Top of page

Earl H. Morris, Great Lakes Naval Training Station, December 1943 [detail]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: USS Walke (DD 723)
  • Location of Service: Normandy, France; Mindoro (Philippines); Lingayen Gulf (Philippines); Tokyo Bay, Japan; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Quartermaster First Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/2533

View full service history

“We are afraid to get in our bunks so most of us slept on the deck topside. We can man the guns etc quicker.” (Diary entry, May 13, 1945)

Earl Morris served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, aboard the USS Walke in both the European and Pacific Theaters. On D-Day, the Walke was in the midst of the action, lobbing bombardments to support the invasion. Later in 1944, she sailed into action in the Philippines, helping to liberate those islands from the Japanese. Morris kept a secret and admittedly illegal diary of the Walke’s final action in the war, in the waters near Okinawa. For almost two months in the spring of 1945, he detailed almost hourly enemy kamikaze runs on his and other ships, revealing that the action off Okinawa was just as intense as the battles taking place on land.

View 4 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

View Enlarged Image
[ Letter of Gratitude from the Secretary of the Navy 11/9/45 ]
View 42 images in sequence.
[ Bound diary ]

About this Item

Title

  • Earl Harvey Morris Collection

Names

  • Morris, Earl Harvey
  • Jupiter, Lona

State of Birth

  • WI

Home State

  • WI

Headings

  • -  Morris, Earl Harvey
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: USS Walke (DD 723)
    • Location of Service: Normandy, France; Mindoro (Philippines); Lingayen Gulf (Philippines); Tokyo Bay, Japan; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Quartermaster First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was present at Normandy Beach (06/05/1944), Ormoc Landing (12/07/1944), Mindoro, Philippines (12/15/1944), Lingayen Gulf (01/06/1945, wounded here), Okinawa (05/1945-07/1945), and Tokyo Bay (09/15/1945).

Materials

  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- (collected 1945)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 11/09/1945)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [3 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1944)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/2533

Cite as

  • Earl Harvey Morris Collection (AFC/2001/001/2533), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Morris, Earl Harvey, and Lona Jupiter. Earl Harvey Morris Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02533/.

APA citation style:

Morris, E. H. & Jupiter, L. (1943) Earl Harvey Morris Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02533/.

MLA citation style:

Morris, Earl Harvey, and Lona Jupiter. Earl Harvey Morris Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02533/>.