Morrison, Henry F.

HENRY FREDRICK MORRISON

MOTOR MACHINISTS MATE 1st CLASS

U.S. NAVY

Henry Fredrick Morrison was born on May 29, 1919, in Van Wert, Ohio to Wiley B. and Marie Irene (née Johnson) Morrison. Henry Morrison had one sibling, a sister named Lee Anna (McIntosh), who was born in 1916. The family came to Decatur, Indiana around 1922. Henry Morrison attended Decatur High School for one year. His friends knew him as "Peck." During that year, he was the secretary of the freshman class. He left high school and went to work in town at the La Fontaine Handle Company, a promising industry that was established in Decatur in 1910. 

Henry enlisted in the Navy on December 31, 1940, at the age of 21. He began training at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In 1942 he set out on the USS Plunger. While she was patrolling enemy waters, she came under attack. This sub was spotted by a Japanese vessel with radar technology that the U.S. did not know they had. The enemy cargo ship was destroyed. This vessel gave him some fame. He was honored with a commendation for his role in sinking an enemy ship. Morrison received a commendation from the Plunger's commanding officer, the commander of the Pacific fleet, and the commander of the Pacific submarine fleet. This was the first patrol that the vessel had embarked upon. Specific details were very slight in the report sent home to the Morrison family at the time, according to the article written in the Decatur Daily Democrat. It was not made known where the vessel was located or what enemy vessel it destroyed. 

Motor Machinist's Mate, 1st Class (MoMM1c) Morrison was later assigned to the USS Pogy. This vessel arrived at Pearl Harbor in the spring of 1943. It was credited with sinking 16 ships. Henry Morrison's final assignment was to the USS Kete. The life of this sub was short. She arrived at Pearl Harbor in the middle of October 1944 and departed for her first war patrol at the very end of the month. After stops at Midway and Saipan for fueling and repairs, her first patrol ended at Guam. Lieutenant Commander Edward Ackerman took over, and the sub set out for her second war patrol on March 1, 1945. Two weeks later, after some confrontation and sinking three Japanese freighters, she had only three remaining torpedoes. Orders were sent to depart from the area on March 20 and arrive at Midway on the 31st. These orders were acknowledged on the 19th, and the USS Kete set out. The next day, she sent in a weather report. This was the last time that the sub was ever heard from or seen again. All 87 crew members of the USS Kete, including Henry Morrison, were declared Missing In Action (MIA) on March 31, 1945. Morrison was officially declared dead on April 1, 1946. The vessel's fate was unknown. Its last location was in the waters of Nansei Shoto, which is south of Japan and covers Okinawa. This area was heavily patrolled by the enemy, so some speculate that the Kete went down in combat. It was also said that the waters were full of mines; some people believe the sub may have hit one. A few people have even considered that the ship may have experienced a detrimental malfunction. On April 9, 1946, the Decatur Daily Democrat had another entry about Morrison, this time stating that his parents had received word that their son was officially pronounced dead by the Navy. 

The last that Mr. and Mrs. Morrison heard from him was by a letter written on February 28, 1945, which they received on March 8, 1945, just weeks before he was officially declared missing in action. A letter from the Secretary of the Navy, Forrestal, stated, "...in view of the strong probability that the submarine sank during action in enemy controlled waters and that your son lost his life as a result thereof, because no official or unconfirmed reports have been received that he survived, because his name has not appeared on any lists or reports of personnel liberated from Japanese prisoner of war camps, and in view of the length of time that has elapsed since he was reported missing in action, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that he is deceased". After his death, the commander of the Pacific fleet's submarine force awarded Morrison with a citation and the submarine combat insignia. Henry Morrison is honored at the Courts of the Missing, the memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. His name can also be found at memorials specific to the crew of the Kete, such as at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. No remains of any of the sailors of the USS Kete were ever recovered. 

For his service and sacrifice, Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class Morrison earned the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. 

Information collected and researched by Danielle Morrison, 2016.

SOURCES

              Ancestry. Ancestry, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

Employees of the Decatur Daily Democrat, comp. 1942, 9 April 1946. Web. 16 Sep. 2016.

Free Family History and Genealogy Records - FamilySearch.org. Intellectual Reserve, Inc., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.

"Kete (SS-369) of the US Navy - American Submarine of the Balao Class - Allied Warships of WWII." Uboat.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Ravelings Yearbook Staff, ed. Ravelings Yearbook. Decatur, IN: Decatur High School, 1935. Print.

Smolinski, Mike. "NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive." Submarine Photo Index. NavSource History, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

United States. Naval History Division. Office of Chief of Naval Operations. History of the USS Kete (SS 369). Washington D.C. Naval Operations Office, Defense Dept: Document for Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Paper, 1969. Print.

"Wisconsin Maritime Website." USS POGY (SS 266). Wisconsin Maritime Museum, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

Wittmer, Paul W. "On Eternal Patrol - Henry Fredrick Morrison." On Eternal Patrol - Henry Fredrick Morrison. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

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