Joe Morris was born in Daisy, Georgia in September 1925. Two years later, he and his family moved to Jacksonville [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, Florida]. He enjoyed his youth in a rural part of Jacksonville, playing in the creeks and walking around barefooted. He attended school but dropped out of high school to enlist in the Marine Corps at age 17. He recalls hearing about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], but it did not mean anything to him until he was watching clips of Marines on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] at the movie theater. Watching the clips intrigued him and that is why he chose to enlist in the Marine Corps. Morris was sworn into the service in Orlando [Annotator's Note: Orlando, Florida], then he was sent to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina] for his basic training. During basic training, he qualified as a sharpshooter and was sent to Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina] in Jackson, North Carolina for Sniper training. During that training, the instructors did not take any nonsense. Everyone had to learn how to swim. He thought the discipline and physical training were easy for him because he grew up in that kind of environment already. During sniper school he learned how to zero his scope in and fire from 100 to 500 yards using a Garand [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. [Annotator's Note: The interviewee pauses when he hears thunder at 0:04:55:000.] After he completed all of his training, he was sent to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] by train for three days. He awaited his assignment in a tent city outside San Diego. He was able to go on liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] for a few days while waiting for his assignment. From San Diego he was sent to New Caledonia on a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship]. The ship was crowded, but it only took a few days to get to New Caledonia. Morris was told to change out his winter uniform and to put on his summer uniform. A few days later, he was back on a ship that took him to Pavuvu, Russell Islands. He was assigned to a unit in the 1st Marine Division [Annotator's Note: 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] which had just returned from Cape Gloucester, New Britain. They trained for their invasion on Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Peleliu, Palau].

Joe Morris and his unit [Annotator's Note: 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] were anchored offshore the morning of the invasion of Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Peleliu, Palau]. When it was time to invade the island, he had to lower himself off the ship into a landing craft using ropes. As they headed into shore, he was part of the third wave. He saw dead Marines on the shore as he made his way onto the beach. He was able to run about a hundred yards to the command post near an airfield. By the first day, they were inland near the airfield and set up a headquarters in an old bunker. His first duty was to go out and repair some telephone lines. He had no idea what he was doing, but he did it anyway. During the first day, Morris' commanding officer was killed, so Colonel Walt [Annotator's Note: then US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, later General, Lewis William Walt] was sent out and Morris had to follow orders from him. The next morning, his unit was ordered to take the airfield and secure it. Morris did not have to take part in that fight because he was needed at the command post. His unit was able to secure the airstrip by the end of the day. The main objective after securing the airfield was to secure the caves that the Japanese were hiding in. Morris was concerned about his safety at certain times. When Morris' unit left the island, it was not completely secured, so they gave the duty to the Army to finish the mission. He was on Peleliu for about five weeks before he left. Morris recalled an incident when he was on an observing mission. He saw a Japanese officer and he tried to hit him but missed. During this time, one of his fellow men was injured and Morris had to help carry him down the ridge on a stretcher. He also received graveyard duty and had to bury the dead. His captain, Swede Larson [Annotator's Note: unable to verify identity], put his platoon on a patrol to secure part of the island. They settled on a hill and dug in at night. Morris was ordered to go find out if anyone was in the caves nearby. After Morris returned, he laid down by the captain and told him he saw no one. At that same moment, a grenade landed between them, and they had to move quickly to get out of the way before it exploded. His platoon realized they were surrounded by Japanese and decided to retreat off the hill. The weather on Peleliu was "hot as hell." The first few days, his unit did not have any water because it was stored in old gasoline drums which contaminated it. As soon as the airfield was secured and cleaned up, he saw that air units were coming onto the island. When Morris left Peleliu, he was sent back to Pavuvu [Annotator's Note: Pavuvu, Russell Islands] for about three months before they began training for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. While on Pavuvu, Bob Hope [Annotator's Note: Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope KBE; British-American entertainer who was famous for entertaining American troops serving overseas during World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War] visited and entertained the Marines with the show. About a week later, Morris and his unit were sent to Ulithi [Annotator's Note: Ulithi Atoll, Carolina Islands] to rendezvous with other units and ships before heading for the invasion of Okinawa.

Joe Morris and his unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] were part of the great armada sent to invade Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. When they arrived, the island was unopposed. He was in a later wave and landed on the northern area of the island, where the Allies had already secured the beaches. Morris' unit was given orders to head to the south of the island to assist the Army which had met opposition not long after they had landed on the beach. Morris' captain, Swed Larson [Annotator's Note: unable to verify identity], ordered his platoon to set up a camp in a small village near a base of a hill. Morris had to build out an observation post near the hill. While they were at the observation post, the Japanese began bombing near them, blowing up a nearby horse barn. Morris was lucky to have survived. They met a lot of opposition at the Shuri Line, which was along a ridge. There were observation posts established there by the Allies. Morris was attacked by mortar fire while he was on duty at the observation post one night. He had to seek refuge behind burial tombs until the firing stopped. The Japanese would use the Okinawan people as shields by tricking them into surrendering. The Japanese also tricked the Okinawans to fear Americans. The Marines had to use flamethrowers [Annotator's Note: ranged incendiary device that projects a controllable jet of fire] to get Japanese soldiers out of the caves. Morris stayed on the island until it was secured. Morris suffered from a tropical disease while on Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Peleliu, Palau]. One time he walked into a cave and his leg was surrounded by fleas. The monsoon weather often obstructed their goals for the day. Morris was still on Okinawa when he heard the news that the war in Europe ended. He recalls watching aerial fights from the island and the kamikaze attacks. Morris' unit was camped out on a bluff when they first heard about the United States dropping bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] on Japan. Once the war ended, Morris thought he would be sent home, but he was surprised to find out that his outfit was ordered to go to Peking, China. In China, they were supposed to disarm the Japanese but the Japanese were gone so he had four weeks of free time sightseeing in China. There were very few cars. Everyone rode on bicycles. He also went to the bar and drank a lot. He met families from the White Russians movement.

Joe Morris returned home after being in Peking, China for some weeks. He boarded an aircraft that flew him to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. He then took a train to North Carolina where he separated from service. He took a bus to Jacksonville [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, Florida]. He suffered from bad dreams for a while after he returned. Meeting Jean [Annotator's Note: his wife] helped him adjust to civilian life. He and Jean had been married for 70 years. Morris found a job with ADT Security Systems with the help from a friend. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings in background at 0:40:41:000.] After seven years, he moved to Tampa [Annotator's Note: Tampa, Florida] to sell cookware. He then worked at several other companies like Texaco and then a broadcasting company. He retired at 55 years old. Morris thinks that The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is a great contribution to the war effort, but there was not enough about Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, 15 September to 27 November 1944; Peleliu, Palau]. He thinks the world and politics changed so much over the years, the younger generations have no idea about the history of this country.