Layne Morris

Who is Layne Morris?

Sergeant Layne Morris is a retired soldier in an American Special Forces unit. Sergeant Morris was wounded and blinded in one eye during a fire-fight on July 27, 2002 that left Sergeant 1st Class Christopher J. Speer dead.

The Canadian Omar Khadr, then fifteen and held since 2002 by the United States, is alleged to have been responsible for Speer's death. While it is frequently mistakenly reported that Speer and Morris were wounded by the same grenade, that is not true. Morris was injured and evacuated from the site of the skirmish hours before Speer was mortally wounded by a grenade.

Sergeant Morris retired from the military. He returned to his home in Utah, where he became a local West Valley City housing director in civilian life. A Mormon, he lives with his wife Leisl in South Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He appeared in a National Geographic special, U.S. Army Special Forces, and on 60 Minutes.