front of the kids,” said Neil, “I've been through it, you know? Nothing worse than the kid thinking the whole problem is because of them. They're going to hear their names and everything else. I'm doing this because of Steven, I'm doing this because of Patrick.” Neil also maintains a good relationship with Gabi’s parents, who welcome Neil with open arms when he comes to visit his son and three-year-old grandson.
Neil’s Own Parents
Asked what his parents thought about Neil’s active love life in Germany, Neil said that communication with his mother was sketchy at best. In those pre-Internet, pre-cellphone days, G.I.s would typically call home from the German post office downtown. “For five minutes, it cost like 50 Marks,” recalled Neil, “I was throwing five Mark pieces in the machine just as fast as I could talk.” His mom and stepfather were in Panama, where his stepfather was stationed with the Army Special Forces. Neil is very fond of his stepfather, even though his mother and stepfather have since divorced.
Neil’s birth father had been extremely abusive. After his mother and father divorced, Neil would not see his natural father for months at a time. Then he would show up drunk and beat Neil mercilessly. For that reason, Neil resolved never to drink to excess in from of his kids. “I don't want to be like my father—my natural father,” he said.
Exit Evi
Neil and Evi never married, but they were together from 1992 to the end of 1997—almost six years. However, Neil’s passion for sports and Evi’s suspicious mind jeopardized their relationship. He was on the road, playing baseball, basketball, and American football, sometimes six or seven days a week. Evi’s previous boyfriend had been untrue, so she suspected that Neil was having affairs when he was out of town, or even talking to a female. “There was nothing going on,” said Neil.
In January, 1997, Neil and Evi went on vacation to the States. They visited Neil’s dad, who said he could get him a job. Evi just laughed at the idea, saying, “You’re not moving back here. Look how they’re living; they have nothing.”
But for Neil it was a chance to start over again. He and Evi were on the verge of breaking up, but they were still together. Maybe a new environment would change everything. If he could save enough money, he could bring Evi and Stephen over. He went to the Fayetteville-Ft. Bragg area and took the job, a non-union electrician’s helper. Pay was little more than minimum wage. After two months, he took a second job renovating houses and a third job as a bouncer in a bar. During this time, Evi and Stephen were back in Germany. Neil missed them terribly; he couldn’t even call, because his father did not have international service. He had to wait for them to call him. After five or six months, Neil decided that life would be better in Germany, so he bought a one-way ticket and went back. Within three days, he had a full-time job at a little diner called Surf Shack, across the street from an Army base in Nürnberg. Sadly, Neil and Evi parted ways within months after his return because of her jealousy.
Monika: “Now it’s Going to Get Interesting!”
After Neil and Evi split up, Neil had his own apartment and dated other women on and off. He liked one lady, Astra, a lot. She told Neil that they would never get serious; this would be a purely sexual relationship. Neil could live with that, although he had hoped it would turn into something more.
One day Astra sent Neil a message saying that she was going camping and the location of the camp. Neil found the campground where Astra, Nina, and Moni were camping. He approached Moni, whom he had never met before, where she was sitting by the fire. He greeted her, “Hey, how're you doing?” brushing her side with his hand.
“Don’t touch me!” was Moni’s response. “You touch me again; you're going to get smacked.”
“I was like, ‘Hey, I'm just trying to be nice,’” Neil said, “and I put my hand on her back as I was getting ready to leave. She drew back and smacked me. I had braces; it ripped the whole inside of my mouth, and I started spitting blood. I was pissed. I got up, walked away, screaming, ‘What the fuck's wrong with that bitch?’ Nina started giggling. She knew Moni had an attitude. Nobody gave me a warning. So, I got in my car and left.”
Shortly after their bloody campground encounter, Neil ran into Monika at the Surf Shack. She apologized for striking him but warned him of a repeat performance if he should ever touch her again.
Neil and Monika have been married since 1998. “She still giggles about it,” Neil recalled. “She says, ‘You had such an arrogance about you, like you were so much better.’”
Maybe It Was the Hair…
Neil had let his hair grow long after he was discharged from the military and wore it in a ponytail. During his six-month stay in the States, a woman with whom he had taken up loved his long hair; she would brush it as they watched TV. However, the Southern heat and humidity got to him, so he had his hair cut. His temporary lady friend was incensed and kicked him out of her house. When he returned to Germany, with short hair and a new attitude, Monika noticed the difference when they encountered at the Surf Shack. “I fell in love with you the moment you walked in,” Moni confessed years later.
Neil’s relationship with Evi continued to deteriorate as he got closer to Monika. One day, Evi confronted him with Moni at the Surf Shack. The two women and Neil had it out in the kitchen, surrounded by knives and frying pans. “I thought I was dead,” said Neil. “Moni stood her ground, with crossed arms, and said, ‘If you don't know how to take care of him, I will.’ That evening I grabbed some of my stuff and moved in with Moni.”
Making a Living in Germany
Neil was promoted to manager of the Surf Shack within a month of his return from the States. “It was pretty laid back,” he recalled, “It wasn't a great amount of money, but I got my booze, and whatever I wanted to eat.”
He took advantage of other opportunities as they arose. For example, he used a two-week vacation to help set up temporary bleachers for shows like a horse-riding championship. Working 12-hour days, he made $2,000 in a week and a half, plus hotel and meals. He also worked security for events, such as Holiday on Ice. “It was pretty interesting because I met people from all over the world: Russians, Koreans, Czechs, French, Spanish—all over.”
He worked for a trucking company, a moving company that catered to American military and employees, an ice cream factory, and then for another moving company that served German clientele. Neil pointed across the baseball field where our interview took place, toward his current place of employment. He has been working in the shipping department of a butcher supplies company for the past 15 years.
So almost the whole time Neil worked in Germany as a civilian, after returning from his short stint in the States, he was on the German economy, paying into the German social insurance system, eligible for medical and other benefits. That entailed registering with the Außlandamt (German Foreign Office).
Another Funny Story
“When I went into the Außlandamt,” Neil said, “the lady looked at me, looked at her screen, and looked at me again. She said, “One second please” and dialed a number. The next thing I knew, two police officers showed up behind me.”
She said, “According to our records, you stole a car back in 1962. Your name is Jerry Neil Morrison?”
“‘Yes ma'am, Jerry Neil Morrison, Jr., born 19 July, 1970. I very seriously doubt that in 1962 I stole a car.’ The cops looked at the lady, looked at me, shook their heads, and started chuckling.
The police officer said, ‘Y'all need to fix your records, ‘cause there's no way in hell this kid stole a car in 1962. Look at him.’ I just barely had peach fuzz. It was funny but scary as hell. When I walked out of that place, I was shaking like a leaf.”
Settling Down
Diagnosed with 35% bilateral hearing loss at age 21, Neil had had some difficulties with language. However, Monika insisted that he get hearing aids, and that improved his speaking ability. He picked up the German language working a steady job. His feelings toward Monika deepened.
One day, Neil surprised Moni by picking her from work. She said, “What are you doing here?”
Neil responded by handing her a bouquet of roses and saying, “We're getting married tomorrow.”
They drove to Denmark, where they were married on August 7, 1998.
“That marriage has lasted a long time,” I noted.
"All of our friends said, ‘Y'all won't last a month together; y'all are two different worlds; y'all are like Laurel and Hardy,’ It's been a long time…”
Neil hit it off with Moni’s Hungarian parents right away. He drank beer and spoke in German with her father and had a playful relationship with her mom, who babysat Jessie when Neil and Moni were both working full time. They live across the street from Neil and Moni. Neil calls them “Mom” and “Dad.”
Moni’s parents traveled to the States to attend Neil and Moni’s remarriage ceremony on November 30, 2009, for all the family. By that time, Jessy was old enough to walk, so he was the ring bearer.
Education in Germany
Neil did not supervise his other children’s education, since they lived with their mothers, but he was impressed with the rigor of Jessy’s schoolwork. “They're learning stuff in elementary school that I didn't even learn in high school,” he said. “Jessy is learning water gymnastics for people who are sick. He wants to go into that field, where he can help people.”
All of Neil’s other sons: David, Patrick, and Steven, have graduated and are doing well. Their education, even if they attended university, is essentially free—book and incidentals are the main expense.
Healthcare
Like the other gentlemen I interview for this project, Neil has war stories about healthcare in Germany vs. the U.S. He described an emergency dental visit when he went home in 2004 that cost him $600. By comparison, he was prescribed medicine for a back problem in Germany; 100 pills cost him $5.00. Even his mother, when she visited Neil in Germany, was able to get a three-month insurance policy for $130. In that time, she had three EKGs, a stress test, and her normal asthma medicine, which runs her almost $500 a month in the States. Under the German insurance, I got her a box of 12 inhalers for $100; at home they cost $65 each. The other medicine that runs her $365 at home cost me twenty-five bucks here. Neil attributes part of the problem in the United States to a plethora of lawsuits. The universal healthcare system in Germany goes back to the nineteenth century.
According to Neil, the average lifespan in Germany is about 80 years. That may be attributed to a lifestyle that involves lots of exercise, as well as a good healthcare system. People walk and ride bikes much more in Europe than they do in the United States.
Driving
A driver’s license cost between $1,500 and $2,000 in Germany. The minimum age for a regular driver’s license is 18. Enforcement of traffic laws is reasonable but strict. “Flipping the bird to another driver is going to cost you a fine,” said Neil. Drunk driving is not tolerated. “Kids are allowed to drink beer at 16 here, so they get it out of their system before they start driving,” he added.
The Great American Pastime
After his eight-hour workday, Neil usually comes straight to the baseball field where we met for our interview. His son Jesse plays on two teams. He has practice Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with one team and Wednesdays and Fridays with the team that Neil coaches.
Neil pointed to a young man at the batting cage, clearly a long-ball hitter. “JJ’s father is American. He's one of the few kids who was born and raised in Germany but has an American passport because his mother and father are American. They want to get him on the national team, but because he's an American citizen, they wouldn't let him. He's never even been in the United States. Even the German national team coach and the German Baseball Association went to the Ausslandamt to try to get him dual citizenship, so he could play. The authorities said this is baseball, not soccer. If it were soccer there be no problem, but baseball is an outsider sport.”
I asked Neil if Monika is involved with baseball.
“She actually went and got a scorer's license,” Neil said, “I'm a Bundesleague umpire, so I got the highest umpire you can get here, other than the Federation of European baseball, which they won't give me because I'm not a German. They want only German Umpires because the announcements are in German. But last year I got the all-star game—the best foreign players in Germany. A lot of Americans play the German national team for a fun game. I got to umpire it. The last four years in a row, I've been the crew chief for the youth German Championships.”
Germany is divided into nine states. The best team from each state participates in the German Championship Tournament over one weekend.
“I love working with the kids,” Neil told me. “There's nothing better than seeing the twinkle in a kid’s eyes when something works right. I was the head umpire in one of the games, and this young kid jumped up and caught the ball. He saw that he had caught the ball, and his eyes got really big; he tagged the runner going by him, threw it over and got the other guy out: a triple play from a twelve-year-old kid! Neil recalled that, as an umpire, he is supposed to be objective, but he couldn’t help cheering that boy’s outstanding play.
“The only son who never played baseball with me is Steven,” Neil said. “Other than that, I've been on the same team with all my boys.”
“That builds your relationship with your kids,” I suggested.
“It pulls it together, and it's something we will never forget. For me it's a big memory thing.”
Neil still plays baseball himself. “So, Georg Barth is the president of the team you play for, the Fürth Pirates, right?” I asked.
“Yes, he's the one who brought me to this club.” At the time, Neil was driving 47 miles each way to play for a team in Ansbach. Even though he lived in Fürth (adjacent to Nürnberg), he had not been aware that Fürth had a team. Mr. Barth signed Neil for the Fürth Pirates, matching the compensation package Neil had from the Ansbach team.
“The big thing with German baseball, we don't get the publicity,” Neil said. “Like right now, we've got the European Cup in Regensburg going on. You got the best European teams all over the place, and we have an English commentator running the show right now; his name is Tim Collins. He really does an outstanding job. But nobody knows about it. That's what's killing these small clubs. We're so far out of the city, these people living in little villages don't even know we're here. That's sad.”
“It sounds as though baseball is your passion, your life,” I said.
“So, I'm an umpire, I'm a player, I'm a coach, and I'm getting old. Ha-ha.” Neil said.
“You can keep up with these young guys, huh?” I joked.
“Somebody's gotta show them how to do it,” Said Neil Morrison.
